Afflavit Deus et dissipantur

the conflict between Spain of Felipe II and England of Elizabeth I

Abstract

This article deals with the international strife between Philip II’s (1556-1598) Spain and Elizabeth I’s (1558-1603) England in the sixteenth century. According to Kennedy (1989), the victory of any country or the collapse of the other was generally the consequence of a prolonged fight of their armed forces, and also the level of efficient use of their productive resource in wartimes. Another factor was the way in which their economy had been growing or declining in relation to other important nations. From bibliographic research, we analyzed the background of the conflict, the method adopted by England to deal with the Habsburg threat (Spanish branch), mainly through an undeclared war, with incursions of privateers under connivance of the British Queen. Therefore, this article has the purpose of highlighting the English rise, and the Spanish decline, also revealing the policy and the military strategies adopted by both countries in 1588 Spanish invasion attempt.