The Enterprise of England, the name given by His Most Catholic Majesty, Philip II of Spain, to the attempted overthrow of Queen Elizabeth I and the conquest of England, was part of a great plan. In 1588, when the Spanish Armada set sail for the English Channel, Philip already controlled the greater part of the accessible globe. But Europe was divided into Protestant and Roman Catholic camps and the Calvinist Spanish Netherlands were in revolt against rule from Madrid. If Philip could bring England back to Rome and, by taking possession of the powerful Tudor navy, gain the means to subdue the Dutch rebels, the Counter-Reformation and the Spanish Crown might carry all Europe before them. A Spanish victory would also relieve Spanish imperial trading vessels from constant and costly plundering by English pirates, led by the fearsome and fearless Drake, on the high seas.
Neil Hanson’s entertaining and exhaustive book sets out the issues at stake and with great clarity unravels the bewildering diplomatic, dynastic, religious and commercial turmoil of late 16th-century Europe.
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