The Pope was urging Spanish action against England. England was helping Spain's enemies in the Netherlands. English pirates were openly attacking Spanish ports. King Philip II of Spain had to consider carefully what actions he could take against his former sister-in-law, Queen Elizabeth of England.

In this class, I will be asking students to brainstorm what it would take to launch an invasion fleet against England in the late 16th century. What would you need to bring? How do you procure supplies? We will compare the students' ideas with what actually took place and we'll talk about the great number of challenges Philip's fleet faced even before it got out to sea.

Then we'll talk about English defense preparations and some of the weaknesses of the English defenses. You'll hear about privateers like Sir Francis Drake and Martin Frobisher.