Spanish Armada Philip expressing grave doubts about the planned campaign, but this was prevented from reaching the King by courtiers on the grounds that God would ensure the Armada's success. Prior to the undertaking, Pope Sixtus V allowed Philip II of Spain to collect crusade taxes and granted his men indulgences. The blessing of the Armada's banner on 25 April 1588, was similar to the ceremony used prior to the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. On 28 May 1588, the Armada set sail from Lisbon and headed for the English Channel. The fleet was composed of 130 ships, 8,000 sailors and 18,000
3rd Spanish Armada a large naval armada directed at England. The cost had almost been ruinous to Spain and nearly bankrupted the country's finance again. It was not as bad as the previous years failure however since gold and silver bullion was still arriving in numbers from the Americas. The insurmountable debt rose and soon after the campaign there was a further arrangement to clear it. The failure of the Armada effectively ceded the naval initiative to England who were still able to launch expeditions to Spain without much hindrance. For the first time in English naval history, effective offshore blockades were launched