The English made two major landings, one at Lisbon in 1589 and the other at Cadiz in 1596. The Spanish attacked Cornwall in 1594 and made a landing in Ireland in 1601 (Adams). However, none of these attacks resulted in any decisive effect, in fact it can be said that the Anglo-Spanish War was basically a stalemate, yet it did prove that there were limits to the military might of Spain (Adams). Moreover, although England was definitely the weaker of the two, Queen Elizabeth I had clearly demonstrated that England was Spain's most formidable enemy (Adams). Elizabeth proved to be the "ultimate politician who knew the value of her navy and played the card as the ultimate weapon" in the 1588 conflict with Spain (Conan). However, as Hanson notes, Elizabeth had cut Drake's gunpowder allowance by 50%, and had the English not captured two Spanish ships and "plundered them of all the powder and shot aboard, the decisive battle would never have taken place" (Conan). Moreover, when the troops returned home, exhausted and riddled with disease, she refused to pay their wages, and jailed two admirals who attempted to pay them with their own money (Conan). Although not a single ship was lost during the fighting,...

"The Spanish Armada. January 01, 2001. Retrieved November 08, 2006 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/adams_armada_01.shtml
Conan, Neal. "Interview: Neil Hanson discusses his book 'The Confidant Hope of a Miracle: The True History of the Spanish Armada'" Talk of the Nation: National Public Radio. March 7, 2005. Retrieved November 08, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

McKinnon-Bell, David. "Philip II of Spain champion of Catholicism: David McKinnon-Bell assesses the degree to which Philip II's policies were motivated by religious zeal.

History Review. September 1, 2001. Retrieved November 08, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

Ross, David. "The Spanish Armada. The British Express. Retrieved November 08, 2006 from http://www.britainexpress.com/History/tudor/armada.htm