englands defeat of the spanish armada helped to ensure englands naval dominance

Men such as Sir Francis Drake attacked Spanish shipping off of the West Indies and Spain lost a vast sum of money when the ships carrying silver sunk or had their cargo captured by Drake. also English ‘sea-dogs’ had been causing a great deal of damage to Spain’s trade in silver. Spanish troops stationed there could be easily supplied. With England under his control, Philip could control the English Channel and his ships could have an easy passage from Spain to the Spanish Netherlands. He had for a short time been married to Elizabeth’s half-sister, Mary, and when they were married, England was Catholic. This greatly angered the king of Spain – Philip II – who wanted to stop this. However, during Elizabeth’s reign, the English had been helping the Dutch Protestants in Holland. Spain used a religious secret police called the Inquisition to hunt out Protestants. If they had publicly stated their Protestant beliefs, their lives would have been in danger. They did not like being made to be Catholic in fact, Protestant ideas had taken root in Holland and many of those in Holland were secret Protestants. In particular, Holland wanted its independence. This consisted of modern day Holland and Belgium. At the time of Elizabeth, Spain controlled what was called the Spanish Netherlands.

Englands defeat of the spanish armada helped to ensure englands naval dominance