Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)W
Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England that was never formally declared. The war was punctuated by widely separated battles, and began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was then the Spanish Netherlands under the command of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in support of the resistance of the States General to Spanish Habsburg rule.

2nd Spanish ArmadaW
2nd Spanish Armada

The 2nd Spanish Armada also known as the Spanish Armada of 1596 was a naval operation that took place during the Anglo–Spanish War. Another invasion of England or Ireland was attempted in the autumn of 1596 by King Philip II of Spain. In an attempt at revenge for the English sack of Cadiz in 1596, Philip immediately ordered a counter strike in the hope of assisting the Irish rebels in rebellion against the English crown. The strategy was to open a new front in the war, forcing English troops away from France and the Netherlands, where they were also fighting.

Battle of San Juan (1595)W
Battle of San Juan (1595)

The Battle of San Juan (1595) was a Spanish victory during the Anglo–Spanish War. This war broke out in 1585 and was fought not only in the European theatre but in Spain's American colonies. After emerging from six years of disgrace following the resounding defeat of the English Armada at Lisbon in 1589, Francis Drake embarked on a long and disastrous campaign against Hispanic America, suffering several consecutive defeats there. On 22 November 1595 Drake and John Hawkins tried to invade San Juan with 27 ships and 2,500 men. After failing to be able to land at the Ensenada del Escambron on the eastern end of San Juan Islet, he attempted to sail into San Juan Bay with the intention of sacking the city. Unable to capture the island, following the death of his comrade, John Hawkins, Drake abandoned San Juan, and set sail for Panama where he died from disease and received a burial at sea after failing to establish an English settlement in America.

Capture of CádizW
Capture of Cádiz

The Capture of Cádiz in 1596 was an event during the Anglo-Spanish War, when English and Dutch troops under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and a large Anglo-Dutch fleet under Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, with support from the Dutch United Provinces, raided the Spanish city of Cádiz.

Capture of Recife (1595)W
Capture of Recife (1595)

The Capture of Recife also known as James Lancaster's 1595 Expedition or Lancaster's Pernambucan expedition was an English military expedition during the Anglo–Spanish War in which the primary objective was the capture of the town and port of Recife in the Captaincy of Pernambuco in the Portuguese colony of Brazil in April 1595. An English expedition of ships led by James Lancaster sailed via the Atlantic capturing numerous prizes before he captured Recife. He held the place for nearly a month and then proceeded to defeat a number of Portuguese counterattacks before leaving. The booty captured was substantial, Lancaster chartered Dutch and French ships that were also present there thus making the expedition a military and financial success.

Capture of Santiago (1585)W
Capture of Santiago (1585)

The Capture of Santiago was a military engagement that took place between 11–28 November 1585 during the newly-declared Anglo-Spanish War. An English expedition led by Francis Drake captured the port town of Cidade Velha in the Cape Verde islands that had recently belonged to the Crown of Portugal. He sacked it and then marched inland before doing the same at São Domingos and Praia. Afterwards Drake left and continued his expedition to successfully raid the Spanish possessions in the Americas.

Gjergj CressiacW
Gjergj Cressiac

George Cressiac, , was an Albanian Epirote chief and commander in service of the Duke of Parma of Spain during the Anglo-Spanish War. In September 1586, Peregrine Bertie, the 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, under Queen Elizabeth, commanding an English army, captured Cressiac after a duel. Cressiac then said in French: "I yield myself to you".

Francis Drake's circumnavigationW
Francis Drake's circumnavigation

Francis Drake's circumnavigation, also known as Drake's Raiding Expedition, was an important historical maritime event that took place between 15 December 1577 and 26 September 1580. Authorised by Queen Elizabeth I and led by Francis Drake; the latter sailed with five ships in what was termed a 'voyage of discovery', although in effect it was an ambitious covert raiding voyage and the start of England's challenge to Spain's global domination.

He blew with His winds, and they were scatteredW
He blew with His winds, and they were scattered

He blew with His winds, and they were scattered is a phrase used in the aftermath of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, when the Spanish fleet was broken up by a storm, which was also called the Protestant Wind. The phrase seems to have had its origin in an inscription on one of the many commemorative medals struck to celebrate the occasion.

Preston–Somers expeditionW
Preston–Somers expedition

The Preston–Somers expedition, or the Capture of Caracas, was a series of military actions that took place from late May till the end of July 1595 during the Anglo-Spanish War. The English expedition headed by George Somers and Amyas Preston sailed to the Spanish Main initially intending to support Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition which set out at the same time.

Raleigh's El Dorado ExpeditionW
Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition

Raleigh's El Dorado expedition, also known as Raleigh's first voyage to Guiana, was an English military and exploratory expedition led by Sir Walter Raleigh that took place during the Anglo-Spanish War in 1595. The expedition set out in February 1595 to explore the Orinoco River on the northeast tip of South America in an attempt to find the fabled city of El Dorado.

Siege of CoruñaW
Siege of Coruña

The Siege of Coruña, also known as the Defense of Corunna, was a series of military encounters between the English Armada, also known as the Counter Armada or the Drake-Norris Expedition, a revenge English expedition within the Anglo-Spanish war, and the defenders of the fishermen's city of Corunna in Galicia on May 1589. It represented the first interaction between the Drake-Norris Expedition and the Spanish troops and set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

Singeing the King of Spain's BeardW
Singeing the King of Spain's Beard

Singeing the King of Spain's Beard is the derisive name given to a series of attacks by the English privateer Francis Drake against the Spanish in the summer of 1587, beginning in April with a raid on Cádiz. This was an attack on the Spanish naval forces assembling in the Bay of Cádiz in preparation for the planned expedition against England. Much of the Spanish fleet was destroyed, and substantial supplies were destroyed or captured. There followed a series of raiding parties against several forts along the Portuguese coast. A Spanish treasure ship, returning from the Indies, was also captured. The damage caused by the English delayed Spanish preparations for the Armada by more than a year.

The Spanish ArmadasW
The Spanish Armadas

The Spanish Armadas is a 1972 non-fiction history book by the British author Winston Graham. It concerns the Anglo-Spanish War of the late Elizabethan era. The period held a fascination for Graham, who had previously written a novel The Grove of Eagles about it nine years earlier.

Thomas Cavendish's circumnavigationW
Thomas Cavendish's circumnavigation

Thomas Cavendish's circumnavigation was a voyage of raid and exploration by English navigator and sailor Thomas Cavendish which took place during the Anglo–Spanish War between 21 July 1586 and 9 September 1588. Following in the footsteps of Francis Drake who circumnavigated the globe, Thomas Cavendish was influenced in an attempt to repeat the feat. As such it was the first deliberately planned voyage of the globe.

Treaty of London (1604)W
Treaty of London (1604)

The Treaty of London, signed on 18 August O.S. 1604, concluded the nineteen-year Anglo-Spanish War. The treaty restored the 'Status quo' between the two nations. The negotiations probably took place at Somerset House in Westminster and are sometimes known as the Somerset House Conference.

Watts' West Indies and Virginia expeditionW
Watts' West Indies and Virginia expedition

Watts' West Indies and Virginia expedition also known as the Action of Cape Tiburon was an English expedition to the Spanish Main during the Anglo–Spanish War. The expedition began on 10 May and ended by 18 July 1590 and was commanded by Abraham Cocke and Christopher Newport. This was financed by the highly renowned London merchant John Watts. The English ships intercepted and dispersed Spanish convoys capturing, sinking, and grounding many ships off the Spanish colonies of Hispaniola, Cuba, and Jamaica. Despite losing an arm, Newport was victorious and captured a good haul of booty. A breakaway expedition from this discovered that the Roanoke colony was completely deserted and which gave the name The Lost Colony.