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The Armada
Perhaps the most famous crisis of Elizabeth's reign was the launching of the Spanish Armada. The Protestant policies of Elizabeth's government led her to support rebellions in the Netherlands against the domination of the Catholic King Philip II of Spain, as well as to raid his fleets carrying gold bullion from the Americas. Philip II and Pope Sixtus V viewed the execution of Mary Queen of Scots as a final provocation. Philip assembled the Armada fleet in 1588 to carry an invasion force from the Netherlands to England. The invasion was meant to coincide with an uprising among pro-Catholic Englishmen. But the English navy and bad weather kept the Spanish forces from their goal, and the English people as a whole remained loyal to their queen.
View Transcription of Tilbury Speech
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