The Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604) [Orlando, Chapter 1 page 18] was between England and the Hasburg-controlled Spain and was never formally declared as a war. King Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth I were opposed to each other on the grounds of religion; King Philip was a defender of the Catholic faith and Queen Elizabeth had re-established the Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1559. Philip was dealing with rising Protestant movements in his kingdom, and Elizabeth was supporting what essentially constitued as smuggling in the Spanish-controlled West Indies. Elizabeth wanted to break Philip's monopoly, and supported her sailors in doing so (Colley). In 1568, a sea battle near Veracruz soured relations even further, and then Englishman Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580, sinking Spanish galleons along the way. In the next four years, each monarch supported and uprising in the other's country, and Elizabeth's support of the Dutch independence movement was a non-declaration declaration of war in Philips' eyes. Philip was reluctant to enter a war, but he saw Elizabeth's interefence in the Dutch colony as an attempt to make the country Protestant. The war was fought much over sea, and although the Spanish armada had the better reputation, the English badly outnumbered them (Colley). The war cost Elizabeth greatly, especially because of an Irish rebellion, and she sold 1/4 of her land to pay for it. These financial problems toward the end of her reign only highlighted the flawed system of government under the House of Tudor. Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, and after nearly two decades the war ended in a stalement, which resulted in the Treaty of London in 1604. (word count: 280)

Woolf, Viginia. Orlando, Mariner Books. 1928

Colley, Linda J. , Josephson, Paul R. , Atkins, Ralph Charles , Kellner, Peter , Hastings, Margaret , Joyce, Patrick , Whitelock, Dorothy , Morrill, John S. , Spencer, Ulric M. , Smith, Lacey Baldwin , Gilbert, Bentley Brinkerhoff , Briggs, Asa , Ravenhill, William , Kishlansky, Mark A. , Prestwich, Michael Charles , Chaney, William A. , Frere, Sheppard Sunderland and Barr, Nicholas A.. "United Kingdom". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom. Accessed 14 March 2023.