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Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada Essay

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Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada

The cold, stormy night was all too familiar to the English. A devious plan by Spain's king, Philip II, was being formed to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England and rid the world of the English "heretics."1 It was a story of deception, false judgments, and poor planning. What was one king's dream turned into his country's nightmare. While the Spanish had bad leaders, the English had good ones. The Spanish had bigger, but slower ships, while the English had smaller and faster ships. The English knew the weather conditions and how to prepare for them, while the Spanish thought it would not be a problem. The English entered the battle in a calm manner, while the Spanish were overconfident. All of these …show more content…

At the beginning of her reign, she made the Church of England the official religion of England and she fashioned her court after that of her fathers. For a woman during that era, Elizabeth was a very daring and smart ruler. For example, she secretly encouraged sailors such as Francis Drake to make raids on Spanish shipping and challenge their naval superiority. When she was a little girl, she was well educated and was able to speak several languages, including French, Spanish, and Latin. In addition, throughout Elizabeth's reign, there was always the threat of hostilities in some form or another. Elizabeth kept the peace between rival leaders of different religions by dominating her court so she could keep the balance of power.2 She was smart enough to come up with a plan which kept the church at bay with their questions of marriage.3 She also calmed the Spanish and the French by entertaining suitors of each respective country; Philip II of Spain and Duke of Anjou of France, but she never married either of them and was therefore known as " the Virgin queen".4 Elizabeth was a Protestant queen who was not always on good terms with most Catholic rulers of Europe. Because of that, there were several assassination plots against her so the Catholics could put Mary, Queen of Scots, in her place. During the 1580's, Elizabeth began to bring her full weight onto the catholic rebels. Hundreds of Catholics died at the stake just as the

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