The Spanish Armada sailed from Spain in July 1588. The Spanish Armada's task was to overthrow protestant England lead by Queen Elizabeth I. The Spanish Armada proved to be an expensive disaster for the Spanish but for the English it was a celebrated victory making Sir Francis Drake even more of a hero than he already was and even having an impact on Tudor Christmas celebrations!
Why did Spain want to overthrow Elizabeth? There were a number of reasons.
at the time of Elizabeth, Spain controlled what was called the Spanish Netherlands. This consisted of modern day Holland and Belgium. In particular, Holland wanted its independence. They did not like being made to be Catholic; in fact, Protestant ideas had taken root in Holland and many of those in Holland were secret Protestants. If they had publicly stated their Protestant beliefs, their lives would have been in danger. Spain used a religious secret police called the Inquisition to hunt out Protestants. However, during Elizabeth's reign, the English had been helping the Dutch Protestants in Holland. This greatly angered the king of Spain - Philip II - who wanted to stop this. He had for a short time been married to Elizabeth's half-sister, Mary, and when they were married, England was Catholic. With England under his control, Philip could control the English Channel and his ships could have an easy passage from Spain to the Spanish Netherlands. Spanish troops stationed there could be easily supplied.
