Spanish Armada

The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 – a fleet of Spanish ships led by Medina Sidonia with the purpose of overthrowing Queen Elizabeth I – is considered one of England’s greatest military achievements, and one that served to boost the monarch’s popularity. How much do you know about the naval campaign? Find our articles on the Spanish Armada below…

A painting of a ship with several white sails and flags on it. In front of the ship, there are large crowds of people in small boats

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Not 1066 again! Should we ditch our obsession with dates?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Tudor traders: keep calm and ignore the Armada. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Painting depicting the Spanish Armada

Tudor

Keep calm and carry on trading: how English merchants reacted to the Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada which threatened England in July 1588. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

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Turning points1588: The Spanish Armada. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The Spanish Armada: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada

Elizabethan

Elizabeth I: a guide to her life and rule, plus 7 facts you might not know

Elizabeth I arrives in Tilbury

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The Spanish Armada: one of history’s biggest fibs?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of Elizabeth I in a cage

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What if...The Spanish Armada had landed?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dornier 217 bombers of the Luftwaffe bomb London during the Battle of Britain. "The crucial role of the RAF in denying the Germans control of the air in 1940 and therefore persuading Hitler to abandon his invasion plans is so well known that it might seem almost sacrilegious to question it, " says Sean Lang. "But was it solely responsible for saving Britain from invasion? Not quite." (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

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9 of the most overrated battles in history (and one underrated one). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Spanish Armada defeated in the English Channel in July 1588, by Hendrick Cornelis Vroom, c1600. (Picture by DEA PICTURE LIBRARY/Getty Images)

Elizabethan

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Spanish Armada

A painting showing the defeat of the Spanish Armada

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The Spanish Armada: all at sea. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Spanish Armada: Tudor spin portrayed the events of August 1588 as a glorious English victory but, argues Robert Hutchinson, bad weather and bad tactics had more to do with the Spanish fleet's failure than Elizabethan derring-do. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

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The Spanish Armada: England's lucky escape. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.