At the time of the Spanish Armada Elizabeth I was the queen. England then was poor and not up to date. It was almost uninhabited with no major cities except London. In the sixteenth century almost everyone in Europe was a Christian. If they weren't Christian they were Protestant. Catholics believed that the Catholic Church was the only true church and the Pope was their leader. The Protestants believed that the Pope was the leader, and set up their own self-determining churches. Elizabeth was a devoted Protestant and knew that most of England were Protestants also.

In Spain, King Philip was the most powerful ruler in the world. He owned great spots of Central America and South America. The Spanish Empire was very wealthy, but Spain itself wasn't. Philip was using most of his gold and silver to pay back America for the war. Philip was a deeply religious Catholic. He spent many hours praying. He was so devoted to his religion that he thought that in ev

The journey took them into dangerous and unfamiliar waters. The cold mists chilled the crew who were already sick from the rotten food and shortage of water. By August 21st 3,000 men were already sick. September is the season for gales in Northern Ireland. Many of the ships got stuck in them. Most of the ships made it to Spain but some were driven toward Ireland. Many of the men died.

The ships were close enough so that the musketeers could shoot. There were heavy shots smashing through the decks and smoke was clouding the air from the guns. Both English and Spanish fought with great bravery in this Battle of Gravelines. After several hours of this fighting, it seemed like the Armada's crescent would never break but eventually it did when an abrupt rainstorm fell. When it cleared the English didn't attack again because they had ran out of ammunition. The fleets never fought again.

The invasion had three simple parts. The first one was that the Armada was going to sail to the Netherlands from Spain by sailing through English Channel. It had instructions to fight the English fleet only if it was attacked. The second part of the plan was the Armada would anchor in the deep waters when it reached the Netherlands. It would anchor only a few miles away from the coast. Then Parma's army would cross the shallow waters near the coast. They would cross in barges and then would join the Armada out at sea. The third section is that the Spanish army would cross to England by using the English Channel. The Armada would protect the Spanish army from English attacks. Philip ordered Parma to land on the north coast of Kent. He wanted them to unload all their supplies and equipment from the ships. After they did that they were going to march into London and capture the city.

In the summer Admiral Santa Cruz prepared the Spanish fleet to sail. People were making guns, men were being recruited, and ships were rapidly gathered from all around Spain and from Spain's allies in Europe. Unfortunately the invasion had to be postponed until the next year because Drake attacked Cadiz.

Finally Medina heard from Parma but he said he couldn't get his men ready in time. On August 7th the Spanish fleet saw fire ships . The English had sent out eight small ships and put anything that is flammable on it. In the Spanish's panic, they retreated and finally the English had broken the Spanish's formation and defenses.

Officers lived better than sailors though. On an English ship the captain's room had windows, curtains, and wooden furniture. Other officers had their own cabins but they were usually only big enough to hold a bed and a few other things.

Some common words found in the essay are:
English Usually, England Spain, English Channel, Finally Medina, Scotland Ireland, Sidonia Armada's, Medina Sidonia, Santa Cruz, Lord Howard, Lisbon Cathedral, spanish fleet, medina sidonia, english fleet, english channel, duke medina, duke medina sidonia, parma's army, spanish armada, santa cruz, king philip, england spain, sir francis drake, admiral santa cruz, famous wars history, fight english fleet,
Approximate Word count = 2062
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)