Spanish Naval Wars against England

Due to the effects of the Naval Wars between England and Spain, England was saved from Spanish invasion and more fighting. The causes of the war started when Queen Elizabeth I came into power. In 1533, Queen Elizabeth I took power in England. While she was ruling, she allowed English pirates to attack Spanish ships, stealing money and other goods for England. This caused king Philip of Spain to take action. He assembled a fleet of about 130 ships or more and put the duke of Medina Sidonia in charge as the commander. Elizabeth was a good strategist, and a good leader. However, even with a strong leader, the English had less than 100 ships, which put them at a major disadvantage. However, even though they had less ships, they had smaller and faster ships. This made it so that they could move around the battlefield much more easily. The Spanish had larger and slower ships. The English fleet was led by Charles Howard. Both of these leaders were fairly inexperienced, however, had enough knowledge that they could easily lead a group of ships to victory. The Spanish and English fought from a long range for a while, neither doing heavy damage to each other. At midnight, on August 7, 1533, the English rushed boats towards the Armada, and the battle continued, with both armies now at a closer range.

English ships launch against the Spanish and begin firing

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During the fight, a storm formed, either destroying or throwing most Spanish ships off course. This made it so that the Spanish had trouble both communicating and grouping up with each other. Later, the people of England thought that this was God destroying the Spanish armada. The chaos formed made it so that the English now had the advantage. They moved in and forced the Spanish back towards the shallows. This made it so that the Spanish were now even more limited in maneuvering their way around the English. The victor of the battle was the English. Because of this, England was saved from Spanish invasion. Due to this, the Spanish would not be able to attack England for a while, as their armada was in wreckage. It would take the Spanish a while to recover from a lose like this.

Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588

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Reformation Questions Answered
Due to the efforts of revolutionists in old England, the reformation occurred in most of the churches in the entire land of Europe. Most of the effects of the reformation can all be traced back to a man named Martin Luther. Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany. As he got older, he was going to go to college for law, however, he decided that he would go into monastery work. He said that, during a large thunderstorm, he prayed and said that he would be a monk if he survived, which he did. After this, he became a doctor of theology. His whole life so far would be leading up to an event that would trigger a huge change in Europe: the indulgence argument. Indulgences were payments that you made to the church for forgiveness of sins. A friar by the name of Johann Tetzel was having people pay indulgences all of the time. Luther took action, posting his ideas on the church door, which would be known as the 95-theses. After this, Luther went through many different changes, eventually formed his own follower group known as Lutherans, and would change Europe and world religiously. Because of the efforts of Martin Luther, the modern church has been changed permanently. For me, it has changed both the ideas that I have personally about God and my faith, and also has made me friends that are from churches that originated from the reformation period. Later after the events of Martin Luther, the ecumenical movement occurred. This was an effort to bring people back to the Catholic Church and to restore their faith in the church. The movement was caused because Luther divided people, forcing them to decide what they believe in. This made it so that the leaders of the Catholic Church had less followers, and wanted to get them back. Around this time, the idea of Judeo-Christianity arrived. This idea made it so that the Christian religion now replaced the Jewish one, and that Christianity brought its roots from Judaism. Because of this, new churches could form, like the Lutherans and the Calvinists. Today, Judeo-Christianity is believed in because the reformation created many new opportunities for churches to form, so that today we can worship our own way. I think that the reformation was an extremely important event, because it changed the way that we would worship God, while also giving us the freedom to decide for ourselves what we believe in.


Answer these two questions:
1: Why was it unlikely that the English would win the battle? While fighting with the Spanish, what helped them win?
2: Because of the causes of the war, should Elizabeth be punished for her actions? Were her actions justified in any way? 

Work Cited:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. "Spanish Armada." Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 14 June 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/Armada-Spanish-naval-fleet.

Loutherbourg, Philippe J. Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588. 1796. London. Royal Museums Greenwitch. http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/11756.html.

"Martin Luther." Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 8 Aug. 2017, www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-9389238

Netherlandish School, Launch of Fireships against the Spanish Armada, 1590, National Maritime Museum, http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/11755.html.