Editing Elizabeth I (section)

===Spain===
{{Main|Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)}}
[[File:Nícholas-Hilliard-Elizabeth-I-Queen-of-England-c-1586-87.tif|thumb|left|Portrait from 1586 to 1587, by Nicholas Hilliard, around the time of the voyages of [[Francis Drake]]]]

With England at war with Spain in 1585, Francis Drake undertook a year long voyage raiding Spanish ports and ships in the [[Caribbean]]. In 1587 he made a [[Singeing the King of Spain's Beard|successful raid]] on [[Cádiz]], destroying the Spanish fleet of war ships intended for the ''Enterprise of England'',<ref>Parker, 193–194.</ref> as Philip II had decided to take the war to England.<ref name="haigh138">Haigh, 138.</ref>

On 12 July 1588, the [[Spanish Armada]], a great fleet of ships, set sail for the channel, planning to ferry a Spanish invasion force under the Duke of Parma to the coast of southeast England from the Netherlands. To intercept the Armada, Elizabeth sent her navy led by Francis Drake and [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham|Charles Howard]]. The armada was defeated by a combination of miscalculation,{{Efn|When the Spanish naval commander, the [[Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia|Duke of Medina Sidonia]], reached the coast near Calais, he found the Duke of Parma's troops unready and was forced to wait, giving the English the opportunity to launch their attack.<ref>Loades, 64.</ref>}} misfortune, and an attack of English [[fire ships]] off [[Gravelines]] at midnight on 28–29 July (7–8 August New Style), which dispersed the [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish]] ships to the northeast.<ref>Black, 349.</ref> The Armada straggled home to Spain in shattered remnants, after [[Spanish Armada in Ireland|disastrous losses on the coast of Ireland]] (after some ships had tried to struggle back to Spain via the [[North Sea]], and then back south past the west coast of Ireland).<ref name="neale300">Neale, 300.</ref> Unaware of the Armada's fate, English militias mustered to defend the country under the Earl of Leicester's command. Leicester invited Elizabeth to inspect her troops at [[Tilbury]] in Essex on 8 August. Wearing a silver breastplate over a white velvet dress, she addressed them in her [[Speech to the Troops at Tilbury]]:

{{Blockquote|My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourself to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people&nbsp;... I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any Prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm.<ref>Somerset, 591; Neale, 297–298.</ref>}}

[[File:Elizabeth I (Armada Portrait).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Portrait commemorating the defeat of the [[Spanish Armada]], depicted in the background. Elizabeth's hand rests on the globe, symbolising her international power. One of three known versions of the "[[Armada Portrait]]".]]

When no invasion came, the nation rejoiced. Elizabeth's procession to a thanksgiving service at [[Old St Paul's Cathedral|St Paul's Cathedral]] rivalled that of her coronation as a spectacle.<ref name=neale300/> The defeat of the armada was a potent propaganda victory, both for Elizabeth and for Protestant England. The English took their delivery as a symbol of God's favour and of the nation's inviolability under a virgin queen.<ref name=loades61/> However, the victory was not a turning point in the war, which continued for another sixteen years.<ref name="xucglh">Black, 353.</ref>

In 1589, the year after the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth sent to Spain the ''[[English Armada]]'' or ''Counter Armada'' with 23,375 men and 150 ships, led by Francis Drake as admiral and [[John Norris (soldier)|John Norreys]] as general. The English fleet suffered a catastrophic defeat with 11,000–15,000 killed, wounded or died of disease<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bucholz |first1=R. O. |title=Early modern England 1485–1714: a narrative history |last2=Key |first2=Newton |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-6275-3 |page=145}}.</ref><ref>Hampden, John ''Francis Drake, privateer: contemporary narratives and documents'' (Taylor & Francis, 1972). {{ISBN|978-0-8173-5703-0}}, 254.</ref><ref name="Fernández Duro 1972 p.51">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, Tomo III, Capítulo III. Madrid, p. 51.</ref> and 40 ships sunk or captured.<ref name="Fernández Duro 1972 p.51"/> The advantage England had won upon the destruction of the Spanish Armada was lost, and the Spanish victory marked a revival of Philip II's naval power through the next decade.<ref>Elliott, J. H. ''La Europa dividida (1559–1598)'' (Editorial Critica, 2002). {{ISBN|978-8-4843-2669-4}}, 333.</ref>

While the English navy kept an eye on the next invasion, it was left for English privateers to see to the hunt for Spanish and Portuguese treasure ships. They would take part in highly lucrative joint stock expeditions to raid and plunder settlements and shipping in the Atlantic and on the Spanish Main. Known as ''[[Elizabethan Sea Dogs]]''; they included the likes of Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh. Elizabeth's court and powerful London merchants were at the forefront of promoting, equipping and financing these expeditions, which were authorized by Elizabeth. She alone would receive nearly a third of the profits, which in addition filled her realm's coffers.{{sfn|Bicheno|2012|pp=308-309}} One of the most notable prizes was a large and highly valuable Portuguese [[Carrack]], the ''[[Madre de Deus]]'' which was taken [[Battle of Flores (1592)|in battle]] off the Azores in 1592. It was subject to mass theft after arrival in Dartmouth, which angered Elizabeth, but even so the rest of the cargo was still half the wealth of the English treasury at the time.

There were a number of failures; the most notable being Drake and Hawkins on a [[Drake's Assault on Panama|disastrous expedition]] to the Caribbean in 1595 during which both died, the news of which shocked Elizabeth.{{sfn|Bicheno|2012|pp=285-86}} Despite this, a new breed of Sea Dogs came to fruition, the likes of [[James Lancaster]], [[William Parker (privateer)|William Parker]] and the most successful of all [[Christopher Newport]]. Although they failed to capture any of the major treasure ships, Elizabeth's 'Sea Dogs' were highly successful; a strategy of harassment brought in an average of 15% of nation's imports every year throughout the war.{{sfn|MacCaffrey|1994|p=108}}

In 1596 Elizabeth sent the [[Capture of Cádiz|second English armada]] to Cádiz, in the hope of seizing the treasure fleet. Led by her favorite the Earl of Essex, Elizabeth's fleet with Dutch support, succeeded in capturing Cádiz costing the Spanish some 32 ships sunk along with the treasure in them.{{sfn|Wernham|1994|pp=130-33}} The victory was hailed as a triumph, and Essex became a hero - his prestige rivalling Elizabeth's. The Queen accused Essex of pilfering Spanish treasure, and questioned why he had dished out knighthoods whilst in Cádiz, reminding him he had no authority to do so.{{sfn|Hammer|1999|pp=371-373}}

Meanwhile, in revenge for Cádiz, Philip II sent his [[second Spanish Armada]] to England a few months later, but this met with disaster - storms swept away the fleet before it saw sight of England, costing nearly 5,000 men and 40 ships sunk. This, along with the Cádiz raid forced Spain to declare bankruptcy that year. Undeterred, Philip sent the [[third Armada]] in 1597, but near the English coast another storm dispersed the fleet, losing another 28 ships sunk or captured and 2,000 men.{{sfn|Bicheno|2012|pp=289-293}} Elizabeth awarded Charles Howard the title of the [[Earl of Nottingham]] for his performance during the campaign. The Queen nevertheless was furious with the Earl of Essex who had been away on a [[Islands Voyage|failed expedition to the Azores]], accusing him of making England defenseless – their relationship became ever more strained.{{sfn|Graham|2013|pp=214-15}}

After the death of Philip II in 1598, his successor Philip III built up his fleet once more and sent the [[fourth Spanish Armada]] to Ireland in 1601 to assist the rebels there. The Spanish this time made landfall and held the town of [[Kinsale]] for three months but following the defeat of the rebels outside the town the Spanish were forced to surrender their entire force along the Southwest Irish coast.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tenace |first1=Edward |title=A Strategy of Reactions: The Armadas of 1596 and 1597 and the Spanish Struggle for European Hegemony |journal=English Historical Review |date=2003 |volume=118 |issue=478 |pages=855–882 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3491126 |access-date=26 February 2025 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ehr/118.478.855 |jstor=3491126 }}</ref> This defeat weakened Spanish resolve in the war against England; both sides were nevertheless exhausted and peace was signed between England and Spain with the [[Treaty of London (1604)|Treaty of London]] in 1604, a year after Elizabeth's death.{{sfn|Wernham|1994|p=413}}

[[Walter Raleigh]] claimed after her death that Elizabeth's caution had impeded the war against Spain:

{{Blockquote|If the late queen would have believed her men of war as she did her scribes, we had in her time beaten that great empire in pieces and made their kings of figs and oranges as in old times. But her Majesty did all by halves, and by petty invasions taught the Spaniard how to defend himself, and to see his own weakness.<ref>Haigh, 145.</ref>}}

Though some historians have criticised Elizabeth on similar grounds,{{Efn|For example, C. H. Wilson castigates Elizabeth for half-heartedness in the war against Spain.<ref name="Haigh, 183">Haigh, 183.</ref>}} Elizabeth had good reason not to place too much trust in her commanders, who once in action tended, as she put it herself, "to be transported with an haviour of vainglory".<ref>Somerset, 655.</ref>