The Defeat of the Invincible Armada: A Myth or a Reality?

Abstract

Covered in a mist of myth and legend, the story of that summer in the Channel drifted farther and farther from reality. Its actual results were distorted and misstated. There was a long period of uneasy peace and cold war before the actual outbreak of major hostilities. Most English historians have been certain that Elizabeth should have gone to war with Spain long before she did and have blamed her for weakness and reluctance to spend money. The leading Puritans blamed her stubborn refusal to subsidize Protestant leaders on the Continent. No ruler of this century was more sensitive to the economic interests of the country than Elizabeth. By the early 1580's the drift toward war in both countries was becoming irresistible. But neither King Philip nor Queen Elizabeth believed that war was inevitable. They both refused to the last moment to take the step of an open declaration of war. They both wanted to preserve a semblance of peace between their two countries. There were, however, strong arguments for peace. Modern historians have cited the Spanish monopoly of the American trade as a cause of the war.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v4n3p33