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
Spanish Empire and Protestant England. When the Spanish Armada sailed in 1588, England faced the most serious threat of invasion since the Norman Conquest of 1066. Its defeat did not end the threat. England sent out its own armada in 1589, but this endured heavy losses. In 1591, Spain reasserted its naval superiority at the Battle of Flores, when an attempt to capture its treasure fleet was thwarted. Spain had invested itself in the religious warfare in France after Henry II's death. In 1589, Henry III, the last of the Valois lineage, died at the walls of Paris. His successor, Henry IV