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V. England from the Golden Age
to the Glorious Revolution
Teaching Idea
Stage an Elizabethan Day. Have groups
of students do research to find out what
kind of clothes the Elizabethans wore,
what they ate, what music they listened
to, and what they read. Have the groups
plan a class event to showcase this
information. It could be an event in
which students wear costumes, prepare easy-to-make simulated
Elizabethan dishes, play tapes of
Elizabethan music, etc. Or if there is
less time and fewer resources, the
“event” could be oral presentations of
illustrated reports about Elizabethan
times.
Although most people expected Elizabeth to marry, she never did. She was
known as the Virgin Queen and liked to say that she was “married to England.”
The period during which Elizabeth I reigned is sometimes called the
Elizabethan Age in recognition of the impact that Elizabeth had on her nation.
The term Elizabethan is used as a noun to designate a person who lived during
that time, e.g., “Elizabethans became used to warnings that the Spanish were
about to invade.” It is also used as an adjective: “Elizabethan poets were highly
inventive in their use of imagery.” The Elizabethan Age is especially noted for its
output of excellent literature. Elizabeth was a great patron of the arts. Elizabethan
playwrights and poets included William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Christopher
Marlowe, Sir Phillip Sidney, and Edmund Spenser.
England’s Naval Dominance
It was actually Henry VIII who started England on the road to naval supremacy. Although he strengthened the navy, it was Elizabeth who used it to expand
England’s territory, power, and wealth.
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
Before her death in 1558, Queen Mary I had been married to Philip II, the
king of Spain, a staunchly Catholic country. Philip continued to rule in Spain after
Mary was succeeded by Elizabeth. Philip and the Spanish refused to accept the
annulment of Henry’s first marriage. They believed Henry had done a great wrong
by setting aside Catherine of Aragon, and also by breaking with Rome. In 1588,
Philip sent an armada, a huge fleet of ships, to battle against and possibly invade
England. He had the pope’s blessing to conquer the island and bring it back to the
“old religion.” The flotilla of 130 ships carried some 29,000 men and 2,400 pieces
of artillery. Philip wanted to end attacks from the pirates Elizabeth was supporting (like Sir Francis Drake, see below) and remove her from the throne, not only
because of her Protestantism but because she was supporting Spain’s enemies in
Europe. Spain had been trying to stamp out Protestantism in the area known as
the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands), which it controlled. England
had been supporting the reformers.
Sir Francis Drake made a surprise raid on part of the fleet before it left its
Spanish port and destroyed 30 ships. The Spanish had large, clumsy ships, whereas the English had developed smaller, faster vessels. Rather than fight broadside,
the traditional method of naval warfare, the small English ships moved in, fired
quickly, and sailed off before the slower Spanish galleons could turn and pursue
them. At night, the Spanish ships had to be on the lookout for fire ships. The
English would set empty ships afire and set their sails to collide with anchored
Spanish ships. Drake destroyed many tons of supplies that were intended for the
invasion of England. He joked that he had “singed the beard” of the Spanish king.
The biggest help the English received against the Spanish Armada was from
nature. A huge storm blew the Spanish fleet off course. Many ships were forced
onto the rocky coast of Ireland, where English soldiers shot the half-drowned
sailors and soldiers as they dragged themselves ashore. What was left of the fleet
turned home to Spain, and Philip gave up all idea of invading England. To the
English, their victory seemed to be an indication that God smiled on their
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religion and their nation. They said the defeat of the Armada was due to providence, or God’s supervision, and they called the wind that drove the Spanish
Armada to its defeat the “Protestant Wind.”
Just before the defeat of the Armada, Queen Elizabeth made a speech to her
English soldiers gathered at Tillbury. Here are the most famous lines:
I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and
stomach of a king—and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn
that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the
borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonour should grow
by me, I myself will take up arms—I myself will be your general, judge,
and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.
Sir Francis Drake
England called its sea captains admirals. But to England’s enemies, the sea captains were called “sea dogs,” or pirates. One of the most famous was Francis Drake.
Drake was born into a strong Protestant family and apprenticed on a ship at age
13. In 1577, Drake sailed west on a voyage sponsored by Queen Elizabeth. The
goal was to become the first English expedition to circumnavigate the globe. But
Elizabeth mentioned another purpose when she told Drake, “I would gladly be
revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that I have received.” (Recall that
the Spanish viewed Elizabeth as an illegitimate child, the product of an invalid second marriage and the head of a heretical church.) Along the way, Drake left behind
two ships, lost another two of his five ships, and had to put down a plot against
him. He sailed through the Straits of Magellan and into the Pacific Ocean, where
he did battle with terrible storms. He raided Spanish ships and settlements along
the way and explored the Pacific coast of North America, including the San
Francisco area. He sailed north all the way to Vancouver, hoping to find the
Northwest Passage. Then he sailed across the Pacific to the Philippines, on to the
Spice Islands, then around the tip of Africa and back to England. When he
returned to England in 1580, his ship Golden Hind was filled with Spanish gold and
silver. For his service in behalf of England, Elizabeth knighted him. As Sir Francis
Drake, he was an admiral of the fleet that routed the Spanish Armada in 1588.
English Exploration and Settlements in North America
During the reign of Elizabeth I, the English attempted their first permanent
settlement in North America. In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh sponsored an expedition to America to establish a settlement of 100 English men, women, and children. He appointed John White governor.
The colonists settled on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina.
White reluctantly returned to England for supplies. Several people—colonists
and some of the local native people—had already been killed as a result of fighting between the two groups. When White arrived in England, he found a country braced for an invasion by the Spanish Armada at any moment. No large ships
were allowed to leave England. It was not until 1590 that White could return to
Roanoke.
Teaching Idea
Students may be confused by the use
of the term England sometimes and
Great Britain at other times, so you
will want to clarify this.
In 1707, Scotland was legally
joined to England and Wales by the
Act of Union. The term Great Britain
is used after that date to refer to the
larger entity. Prior to 1707, England is
the proper term. Even after 1707,
England is the correct term if referring simply to that nation, such as the
English midlands or the south coast
of England. Wales had been joined
with England in 1536 under Henry VIII.
Teaching Idea
Make a geography connection by
sharing with students some of the
names of places (cities, towns,
counties, states) in the United
States that are named after English
kings, queens, and nobles, e.g.,
Virginia (named for the Virgin
Queen, Elizabeth I), Jamestown
(named for James I), Charleston,
Williamsburg, etc.
When he arrived, he found no trace of the settlement or the colonists. A fort
stood where the houses had been and carved on a nearby tree were the letters
c-r-o-a-t-o-a-n. White thought that this meant that the colonists had either moved
to Croatoan Island or had gone inland to the Croatoan Indians. These people had
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