Philip had other reasons for invading England besides
his outrage at Drake's exploits, his fellow Catholic's execution,
and the multiple injuries to his pride: by an obscure genealogical
path, Philip had some minor claim to the English crown himself.
Although he should have known better, he harbored the fantasy that
the English Catholics were waiting for him to arrive and liberate
them. If he had been a better judge of human nature, he would have
realized that the English people would never accept their Spanish
foe as a ruler. Philip tried to diminish the English people's
anger regarding the invasion by claiming that the attack was not
aimed against the people, but at the illegitimate Queen. This
was a well-calculated move to get the Catholics on his side, but
unfortunately for Philip his army never landed.
Philip blamed the weather (the so-called "Protestant Wind")
for his loss, and excused himself with the statement, "I sent the
Armada against men, not God's winds and waves." But the weather
alone did not bring the English their victory: the English vessels
outmaneuvered and outfought the Armada. They won several decisive battles
with a naval technique called "broadsiding" that they had newly
begun to perfect: this technique involved facing the enemy with
the port (left-hand) or starboard (right-hand) side of a ship, rather
than facing them head-on; this brought a higher number of guns
into action at any one time. Furthermore, popular legend has it
that the English ships were smaller than the Spanish, and because of
this the ships were more maneuverable. Whether or not they were
actually smaller is still debated; however, they were more maneuverable:
the English ships were designed lower to the water than the tall
galleons, which were meant to be intimidating but which ultimately
presented large targets towering out of the waves.
Even as England faced invasion from Catholic Spain's Armada, the
large number of Catholics in England remained loyal to Elizabeth.
After leading England through 30 years of prosperity, she enjoyed
popularity even among her religious opponents.
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