During the age of exploration, the great European nations fought amongst themselves for their share of the new world. There were constant battles over the lands of the Americas and Africa. The two main religions of Europe were trying to spread its reach to new parts of the world and each had countries pushing each religion as much as they could. The Anglo-Spanish War between England and Spain during 1585-1604 is a great example of this, although it was never official declared a war. One thing that made this war quite note worthy was the Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130-armed ship versus the well-trained navy of England. It is possible the world most famous naval battle and showed the true strength of England. This is a look into the causes, the war itself and the after affects on both countries. The Protestant Reformation had a huge impact on relationships between the European countries. Before Luther’s revolution shook up Europe, all those countries were united in one thing, Catholicism All powers of Europe were catholic and fought hard to spread the word of Jesus to the point of war (The Crusades during the Middles Ages) but the church’s hold began to slip away from people after they thought God had left them to fend for themselves (The Black Plague) (Greer, &Lewis 400-335). After the destruction of Europe through “God’s Wrath” people didn’t have as strong of ties to the church because they felt God had left them during thier greatest time of need. The ideas of Humanism during the Renaissance furthered the distanced the relationship between the people of Europe, especially the upper and middle class, and the church (Greer, & Lewis 400-335) (Spitz 1-58). Then Luther came along, an innocent monk trying to improve what he truly bel... ... middle of paper ... .... The English did this all day until then ran out of ammo and at the end of the day of fighting the Spanish had lost 5 of their big warship along with five hundred dead and eight hundred wounded (Armesto 200-180). Works Cited Book 1 Spitz, Lewis. The Protestant Reformation. 1st. 1. New York: Haper & Row, 1985. 384-01. Print. In Text (Spitz 384-01) (1-58) has to do with the reformation Book 2 Mattingly, Garrett. The Armada. 1st. 1. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1959. 396-01. Print. In text (Mattingly 396-01) Book 3 Greer, Thomas, and Gavin Lewis. A Brief History of the Western World. 9th. 1. United States: Thomson & Wadsworth, 2005. 400-335. Print. In text (Greer, and Lewis 400-335) Book 4 Armesto, Felipe. The Spanish Armada: The Experince of War in 1588. 1. 1. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1988. 268-01. Print. In text (Armesto 268-01)
Looking back into the history of certain events affords the modern researcher the ability to examine a variety of documents and artifacts. It is important, however, to take into account biases, inaccuracies, errors in translation, and overall misinformation when examining primary sources, particularly historical documents. Examining the history of the conquest of the Aztec empire is no different, and in a scenario as tense as it was it is extremely important to consider the authorship of the text. Bernal Diaz’ The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico offer two distinct looks into the same event in history. Both documents offer differing takes of the same events, so when
the English sent eight burning ships into the crowded harbor at Calais. The panicked Spanish ships were forced to cut their anchors and sail out to sea to avoid catching fire. The disorganized fleet, completely out of formation, was attacked by the English off Gravelines at dawn. In a decisive battle, the superior English guns won the day, and the devastated Armada was forced to retreat north to Scotland. The English navy pursued the Spanish as far as Scotland and then turned back for want of supplies.Battered by storms and suffering from a dire lack of supplies, the Armada sailed on a hard journey back to Spain around Scotland and Ireland. Some of the damaged ships foundered in the sea while others were driven onto the coast of Ireland and wrecked. By the time the last of the surviving fleet reached Spain in October, half of the original Armada was lost and some 15,000 men had
up to a mile out to sea and the Armada's ships needed at least 20
The Spanish armada was known as the most powerful navy in the world and they were prepared to go overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth was known as a corrupt international political leader, she also encouraged her own Navy to rob Spanish ships that were caring valuable exports from America. The Spanish were ready for revenge; “nearly 140 ships and 24,000 men were supposed to rendezvous with an army of similar size in the Netherlands” (Tompson 1). With a navy this size aiming to overthrow the Queen, the odds were not in favor for the English. The Spanish were even known for having the world’s strongest navy. As they Spanish headed to the Netherlands to meet up with more troops and the other half of their navy, the English fleet intercepted them. On the first day “the English countered with a fleet about 200” they kept their distance and only “annoyed them with long range gunnery” (Tompson 1). As being outnumbered the English were very smart in keeping their distance. This was just the beginning of the English pestering the Spanish with their long-range gunnery. The Spanish armada was heavily weighted with foot soldiers to board the English vessels, but “the English f...
3. Jackson J. Spielvogel. Western Civilization Third Edition, A Brief History volume 1: to 1715. 2005 Belmont CA. Wadsworth Publishing
The loss of the Spanish Armada was a combination of a variety of factors. Not only did, the weather play a role, but the English recognizing the Spanish skill in boarding and close-quarter fighting operations and adjusting made the Armada even more vulnerable: "... The English adopted new tactics, which were to use their maneuverability and greater speed to fire cannon from a longer range." As such, the English were not often able to concentrate their fire enough to sink the Spanish ships but they did cause damage which would be detrimental on the Armada's journey in the North Sea. The English also used the Fireship which, even though the Spanish anticipated it, it still caused great damage to Spanish moral . "Receiving signals about the impending danger, anxious captains slipped or cut their cables to move out to sea... [and] lost precious anchors that they would need desperately during the epic that lay before them."
The Spanish Armada was a fleet assembled and dispatched by King Phillip II of Spain in attempt to invade England in 1588. His attempt was unsuccessful. Queen Elizabeth I of England held the defeat of the armada as one of her greatest achievements, assisting the decline of the Spanish Empire. The armada had a mission of both political and religious aims. King Phillip, the leader of the Roman Catholic Spain, was not able to stop a revolt in of his Protestant subjects in the Netherlands, a revolt that began in 1566, aided by Protestant England. By 1586, Phillip had decided that he could not defeat the Dutch until he had defeated England first. Long time religious rivalry between Spain and England was hoped to be resolved by King Phillip in the dethroning of Queen Elizabeth, reconverting England to Catholicism. The plan for conquering had begun. This plan consisted of the coordination of a fleet to sail from Spain and an army from the Netherlands to create a simultaneous invasion of England. His force of 130 ships and more than 30,000 men was to be led by Alonso Peréz Guzmán, duke of Medina- Sidonia. England was aware of the Spanish plans, attacking it at Cádiz, Spain in 1587, succeeding in delaying it for a year. By July of 1588, the armada was spotted off the coast of England on July 29. Lord Charles Howard intercepted it with a larger English fleet near Plymouth, and for the next week made small attacks on the Spanish in battles off of Plymouth, Portland Bill, and the Isle of Wight. Unable to break the Spanish Armada, they waited for their chance at a big blow. The opportunity finally arrived when the armada anchored near Calais, France, hoping to join troops scheduled to sail from the Netherlands. Ingeniously, Howard ordered ships set on fire to be sent against the armada, producing a panic that broke the Spanish formation. In the ensuing battle of Gravelines, on August 8, the Spanish were defeated by England and the armada sailed home with remaining ships that were heavily damaged to Spain; 67 of the original 130 ships reached Spain, most in poor condition.
“The Conquest of New Spain” is the first hand account of Bernal Diaz (translated by J.M. Cohen) who writes about his personal accounts of the conquest of Mexico by himself and other conquistadors beginning in 1517. Unlike other authors who wrote about their first hand accounts, Diaz offers a more positive outlook of the conquest and the conquistadors motives as they moved through mainland Mexico. The beginning chapters go into detail about the expeditions of some Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernando Cotes. This book, though, focuses mainly on Diaz’s travels with Hernando Cortes. Bernal Diaz’s uses the idea of the “Just War Theory” as his argument for why the conquests were justifiable
Gunpowder’s effect on the world can be exemplified through the grand changes in weapons. This can be shown through the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 by the English navy. In this sea battle, the Spanish Armada outnumbered the English navy immensely turning the odds against the English. However, the Spanish Armada still used old boarding tactics while the English used advanced weaponry. In the end, “the English used their superior firepower to whittle away the Spanish forces” (Schlager). The English navy's victory over the Spanish Armada illustrates the effects of the invention of gunpowder. With the successful usage of advanced gunpowder based weapons, the English navy crushed the opposition even when the Spanish Armada clearly had the upper hand. The defeat of the Spanish Armada shows that weapons based on gunpowder allowed countries with smaller armies to have a higher chance in winning their fights. The gunpowder weapons proved to be a tactical advant...
At the start of the sixteenth century, the Reformation had put an ungracious end to the dependent unification that had prevailed under the Roman Catholic Church. In response to the growing sense of corruption in the church, the reformation began. Many people began opposing views of how Christian practices were expressed, which led to the formation and spread of Protestantism. While the Pope is head of the Catholic Church, Protestantism is a general term that refers to Christianity that is not subject to papal authority. (1.)
The United States would declare war with Spain on April 25, 1898. This act of war would throw the entire Western part of the world into conflict. The Spanish-American war would start because of a attack on the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor in February of 1898. The ship would sink taking American lives with it. As a direct result of this war, Spain would lose its influence in what remained of its empire in the west. War would come to a halt following the Treaty of Paris which was signed on December 10, 1898. In this essay we will explore the days leading to the war, key battles, key leaders, and what would happen to Spain’s overseas empire following the Treaty of Paris agreement.
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Gonzalez, Justo L. 1984. The early church to the dawn of the Reformation. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
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