The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between Habsburg Spain and the Kingdom of England that was never formally declared. It 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 Dutch rebellion against Spanish Habsburg rule.
In large-scale campaigns, the English repelled the Spanish Armada in 1588, while Spain repelled the English Armada in 1589. The war included much English privateering against Spanish ships, and several widely separated battles. The war dragged on towards the end of the sixteenth century; England and Spain intervened in France in the 1590s and in Ireland from 1601. The campaign in the Netherlands saw a Spanish veteran force defeated by the Anglo-Dutch at the Battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600. This was followed a year later by the costly three-year Siege of Ostend, which Spain eventually seized.
The war was brought to an end in August 1604 with the Treaty of London between the new kings: Philip III of Spain and James I of England. In the treaty, England and Spain restored the status quo ante bellum, agreed to cease their military interventions in the Netherlands and Ireland respectively, and resumed trade; the English ended their high seas privateering and the Spanish recognized James as king.
16th Century Europe saw strong overlap between geopolitics and religion, as the Protestant Reformation sent shockwaves across the continent in the form of a new geopolitical order. In this alignment, the sovereign of a principality generally established a national religion of either Catholicism or Protestantism. The establishment of a new religion for a country often entailed a realigning of allies and therefore agendas as a matter of consequence- it meant to ally with countries with the same established religion, joining one of two camps who were hostile toward one another.
As the Holy Roman Empire-controlled Spanish Netherlands cracked down on Dutch Protestantism under fear of undermined authority using everything at their disposal, from taxation to the Spanish Inquisition, England became the home base of leading Dutch Protestant Refugees, who were also known as "Strangers." Leading up to the Anglo-Spanish War, England was becoming a sanctuary for Protestant refugees seeking asylum, invited by towns such as Norwich and Canterbury. In 1550, King Edward VI signed the Letters Patent granting legal recognition to the Strangers' Church in London. The extent to which King Edward granted unusually high (though limited) autonomy to this sect - it was allowed to govern itself outside of Anglican clergy, despite the shock of some Protestants - demonstrated England's largesse for those considered in their Protestant geopolitical camp. For example, through this patronage, the Stranger Churches helped forge deep international networks of Protestant scholars.
This was dissolved during the six-year Catholic Restoration, from 1553 to 1558 under Queen Mary I. This period of Catholic domination ended with the Protestant Restoration of 1559. The Restoration, under Elizabeth I, allowed for the Stranger Churches to return to their status as a permanent fixture of certain parts of English society.
In the 1560s, Philip II of Spain was faced with increasing religious disturbances as Protestantism gained adherents in his domains in the Low Countries. As a defender of the Catholic Church, he sought to suppress the rising Protestant movement in his territories, which eventually exploded into open rebellion in 1566. There, Protestants, who had been repressed for some time, rioted at Beeldenstorm, destroying Catholic churches. When Spanish authorities arrived with the Duke of Alba to suppress the revolt, the Spanish military was now only right across the North Sea from England.
Meanwhile, relations with the regime of Elizabeth I of England continued to deteriorate, following her restoration of royal supremacy over the Church of England through the Act of Supremacy in 1559; this had been first instituted by her father Henry VIII and rescinded by her sister Mary I, Philip's wife. The Act was considered by Catholics as a usurpation of papal authority.
Calls by leading English Protestants to support the Protestant Dutch rebels against Philip increased tensions further as did the Catholic-Protestant disturbances in France, which saw both sides supporting the opposing French factions.
Netherlandish Protestant refugees settled in England, with some launching raids against the Spanish out of English ports, such as Portsmouth, Plymouth and the Isle of Wight, where they operated unmolested by the English Crown.
Complicating matters were commercial disputes. The activities of English sailors, begun by Sir John Hawkins in 1562, gained the tacit support of Elizabeth, even though the Spanish government complained that Hawkins's trade with their colonies in the West Indies constituted smuggling. A slaving expedition led by Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake was surprised by the Spanish in September 1568, and several ships were captured or sunk at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near Veracruz in New Spain. This engagement soured Anglo-Spanish relations, and in the following year the English detained several treasure ships sent by the Spanish to supply their army in the Netherlands. Drake and Hawkins intensified their privateering as a way to break the Spanish monopoly on Atlantic trade. Francis Drake went on a privateering voyage during which he eventually circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580; Spanish colonial ports were plundered and a number of ships were captured, including the treasure galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. When news of his exploits reached Europe, Elizabeth's relations with Philip continued to deteriorate.
Soon after the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, English support was provided to António, Prior of Crato, who then fought in his struggle with Philip II for the Portuguese throne. Philip in return began to support the Catholic rebellion in Ireland against Elizabeth's religious reforms. Both Philip's and Elizabeth's attempts to support opposing factions were defeated.
In 1584, Philip signed the Treaty of Joinville with the Catholic League of France to defeat the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion. In the Spanish Netherlands, England had secretly supported the side of the Dutch Protestant United Provinces, who were fighting for independence from Spain. In 1584, the Prince of Orange had been assassinated, leaving a sense of alarm as well as a political vacuum. The following year was a further blow to the Dutch with the capture of Antwerp by Spanish forces led by Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma. The Dutch rebels sought help from England, which Elizabeth agreed to as she feared that a Spanish reconquest there would threaten England. The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed as a result: Elizabeth agreed to provide the Dutch with men, horses, and subsidies, but she declined overall sovereignty. In return the Dutch handed over three Cautionary Towns, which were garrisoned by English troops. Philip took this to be an open declaration of war against his rule in the Netherlands.
The Anglo-Spanish War broke out in 1585, following the seizure of English merchant ships in Spanish harbors. In response the English privy council immediately authorised a campaign against the Spanish fishing industry in Newfoundland and off the Grand Banks. The campaign was a huge success, and subsequently led to England's first sustained activity in the Americas. In August, England joined the Eighty Years' War on the side of the Dutch Protestant United Provinces, which had declared their independence from Spain. In that same year, the English established their first New World settlement, the short lived Roanoke Colony established by Ralph Lane.
The Queen through Francis Walsingham ordered Sir Francis Drake to lead an expedition to attack the Spanish New World in a kind of preemptive strike. Drake sailed in October to the West Indies. In January 1586 he captured and sacked Santo Domingo, and in the following month did the same at Cartagena de Indias. In May Drake sailed north to raid St. Augustine in Florida, and when he arrived in England in July he became a national hero. In Spain, however, the news was a disaster, and further buoyed the idea of a Spanish invasion of England by King Philip. Thomas Cavendish meanwhile set out with three ships on 21 July 1586 to raid Spanish settlements in South America. Cavendish raided three Spanish settlements and captured or burned thirteen ships. Among these was a rich 600-ton treasure galleon, Santa Ana, the biggest treasure haul that ever fell into English hands. Cavendish circumnavigated the globe returning to England on 9 September 1588.