Why did the Spanish Armada attack the English navy?

Answer 1

"The armada attacked England because Philip (the Spanish king those days) was annoyed by the English Queen (Elizabeth I) she had said no to his offer of marriage, she had sent groups of people to invade their ships, and other things with there captain Sir Drake , and she said she new nothing about it. Philip was really annoyed, but he couldn't battle, because if he did the french would battle him as well. Philip could battle England or France, but not both together. But when Elizabeth had executed Mary Queen of Scots the French were angry (Mary was the French king's son's wife to be) so the French wouldn't battle against him if he battled England! So that's when the Armada started. Philip took his chance to battle England out of revenge, frustration, and many other emotions. Also because of him being a Catholic and her being a Protestant, he thought it was his duty to attack. He hoped to win England in the name of his daughter, Infanta (Princess) Isabella."

~Well, from the little English history I was taught as an Englishman I'd say it was more about England becoming Protestant under Henry, her dad, and the seizure of all Catholic property. I think the act of parliament the King made that ultimately led to this war was called "The dissolution of the monastries" and was a direct result of him being unable to divorce his (then) wife (The pope forbade him) The Church of England was created by him as a direct result, and the first British Church to allow divorce came into being.

This made us a Protestant rather than a Catholic nation. It was during this time that Catholics began to be hounded as traitors, a shameful episode within our history, beaten only by the Inquisition (by Catholics) prior to this I feel.

The Spanish were seething about this British up-start King who broke all the rules and insulted Rome, whilst Elizabeth may have paid "Letters of Commision" to sea captains to unoffically attack the Spanish gold-laden galleons she maintained Horror of the actions by these privateers (as they became known in history) when the Spanish Court questioned her, and I believe the most infamous of all: Drake was imprisoned by her briefely by Spanish request.

What I'm trying to say is that the history of England, France and Spain was bitterly-interlocked at this time, but always under the watchful eye of the papacy, whilst all three were rivals the actions of the British were too much for the papacy- abolishing the Catholic faith and so the seeds were sown for a Spanish nation to avenge the other things (Privateers commisioned by a jealous English Crown) they were so pissed off about.

Toby

Answer 2

One of the most powerful women who ever lived was Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603). She was the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and was known as the Virgin Queen or Good Queen Bess. She was 25 years old when she became Queen and ruled England for 44 years until age 69. She was tall and slender with fair skin and had curly red hair.

In the 1500s there was an ongoing rivalry on the sea between the ships of England and Spain over control of trade in the New World. King Philip II of Spain decided to settle the question and put an end to English attacks on his ships by invading and conquering England. Philip assembled a huge fleet of warships known as the Spanish Armada and in 1588 sailed into the English Channel.

Answer 3

well the spanish were about attack the English so i don't think that anyone would just sit there and wait to be deystroyed! so if it was me i would of attacked them to stop them attacking England.

Answer 4

The English had been contesting Spanish advances in the Spanish Netherlands, and raiding Spanish shipping in the Americas. Divided by trade competition as well as by religion, the two countries were already effectively at war.

The Dutch Republic had been warring with Spain for their independence and religious freedom for over ten years. The seventeen provinces, under the leadership of William of Orange, begged the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I for aid in their civil war. If the Dutch Republic, just across the channel from England, fell to Catholic Spain, there was no doubt that Philip II would push to eliminate Protestant England as well.

Three things led to Elizabeth I acceding to the Dutch pleas, which were:

1. The war in the Netherlands was hurting the English economy; with the turmoil, there was no market for English wools.
2. The 1584 murder of William of Orange eliminated a semblance of Dutch unity and foretold a Spanish victory
3. The collapse of Antwerp appeared to signal a Spanish sweep through the Netherlands

For these reasons, Elizabeth lent 250,000 pounds and 2,000 troops to the Dutch Republic between 1585 and 1587.

In 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots, was implicated in a plot on Elizabeth I's life; Elizabeth, who had ignored Mary's first treason, could not abide a second. Mary was beheaded on Feb. 18, 1587. Philip II of Spain had supported Mary's bid for the throne, because Mary was Catholic, and he hoped to reconvert England to Catholicism. When he learned of Mary's death, Philip II contacted the Pope, who promised Phillip 1,000,000 gold ducats the moment Spanish troops landed on English soil.

Philip's reasons for launching the Armada are thus twofold: to cut off support for the Dutch so that he could crush the rebellion in the Netherlands, and to reconvert England to Catholicism.

Answer 5

To skip a long prelude to this answer, the seventeen provinces of the Dutch Republic had been warring with Spain for their independance and religious freedom for over ten years. The seventeen provinces, under the leadership of William of Orange, begged the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I for aid in their civil war.

Since the Dutch Republic was just across the channel from England, if the Dutch Republic fell to Catholic Spain there was no doubt that Phillip II would push to eliminate Protestant England as well.

Three things led to Elizabeth I acceeding to the Dutch pleas were:

1. The war in the Netherlands was hurting the English economy; with the turmoil, there was no market for English wools.
2. The 1584 murder of William of Orange eliminated a semblance of Dutch unity and foretold a Spanish victory
3. The collapse of Antwerp appeared to signal a Spanish sweep through the Netherlands

For these reasons, Elizabeth lent 250, 000 pounds and 2, 000 troops to the Dutch Republic between 1585 and 1587.

In 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots, was implicated in a plot on Elizabeth I's life; Elizabeth, who had ignored Mary's first treason, could not abide a second. Mary was beheaded on Feb. 18, 1587.

Phillip II of Spain had supported Mary's bid for the throne, because Mary was Catholic, and he hoped to reconvert England to Catholocism. When he learned of Mary's death, Phillip II contacted the Pope, who promised Phillip 1, 000, 000 gold ducats the moment Spanish troops landed on English soil.

Phillip's reasons for launching the Armada are thus twofold; to cut off Dutch support and crush the rebellion in the Netherlands, and to reconvert England to Catholocism.

(all of this is from the textbook "A History of Western Society")

Answer 6

The Armada setting sail was a result of failed diplomatic relations with England which had been steadily falling apart for decades. When you look at what was going on in Europe at the time it becomes clear why King Philip was forced to attack England. Philip was embroiled in a civil war in the Netherlands (which Spain ruled at this time) Elizabeth felt that if the rebels fell then Spain would have the ports such as Antwerp and the huge army might cross over to England. Elizabeth began helping the rebels and harassing Spanish shipping in the channel and the high seas. This constant meddling by Elizabeth was weakening Philips position militarily and finacialy, he had to try and put an end to it. Resulting in the Armada.

It is a common belief that the Armada was launched due to Elizabeth executing Mary Queen of Scots at a similar time, this is not the case due to the fact that Philip had no connections with Mary. Mary was connected to France (the enemy of Spain.) Early in Elizabeth's reign he even called Mary a 'French puppet.' Why would he assemble one of the largest fleets in history to avenge the death of someone who was of no significance to him? It was mere coincidence that the two events occurred so close to one another.

Answer 7

For most of her long time in power Queen Elizabeth and her brother-in-law Philip of Spain were bitter enemies. For thirty years Elizabeth cunningly managed to avoid war. But when the time came for war it was reasoned for.

Philip was the most dominant king in Europe. He was a very devout catholic who believed that it was his duty to turn countries such as England that had turned protestant back to catholic belief again even if it meant war and death on the way. The fact that Elizabeth was protestant and he was catholic naturally made them enemies.

Even though the two had different religious beliefs Philip still offered to marry Queen Elizabeth. This was because he did not at that time want to see the closest Roman Catholic heir on the English throne, as it was Mary Stuart wife of the son of Philips rival the French king. When she rejected him he was embarrassed, annoyed and amazed that she rejected him, his ego was wounded greatly.

The argument was gradually made worse e ach year as English pirates attacked Philip's treasure on their way home. Although Queen Elizabeth pretended not to know anything of this many knew that she encouraged the pirates and took a share of the treasure each year.

When a rebellion rose out in the Netherlands which the Spanish owned Elizabeth sent out troops soldiers to help fight6 against Philip and again pretended to know nothing of this but secretly rewarded d each solider who helped

The last and final straw was the execution of Mary queen of Scots after keeping her in captivity Elizabeth finally decided to execute Mary and when her will was looked into it was found that even though the English kingdom wasn't hers to give Mary had left the whole country to Philip.

Answer 8

England was Protestant so Spanish wanted to invade and also the execution of Mary queen of scots and the Marriage rejected