History Quiz - The Spanish Armada 01 (Questions)

This KS3 History quiz takes a look at the Spanish Armada. The Spanish Armada was a fleet of ships. The Armada's mission was to sail to Gravelines in Flanders and transport an army commanded by the Duke of Parma across the Channel to England. The mission eventually failed. The Armada was sent by King Philip II of Spain and was supported by the Catholic Church. Spain was the world 'superpower' at the time and the Catholic religion was the most powerful and rich church. When Elizabeth I became queen, she was a Protestant and that worried the Spanish, who were Catholics.

During the first part of Elizabeth's reign, Catholics were not persecuted, however, after a number of Catholic rebellions, that changed. Important Catholics were afraid for their lives.

Finally, King Philip decided that the time had come to invade England and place Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. There were many other reasons for the Armada - for example, English pirates like Francis Drake had been attacking Spanish ships and stealing the treasure the Spanish had already stolen from the South American civilisations. Drake had also attacked the Armada in Cadiz harbour in April 1587. This attack slowed down their preparations, but King Philip II of Spain's great Armada was finally ready to sail in the summer of 1588.