Elizabeth: Spain: Commercial Rivalry

• England and Spain had a growing commercial rivalry by the 1570s involved trade and the New World, which was affected by English privateering
• Commercial rivalry

  • By the 1570s, England and Spain had emerged as commercial (trade) rivals
  • Both competed against each other for access to the markets and resources of the New World, as well as to markets in Turkey, Russia, China and North Africa
• Spain had conquered Mexico and Peru in the early 1500s. This provided the Spanish government with vast amounts of gold and silver, which were regularly shipped back to Spain. It also gave Spain control over the trade in sugar cane and tobacco.
• By Elizabeth's reign, Britain had emerged as a trade rival. Sailors, including Sir Francis Drake, were journeying great distances on trading voyages to different parts of the world
• Deteriorating relations

  • By the early 1580s, the actions of Drake and other privateers had brought England and Spain to the brink of war
  • Elizabeth, by knighting Drake, demonstrated her defiance of and hostility towards Spain's commercial interests in Europe and the New World
  • Her actions showed her support of the financial losses suffered by the Spanish government as a result of English privateering
• Privateers


  Pirates who needed to be removed by war if necessary (from Philip II's perspective)
• Spain represented a major barrier to English trade because Spanish control of the Netherlands and the Scheldt and Rhine estuaries closed off one of the principal trade routes used by English traders in Europe - this reduced the incomes and profits of English merchants
• Spain's control of the New World also denied English traders profit-making opportunities, because all trade there had to be licensed by the Spanish government.
• English merchants, financed by private investors, including Elizabeth herself, raided Spanish colonies as well as ships voyaging to and from the New World.
• Privateering


  • In one raid alone, in 1572, Sir Francis Drake captured £40000 in Spanish silver
  • A second expedition between 1577 and 1580, involving Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, resulted in the capture of a further £400000 of silver and gold
• Elizabeth also encouraged Dutch rebels, known as the Sea Beggars, to attack Spanish ships sailing between Spain and the Netherlands.
• By 1580, loss of silver meant that the Spanish government in the Netherlands was bankrupt and could not afford to pay its soldiers.