Spanish Armada it up the east coast of England. The commander ordered a return to Spain, but the Armada was disrupted during severe storms in the North Atlantic and a large number of the vessels were wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Of the initial 130 ships over a third failed to return. As Martin and Parker explain, "Philip II attempted to invade England, but his plans miscarried, partly because of his own mismanagement, unfortunate weather, and partly because the opportunistic defensive naval efforts of the English and their Dutch allies (the use of ships set afire and sailed into
History of Western civilization Catholic Austria in the south. The Dutch, who were ruled by the Spanish at the time, revolted and gained independence, founding a Protestant country. In 1588 the staunchly Catholic Spanish attempted to conquer Protestant England with a large fleet of ships (the Spanish Armada), however a storm destroyed the fleet, bringing a famous victory to Queen Elizabeth I of England. The defeat of the Spanish Armada associated her name forever with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. The Elizabethan era is famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights