29 July 1588: England defeats the Spanish Armada

On this day in 1588 the English navy and a favourable wind defeated the Spanish Armada at the Battle of Gravelines, with the Spanish ships fleeing northwards.

'Defeat of the Spanish Armada' (c1797) © Print Collector/Getty Images
(Image credit: © Print Collector/Getty Images)

When Queen Mary I died, and with her England's brief and bloody restoration of Catholicism, she was replaced with Elizabeth I, who reimposed Protestantism.

But Philip II of Spain, Mary's widower, didn't take too kindly to this outrageous heresy. So he built a vast fleet of ships, and assembled an army of 30,000 men in the Netherlands. The two would join up and after a swift and efficient invasion, England would be restored to the Catholic fold.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.