“Against the Spanish Armada” was a political discourse delivered by Elizbeth I, Queen of England and Ireland between 1533 and 1603. This speech was addressed to her ground troops gathered in Tilbury, near the Thames estuary, on the 19th of August 1588, during the 16 Century and the Elizabethan period, where England was set up as a great power in politics, trade and art.
During the reign of Mary I, the Protestants of England were forced to flee to Protestant states of Europe, because the Roman Catholicism was imposed in England. However, all this changed with the death of Mary and the accession of Elizabeth I on 15 January 1559, Elizabeth I promptly surrounded herself by a loyal privy council, which was responsible for the general administration of the country. Elizabeth had been educated as a Protestant, so, thanks to her rise to power, many of the Protestant refugees who had left during the
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Elizabeth goes on to say that she does not “desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people”, meaning that Elizabeth trusts people to defend her, and defend England. She believes that her people really do love her and would lay down their lives for her.
At the end of the speech Elizabeth declares that “we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people”. By saying “my God,” Elizabeth separates the Church of England from the other Catholic and Protestant European states. When Elizabeth refers to enemies of “My Kingdom,” she means those European princes (such as Philip II of Spain) who want to overthrow her and replace her with a Catholic alternative.
At any rate, there were different factors which contributed to British victory; the weather and the unknown of the sea and the coast of North Britain were what finally destroyed the Spanish