2. MLO: Why was the Spanish Armada launched?

3. 3 Pieces of evidence needed for each one
Religious Causes
Trade Rivalry
Political Rivalry
English Involvement in the Netherlands
3 Pieces of evidence needed for each one
Plot the reasons along the thermometer
Justify which reason is the MOST important

4. Short Term Causes Drake ‘singes the King of Spain’s Beard’ 1587.
Francis Drake attacked Cadiz and over 3 days destroyed 30 ships.
This caused the Armada to be delayed by a year

5. 130 Ships, Close to 2,500 guns and 30,000 men, Phillips Armada was the largest fleet the world had ever seen.
The plan was to join up with the Duke of Parma in the Netherlands and then march 27,000 men on London and replace Elizabeth with a new Catholic monarch

6. 29th July 1588 An English ship first sights the Armada out at sea near the Isles of Scilly A fast ship goes back to pass on the news. Fire beacons are lit along the coast to warn people that the Armada are coming
5th August 1588 The commander of the Armada, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, sends a message to the Duke of Parma telling him to be ready to meet the Armada at Dunkirk. He tells him to bring plenty of ammunition as they have almost used all of theirs. Little did Medina Sidonia know that the Dutch and the English were barricading the coast of the Low Countries, preventing Parma from sending an army
6th & 7th August 1588 Reinforcement ships arrive to join the English and it is decided that the English must act quickly before Parma’s army arrive. Old ships are packed full of things that will burn, set alight and sent in the direction of Calais. The Spanish fleet panics and scatters
8th & 9th August 1588 The Spanish ships try to regroup whilst continuing to fight off the English but they are blown close to the port of Gravelines, The English continue to attack and the Armada is defeated and scatter north.
10th August 1588 The wind continues to blow against the Armada, they are unable to sail back down the English Channel and are forced to sail up the East coast and go around Scotland, past Ireland, to get back to Spain. Bad storms wreck many ships off the coast of Scotland and Ireland – only about half of the ships return to Spain

7. Highlight whether they refer to Phillips mistakes or English successes
The new English galleons were small and manoeuvrable. The canons were also easy to reload, proved at the battle of the Isle of Wight where the English fired 6x more cannonballs. However, England only had 24 Galleons of this style
Poor weather delayed the launch of the Armada and made the journey to England very hazardous. Most of the Spanish ships perished when trying to reach home around Scotland and Ireland
The English strike panic into the Spanish by sending fire ships in amongst the Spanish Fleet. They did very little actual damage, but created havoc. When they regrouped, they were defeated at the Battle of Gravelines.
English guns are very accurate and the sailors trained regularly in their use.
The English had many talented captains, including Sir Francis Drake
The Spanish leader, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, lacked experience of warfare at sea – he even suffered from seasickness!
The Spanish Armada is spotted quite quickly off the coast of Cornwall and beacons are lit all along the English coast warning of a possible invasion
The Communication between the Spanish was poor. The Duke of Medina and the Duke of Palma failed to communicate well, and therefore were unable to link up at Calais on time.
The Spanish Food supplies rotted due to poor quality barrels. Francis Drake has destroyed the best of the barrels during the raid on Cadiz
Arrange these cards into a Diamond 9, with the most significant reason for failure at the top
Highlight whether they refer to Phillips mistakes or English successes
How far do you agree with this statement – ‘The Armada failed because of Phillips poor tactical decisions’? Plan an answer

8. The Significance of the Victory
Confidence around the Globe
Armada Portrait
Tilbury Speech
Spain’s Decline in Fortunes