⚓ The Spanish Armada What you’re seeing: A documentary recreation of the Armada campaign, from Philip II’s decision to invade England to the fleet’s defeat and breakup around Scotland and Ireland. Where is this? El Escorial, London, Lisbon, the English Channel, Calais, Gravelines, Tilbury in Essex, the Scottish coast, and western Ireland. Who is Philip II? King of Spain from 1556 to 1598, and a Catholic monarch who saw Elizabeth I’s Protestant England as both a political rival and a religious enemy. Why did Spain send the Armada?England backed the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, and English privateers attacked Spanish shipping. After Mary Queen of Scots was executed in 1587, Philip turned to invasion. What happened? The Armada sailed from Lisbon in 1588 with about 130 ships. English forces under Howard and Drake harassed it up the Channel. After anchoring off Calais, the Spanish formation was broken by English fire ships on the night of August 7–8. The next day, at Gravelines (...