1588Reputable sourceWell documented
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada
On the timeline · around 1588 ·
What happened
In 1588 King Philip II of Spain sent a great Armada of some 130 ships to invade Protestant England. Harried up the Channel by English guns and scattered by fireships off Calais, the Spanish fleet was mauled at the Battle of Gravelines and then wrecked by storms as it fled around Scotland and Ireland. Barely half returned home.
Why it matters
The defeat of the Armada saved England from Spanish conquest and gave the island kingdom a new confidence at sea. That maritime self-belief — and the naval power behind it — would underpin the empire to come.
Sources
- Royal Museums Greenwich. Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada · Reputable source