Term Papers on King Philip II

Term Paper Title	King Philip II
# of Words	834
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.34

King Philip II

Philip II was a key figure in Spanish history.  His
reign was the beginning of the end of Spain’s power.
The most outstanding contribution of Philip II was his
construction of the Spanish Armada even though its
efforts failed.
     Even though Spain and England were officially at
peace with each other they still had bad feelings for
each other.  Spain had been taking gold and silver from
land that they had claimed in the Americas and England
wanted them to share the wealth.  Philip II did not
give Queen Elizabeth any of his money so she encouraged
Francis Drake and other seamen to raid Spanish ships
and towns.  Other conflicts between the countries were
their religious differences.  Spain was Roman Catholic
and most of England was Protestant.  In the 1560’s
England started to help the Dutch Protestants who were
rebelling against Spain at that time, so that added to
the friction between the two nations.  Starting in the
early 1580’s Philip II began planning to send a fleet
and army to invade England.  I doing this he hoped to
stop the raids and convert England from Protestantism
to Catholicism.(The World Book Encyclopedia, pg. 755)
     So the construction began in 1586.  King Philip II
built many new warships, rearmed his existing ones more
heavily, and also rented ships from other countries.
The Spanish Armada alone cost Philip II 10,000,000
ducats.(J.H. Elliott, pg. 279)  The Armada was brought
together in May of 1588 at the Portuguese port of
Lisbon.  The fleet had 130 ships and over 29,000 men,
most of whom were soldiers.  Some of the ships lacked
guns and experienced gunners while other ships lacked
ammunition because they were only transport ships.
Philip II named the experienced military planner but
inexperienced seaman, Duke of Medina Sidonia, the
commander of the Spanish Armada.(The World Book
Encyclopedia, pg. 755)
     England also prepared for the battle that was at
hand.  They armed many of their merchant vessels and
added them to their warships.  England’s fleet had 197
ships and almost 16,000 men, most of whom were sailors
rather that soldiers like Spain.  England had the
advantage in ships but Spain had the advantage in men.
Admiral Lord Howard of Effington was put in command of
the English fleet and his squadron leaders included
Sir Frances Drake, John Hawkins, and Martin Frobisher.
(The World Book Encyclopedia, pg. 756)
     The Armada left the port on May 30, 1588 and
entered the English channel on July 30 where long range
gun duels were fought with English warships for the
next few days.  On August 6 the Armada anchored at
Calais France where they had planned to meet ...

This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Digital Term Papers. Please register below now!

Digital Term Papers has over 63,000 essays, term papers, and book notes online. Many paper sites will charge you hundreds of dollars for a single paper. Digital Term Papers only charges $14.95 for a one month membership with instant account activation!

Don't waste anymore time! Join NOW!!!

1 Month (automatic renewal) ($14.95)

3 Months (automatic renewal) ($29.95)

6 Months (one-time billing) ($39.95)

Pay by: