James Baquet From 1556 to 1714, most of what we now call Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as parts of northern France, southern Netherlands, and western Germany, were held by King Philip II of Spain, and were called the Spanish Netherlands. Over a quarter of a century before, Henry VIII of England had sought a divorce from Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope had refused the divorce, so Henry broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, aligning himself and his country with the Protestants on the Continent. After a brief restoration of the Roman Catholic Church in England under Henry’s first daughter Mary (ruled 1553-1558)—known as “Bloody Mary” for her persecution of Protestants—Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth I took the throne and restored Protestantism. Mary, Catherine of Aragon’s daughter, had been married to Philip II of Spain. When she died, Philip wanted to maintain his hold on England, so he declared Elizabeth illegitimate. Since the Pope (and thus Catholic Christendom) had never recognized Henry’s divorce from Catherine, the royal claims of the offspring of any subsequent “marriages”—including that of Henry to Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn—were null and void. So it was that the Anglo-Spanish War broke out in 1585, with England supporting a Netherlands rebellion against Spain, and Philip hoping to take England back from the Protestants. In 1588, he sent a fleet of 130 ships to escort an army from the Spanish Netherlands to England. The fleet anchored at the French port of Calais, barely 30 kilometers across the Channel from England, where it was subjected to an attack by English fireships. The ensuing Battle of Gravelines prevented the Armada’s rendezvous with the army. The crippled fleet sailed north, where it encountered North Atlantic storms and the rough coasts of Scotland and Ireland, as well as harrying fire by the much smaller English fleet. Over a third of the ships failed to return to Spain. The Spanish had lost the largest engagement of the undeclared war, which ended in 1604 without decisive victory on either side. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. unmanned boats that have been set on fire 2. meeting 3. harassing, creating problems (for) 4. illegal, not valid 5. Christians who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church 6. withdrawn 7. not announced, unofficial 8. accompany, protect 9. damaged 10. organized plan to eliminate | 