Philip II

On 7 September 1571, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, was arrested for the Ridolfi plot. Backed by Spanish gold and papal blessing, it looked like the end of Elizabeth I - until a suspicious draper and an unburnt cipher unravelled the whole amateur circus.

On 28 May 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, bound for the English Channel. King Philip II sent 130 ships and 30,000 men on a holy crusade, convinced that divine favour would override the brutal realities of naval technology, geography, and weather.