Changes

The Spanish Armada is one of the great ‘ifs’ in history. If the Spanish ships had been able to rendezvous with Flanders' army and transported it across the Channel, England may have been defeated. The Spanish army was considered the best in Europe at this time, and it was composed not only of Spanish but also German veterans. The English army was mainly composed of local militias and was poorly led and trained. In a set-piece battle, the Spanish forces would most likely have been victorious and deposed Elizabeth I on land.  The kingdom of England would have become part of the Spanish Empire. Phillip II did not plan to rule it directly but planned to place a Catholic on the throne. Philip wanted an ally that would become dependent on Spain. The defeat of the Armada prevented this from happening and secured the independence of England. England's victory allowed her to become a major world power by the eighteenth century.<ref> Holmes, p. 257</ref>

Phillip II wanted to return England to Catholicism. If the Armada had been successful, then it seems likely that a Catholic king or queen would have been placed on the throne. They would have had the power to overturn the Protestant establishment in the country. No longer would the Church of England by the state church, and once again, the Catholic Church would have been the only recognized religion.  Phillip II believed that it was right for a monarch to ensure religious conformity in their kingdom. The new Catholic monarch probably would have persecuted Protestants in much the same way as Mary I had during her reign. With Catholicism re-established, this could have hobbled Protestantism in England.

On the other hand, English Catholics faced an increasingly difficult life in England after the Armada's destruction. Catholics, known as ‘recusants,’ refused to recognize the Church of England. They came under official and unofficial pressure to conform to the state religion and give up their faith.<ref> Bridgen, p. 234</ref> Even loyal English Catholics became suspect, and as a result, more and Catholics converted to Protestantism.  By the end of Elizabeth's reign, England was a Protestant nation, with only a small oppressed Catholic minority. The Armada had played an important role in this process. Phillip II had attempted to overturn the religious settlement in England, but his attempted invasion only strengthened it. England's people began to see themselves in providential terms and biblical terms as an ‘elect nation.’ <ref>Krishan Kumar. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521777364/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0521777364&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=40a0da3a27c0edae7a7be1c813dd2ca4 The Making of English national identity]</i> (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 45</ref> The English began to believe that they were chosen by God to carry out his will. This sense of mission was crucial in later decades and was an important factor in the growth of English power, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

<div class="portal" style='float:right; width:35%'>====Related DailyHistory.org Articles====*[[What was the impact of the German Peasant War (1524-1527) on the Reformation?]]*[[Top 10 Books on the origins of the Italian Renaissance]]*[[How did the Renaissance influence the Reformation?]]*[[What were the causes of the Northern Renaissance?]]*[[Why did the Reformation fail in Renaissance Italy?]]</div>[[File: Armada One.jpg|250px|thumbnail|left|Sir Francis Drake]]It has often been stated that the Armada's defeat ended the Spanish superiority at sea and began England’s rise as a global naval power. This was not the case. The year following the Spanish Armada defeat, the English monarch launched the ‘English Armada.’<ref>Bridgen, p. 135</ref>  This was a naval attack on Spain was heavily defeated with substantial English losses. Madrid changed its strategy, and a series of fortifications were built in the Americas that gave greater protection against English and other privateers. Spain, after the defeat of the Armada, remained the premier maritime power outside China.  However, the Armada defeat did lead to long-term changes that proved to be very important in England's rise as a naval power. After the attempted Spanish invasion, there was a recognition that the English needed a strong navy, and successive English administrations pursued policies that helped to expand the navy. England focused on developing new technologies and building ‘modern shipyards.’ <ref>Holmes, p. 217</ref> These changes laid the groundwork for England's naval power.

The defeat of the Armada was a major turning point in English history. It saved the throne of Elizabeth I and guaranteed English independence from Spain. The Spanish saw the invasion as a crusade and one that would stamp out the heresy of Protestantism in England. The failure of the invasion meant that Protestantism became more entrenched and less sympathetic to Catholicism. Indeed, in the aftermath of the Armada, Protestantism became part of the national identity. To be English was to be a Protestant and to reject Catholicism.  The attempted Spanish invasion led to the adoption of an anti-Catholic discourse, known as Popery, and this was an important factor in English political life for over two centuries. The Armada did not end Spanish maritime supremacy, but it did lead to England becoming a formidable naval power. This allowed it to found colonies and trading companies in the early seventeenth century to lay the British Empire's foundation.