The third and most unrealistic aim was to restore António to his Portuguese throne (despite the fact that he was virtually a pretender) with an English army landing in Portugal to encourage a popular revolution. If the treasure and islands could be captured, it would deprive Philip of the wealth and strategic base that funded his European campaigns. The English were to intercept the Spanish silver fleet entering from the Americas and also gain the Azores Islands, which were officially Portuguese but were occupied by Spain. The main objective outlined by Elizabeth and her Privy Council was to destroy the Spanish fleet that was being refitted at Santander and San Sebastian, but there were also unofficial aims.
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COUNTER 1 ARMADA SERIES
The English set to work raising funds and an armed force to sail to Iberia with a three-pronged series of aims. In 1580, Spain had invaded its smaller Iberian neighbour and drove out its briefly ruling king António, who fled to England.Ĭonsequently there was a small but relatively significant exiled Portuguese community in England and with the defeat of the Armada, António and his followers dreamt of regaining their homeland. To achieve this, the English would create chaos in Spain’s newly acquired backyard: Portugal. In the aftermath of the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth and her advisors saw a rare opportunity to destroy the remnants of Philip’s fleet before it was rebuilt. The defeat of the Spanish Armada elevated Elizabeth I to the demigod status of “Gloriana”. This is the grimly topsy-turvy tale of “The English Armada”. These defiant words in England’s hour of need confirmed the Virgin Queen as “Gloriana”, a fighting heroine who stood up to the most powerful country in Europe and won. England has remembered this event ever since but what has been almost completely forgotten is that in the following year the English launched their own counter-armada and suffered a shocking defeat that was just as complete as that suffered by the Spanish. “I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too.” The lighting of the coastal beacons, the fireships at Gravelines, the nimble manoeuvres of the English ships against the bulky Spanish galleons and Sir Francis Drake’s game of bowls at Plymouth, all contributed to a renewed sense of national confidence and the greatest beneficiary was Queen Elizabeth I.Įlizabeth herself had delivered one of the most famous speeches in English history during the crisis, when she proclaimed to her soldiers at Tilbury:
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Although England owed its salvation more to the inclement weather than the Royal Navy, the destruction of the armada quickly achieved legendary status.
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In 1588, the country stood within an inch of being overwhelmed and conquered by a huge naval force that had been sent by King Philip II of Spain. The defeat of the Spanish Armada has long been regarded as a crucial part of England’s national story.