The Spanish Armada Flashcards
(6 cards)
Why did Philip II send the Armada ?
- Elizabeth was a heretic and the pope wanted her removed
- provocation : Drakes actions and the Netherlands angered Philip
- treaty of joinville
What happened during the armada?
- The Armada leaves Lisbon - delayed by storms and repairs, and finally sets sail for England on 21 July.
- The Armada is sighted . Warning beacons are lit .
- The Armada continues through the English Channel now chased by English ships, but suffers little damage.
The Armada anchors near Calais where more troops are meant to join, led by the Duke of Parma, but the English send burning fire ships into the fleet. The Spanish ships panic and are scattered out of crescent formation. - The Spanish ships are blown towards grave line where the Battle of Grave lines took place . This time they battle at close range and significant damage is inflicted to the Spanish fleet. Winds force armada north and English turn back.
- The Armada sets sail for home but are forced around Scotland and Ireland. Many ships are wrecked in storms and thousands of sailors drown.
The surviving Spanish ships arrive back in Spain, but almost half of their fleet is lost.
Victory for England
2 REASONS for Spanish defeat
Elizabeth ordered Drake to attack the Spanish Army. Drake attacked the Port of Cadiz. A really important Naval port for the Spanish fleet. He destroyed 30 ships and much of the fleets supplies. This attack is called the singeing of the King of Spain’s beard . Drake continued to attack Spanish ports and treasure ships. He captured the San Filipe, a Spanish ship returning from the America’s carrying gold, spices and silk It covered the cost of the exhibition to Cadiz and allowed Elizabeth to pay for new defences
As a result
Spain needed to stop building the Armada and create more defences against Drake
It delayed the Spanish Armada by a year
The Spanish needed to obtain fresh supplies and weapons which was expensive
During Drake’s raids he captured 1000 of seasoned wood. This is used to preserve food for travelling.
This bought more time for England to prepare for an attack the following year
It impacted the moral of the Spanish Navy
English ship = smaller and change direction quicker. Faster and guns took up less space, enough room to fire and reload cannons quickly. = galleons
another reason why the armada were destroyed
Philip II’s plan required Medina-Sidonia, commander of the Spanish fleet, to join with the Duke of Parma in the Netherlands. This was not a good plan for two reasons.
- The Duke of Parma did not control any deep-sea ports where the large Spanish ships could dock. Instead everything had to be transferred from land to the ships using smaller boats, which took time.
- Communications between Medina-Sidonia and the Duke of Parma went by sea and it took a week for a message to reach Parma that Medina-Sidonia was near to the Netherlands. It meant that Parma wasn’t ready. It would take 48 hours to load troops onto the ships, and the English were ready to attack.
Consequences of the Spanish Armada
Both sides suffered casualties as a result of the Armada but English losses were relatively minor compared to those of the Spanish. England lost just 100 men compared the 20,000 men and 51 ships lost by the Spanish.
However, despite England’s victory several thousand men died from illness and disease in the weeks following the battle.
Consequences of the Spanish Armada
- boosted England’s pride and trade
- Spain declined after Armada
- encouraged Dutch rebel to continue fighting Spain
Relations got better between Dutch and England
