Editing Philip II of Spain (section)

===After Mary I's death===
{{further|Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)}}
[[File:Dominios de Felipe II.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|Philip's European and North African dominions in 1581]]

Upon Mary's death, the throne went to [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]. Philip had no wish to sever his tie with England, and had sent a proposal of marriage to Elizabeth. However, she delayed in answering, and in that time learned Philip was also considering a [[House of Valois|Valois]] alliance. Elizabeth I was the Protestant daughter of [[Henry VIII]] and [[Anne Boleyn]]. This union was deemed illegitimate by English Catholics, who disputed the validity of both the annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon and of his subsequent marriage to Boleyn, and hence claimed that [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], the Catholic great-granddaughter of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]], was the rightful monarch.

For many years Philip maintained peace with England, and even defended Elizabeth from the Pope's threat of excommunication. This was a measure taken to preserve a European balance of power. Ultimately, Elizabeth allied England with the Protestant rebels in the Netherlands. Further, English ships began a policy of [[privateer]]ing against Spain's merchant shipping and started threatening the Spanish treasure ships coming from the New World. In one instance, English ships attacked a Spanish port. The last straw for Philip was the [[Treaty of Nonsuch]] signed by Elizabeth in 1585—promising troops and supplies to the anti-Spanish rebels in the Netherlands. Although it can be argued this English action was the result of Philip's [[Treaty of Joinville]] with the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League of France]], Philip considered it an act of war by England.

The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587 ended Philip's hopes of placing a Catholic on the English throne. He turned instead to more direct plans to invade England and return the country to Catholicism. In 1588, he sent a fleet, the [[Spanish Armada]], to rendezvous with the [[Army of Flanders]] and convey it across the English Channel. However, the operation had little chance of success from the beginning, because of lengthy delays, lack of communication between Philip II and his two commanders and the lack of a deep bay for the fleet. At the point of attack, a storm struck the [[English Channel]], already known for its harsh currents and choppy waters, which devastated large numbers of the Spanish fleet. There was a tightly fought battle against the English [[Royal Navy]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Grant |first=R. G. |title=1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History |date=2017 |page=296}}</ref> and the Spanish were forced into a retreat, and the overwhelming majority of the Armada was destroyed by the harsh weather. Although the English Royal Navy did not destroy the Armada at the Battle of Gravelines, they prevented it from linking up with the army it was supposed to convey across the channel. Thus, while the English Royal Navy only won a slight tactical victory over the Spanish, it had delivered a major strategic victory—preventing the invasion of England. Through a week of fighting the Spanish had expended 100,000 cannonballs, but no English ship was seriously damaged.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |title=Battles that Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict |date=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=183}}</ref> However, over 7,000 English sailors died from disease during the time the Armada was in English waters.

The defeat of the Spanish Armada gave great heart to the Protestant cause across Europe. The storm that smashed the Armada was seen by many of Philip's enemies as a sign of the will of God. While the invasion had been averted, England was unable to take advantage of this success. An attempt to use her newfound advantage at sea with a [[English Armada|counter-armada]] the following year failed disastrously with 40 ships sunk and 15,000 men lost.<ref>Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1972). ''Armada Española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y Aragón.'' Museo Naval de Madrid, Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval, Volume III, Chapter III. Madrid. p. 51</ref> Likewise, English buccaneering and attempts to seize territories in the Caribbean were defeated by Spain's rebuilt navy and their improved intelligence networks (although [[Capture of Cádiz|Cádiz was sacked]] by an Anglo-Dutch force after a failed attempt to seize the treasure fleet). The Habsburgs also struck back with the [[Dunkirkers]], who took an increasing toll on Dutch and English shipping.

Eventually, the Spanish attempted two further Armadas, in October 1596 and October 1597. The [[2nd Spanish Armada|1596 Armada]] was destroyed in a storm off northern Spain; it had lost as many as 72 of its 126 ships and suffered 3,000 deaths. The [[3rd Spanish Armada|1597 Armada]] was frustrated by adverse weather as it approached the English coast undetected. This [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)]] would be fought to a grinding end, but not until both Philip II (d. 1598) and Elizabeth I (d. 1603) were dead. Some of the fighting was done on land in Ireland, France, and the Netherlands, with the English sending expeditionary forces to France and the Netherlands to fight Spain, and Spain attempting to assist Irish rebellions in Ireland.