Why did the Spanish Armada start?
Phillip wanted to remove Elizabeth I from the throne of England. Elizabeth was a Protestant, and was supporting Dutch Protestant rebels in the Spanish Netherlands. Further, Elizabeth actively encouraged attacks by English sea captains such as Drake and Raleigh on Spanish possessions and ships in the Americas (Elizabeth shared in the profits of such activities). A combination of these 2 things was having a deleterious effect on the Spanish economy, so Philip decided to deal with the root cause of the problem, by invading and conquering England, thus deposing Elizabeth. As a devout Catholic, Phillip represented his Armada as the work of God, and further dressed up the expedition as revenge for the execution in 1587 of the Catholic Mary of Queen of Scots by Elizabeth.(Elizabeth saw her cousin Mary as a constant threat, Catholic plotters hoping to place Mary on the throne of England). In truth, Armada preparations had been going on for some years before Mary was even put on trial, and if P
