Anglo-Spanish War

The Anglo-Spanish War was a war fought intermittently between England and Spain from 1585-1604. War was never declared, and most of the battles were fought at sea. While there were several causes for the war, including the religious and economic rivalry between England and Spain, this conflict also arose from the ongoing Dutch War of Independence, also known as the Eighty Years' War.

Background
Since the English Reformation, the Hapsburgs had seen themselves as protectors of disenfranchised English and Irish Catholics. After the ascendancy of Queen Elizabeth and the reestablishment of Protestantism as the official state religion of England, Spanish King Philip II, the widower of Elizabeth's Catholic predecessor Mary, had an antagonistic relationship with his sister-in-law. Meanwhile, Philip was attempting to suppress a Protestant rebellion in the Netherlands led by William the Silent. A year after William's death, Elizabeth supported the Dutch rebels in the Anglo-Dutch Alliance, and in 1585, Spain declared war on England to protest this act of aggression.

Dutch Rebellion
An English army under Sir Robert Dudley travelled to the Netherlands to support William the Silent's men. The English were decisively defeated by a Spanish army led by the Duke of Parma, leaving England vulnerable if an invading army could land on Britain--something Pope Gregory XIII had indicated he was eager to see, going so far as to promise Philip a million gold ducats if he could make it happen.

The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic queen-in-exile of Scotland, was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Catholics saw her as the legitimate heir to the English throne and Elizabeth as Henry VIII's bastard daughter. Mary was at the center of a number of plots against Elizabeth's life. In 1587, Elizabeth ordered Mary's execution, further enraging Catholics the world over

The Course of the War
In 1588, Philip II sent the Spanish Armada to challenge the Royal Navy in the English Channel. It was met with defeat. However, England was not able to capitalize on its own victories, and the English Armada was defeated the following year. As the decade went on, Spanish and English navies did battle on the high seas, with England often losing. Deadlock set in at the turn of the century. Upon the death of Elizabeth, her successor James I quickly sued for peace.

Anglo-Spanish War in Ruled Britannia
The Anglo-Spanish War was temporarily ended in 1588 when the Spanish Armada bested its English adversaries and conquered the country.

Invasion of England
Prior to the invasion itself, the Armada defeated the Royal Navy and advanced to the Netherlands, where the Duke of Parma's army boarded them. The Armada then landed Parma's forces in England, where Parma once again defeated an English army. England was conquered. Elizabeth was deposed and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Most of England's Protestant aristocrats were killed or exiled, with the notable exception of William Cecil. Philip's daughter Isabella and son-in-law Albert were installed as King and Queen of England. They restored Catholicism as the state religion. Catholic Ireland became a free and sovereign nation, no longer an English feudal colony. A multinational force of Spanish, English, and Irish soldiers under the command of Spanish general Don Diego Flores de Valdes occupied England and enforced the Hapsburgs' rule.

End of Occupation of England
Upon the death of Philip II in 1598 and the ascension of the far less capable Philip III as King of Spain, Rober Cecil led a revolt of English Protestants planned by his father. The Spanish were expelled and Elizabeth was restored to the throne. The English government began plottin retribution against its enemies.