spanish armarda + education

• John Hawkins


  Advised Elizabeth years before that English warships needed to be fast and easily manoeuvrable so they could turn their guns on the enemy quicker
• Galleons


  New ships designed to be easier and faster to manoeuvre
• English ships


  • Cannons mounted on smaller gun carriages than on Spanish ships
  • Decks had enough space for cannon to recoil, be quickly reloaded by a small team of men and then pushed back through the gun port
• England had 24 of these new ships
• Galleons alone cannot explain Spain's defeat
• Spanish supplies


  Provisions were stored in barrels made of inferior wood
• Drake's raid on Cadiz


  Destroyed so many barrels that ones had to be made quickly
• Archaeological evidence suggests Spanish cannon balls were of poor quality
• Philip Il's plan


  1. Medina-Sidonia to join with Parma

  2. Duke of Parma did not control any deep-sea ports in the Netherlands

  3. Parma had to use lots of small ships

  4. It would take 48 hours to load, man and set sail once word came from the Duke of Medina-Sidonia to join his fleet

  5. Communications between them had to go by sea and was unreliable

  6. It took a week for word to reach Parma that Medina-Sidonia was in the Channel
• Medina-Sidonia was off Calais waiting to engage the English


  His message got through to Parma eventually, it was too late. His fleet would not be ready to set sail for another 48 hours and the English were ready to attack
• The Armada was spotted in the English Channel

  29 July 1588
• The English set sail from Plymouth


  1. Opened fire on 31 July and captured two ships

  2. Kept at a safe distance and chased the Armada down the Channel

  3. Some exchanges of heavy cannon fire off the Isle of Wight on 3-4 August
• Medina-Sidonia had hoped to anchor off the Isle of Wight


  Stopping for a couple of days might have meant that Parma received Medina-Sidonia's messages in enough time to get the Dutch fleet ready for his arrival
• The English were able to fire as many as six times more cannon balls than the Spanish and from further away
• The Earl of Nottingham realised the advantage


  Decided to conserve cannon balls
• The Battle of Gravelines, 8 August 1588


  1. On the night of 6 August, the English sent fireships in amongst the Spanish fleet

  2. They did very little actual damage to the Spanish ships; created havoc by scattering the Armada

  3. On 8 August, the English engaged the Spanish in the Battle of Gravelines
• Medina-Sidonia had to fight without Parma's ships


  Which were not ready
• Up against faster, more mobile English ships with cannons that were easier to load

  The Armada was defeated and scattered by the winds
• Most of the destruction was done by the gales that wrecked Spanish ships as they tried to return home through the treacherous waters off the Scottish and Irish coasts
• Thousands were killed
• Although Philip II had consulted his military commanders before the Armada sailed


  He seems to have ignored their suggestions, their criticisms and their concerns
• Elizabeth left the key decisions

  To her commanders:Francis Drake, the Earl of Nottingham and Lord Seymour
• Victory over the Armada gave Elizabeth I a great propaganda victory
• A special commemorative medal was struck. It said'God blew, and they were scattered. This was an important point: God clearly seemed to favour Protestantism, and Elizabeth was eager to emphasise this
• England survived an attack by a more powerful foe
• This helped nurture a feeling of English pride
• It encouraged the Dutch rebels to renew their fight against the Spanish
• The defeat of the Armada also showed the strength of the English navy
• After 1588, it also gave England the confidence to trade and explore more widely on the open sea
• The defeat cost Spain dearly, both financially and in terms of its power
• Reasons why the Armada failed

  • Superior English ships
  • Weather
  • Elizabeth listened to expert advice
  • English naval tactics
  • Poor communication between Spanish andDutch fleets
  • Armada was badly supplied
• Education in Elizabethan England

  • Education was not about nurturing talent and ambition, nor about allowing social mobility
  • Usually focused on practical skills, but could include basic literacy
  • Small percentage of children went to school at all
  • Few girls received any formal education
• Humanists


  • Believed learning was important in its own right
  • Didn't believe people should just be educated for practical reasons
  • Studied the work of ancient philosophers and mathematicians to develop a better understanding of the world
• Protestants


  • Believed people should be able to read the Bible in their own language, to develop their own relationship with God
  • This encouraged more people to become literate
  • As business and trade developed, a basic education became more important to more people, especially in towns
• It is important not to exaggerate the extent to which education developed in Elizabethan England
• For most, education was limited according to their place in the social hierarchy, and in ruralareas, where farming remained a way of life, little had changed
• Education of the nobility

  • Learned a variety of subjects such as foreign languages, including Latin and Greek, History, Philosophy, Government and Theology
  • Elizabeth I was highly educated in these subjects, many noble families ensured that their daughters were, too
  • Learned a variety of skills expected of upper class women, such as music, dancing, needlework, horse riding and archery
  • Boys were taught to be skilled in horse riding and archery too, and also fencing, swimming, wrestling and other sports thought fitting only for men
  • The eldest sons would inherit their fathers' titles, and so would have to learn how to become future noble men
  • Girls would perfect skills expected of them as a noble woman