Relations with spain

• Relations between England and Spain

  Political and religious rivalry
• Relations between England and Spain had reached the point of war

  1500s
• Under Mary Tudor, Spain and England were allies


  As a Protestant country under Elizabeth, England's relationship with Spain soured
• Philip II of Spain, backed by the pope, saw Protestantism as a threat to the Catholic Church


  Many English Protestants saw Spain and Catholicism as a threat
• The Spanish Fury


  Spanish troops looted Antwerp due to lack of funds and unpaid wages
• Pacification of Ghent


  All 17 Dutch provinces (Catholic and Protestant) joined an alliance against the Spanish, calling for all Spanish troops to be expelled from the Netherlands
• By late 1584, Spanish control of the Netherlands had been restored under the Duke of Parma


  England's allies, the Duke of Alençon and William of Orange, were dead
• The Treaty of Joinville (1584) strengthened relations between Catholic France and Spain


  Dutch Catholics were ready to make peace with Spain, strengthening Philip's hold there
• The Netherlands had been Spanish since the 1400s, but many Dutch became Protestant
• A brutal Spanish campaign under the Duke of Alva aimed to restore Catholicism in the Netherlands
• Spanish Catholics persecuted many Dutch Protestants following the Council of Troubles (the Council of Blood) in 1568
• Spain's campaign in the Netherlands angered many in Elizabeth's government


  They now saw Spain as hostile - a direct threat to English Protestantism and to England itself
• Elizabeth's government's response


  1. Secretly helped Dutch Protestants resist the Spanish

  2. Allowed Dutch rebel ships (the Sea Beggars) safe passage in English ports

  3. Provided financial support to others fighting the Spanish, including volunteers led by John Casimir

  4. Encouraged English privateers, such as Sir Francis Drake, to attack Spanish shipping and colonies in Latin America

  5. Elizabeth even proposed marriage to the French heir, the Duke of Alençon, so he might be persuaded to fight Spain in the Netherlands
• By 1567, England and Spain were close to war


  • Philip II blamed English support of the Dutch rebels for making the situation worse
  • Philip II blamed English privateers for attacks on Spanish shipping
  • Elizabeth's government blamed Spain for a series of plots against Elizabeth
• Privateers were sailors on privately owned warships who attacked Spanish shipping, allowing Elizabeth to deny responsibility for their actions
• By the 1500s, the Spanish Empire had emerged as a major power in Europe and the New World, controlling vast territories and silver resources
• Spain's control of trade routes and colonies in the New World led to conflict with England, an emerging maritime and commercial power
• By Elizabeth's reign, English privateers like Sir Francis Drake were disrupting Spanish trade and colonies in the Americas
• Tensions between England and Spain were heightened by religious differences, the war in the Netherlands, and the activities of English privateers