What if the Spanish Armada had invaded England in 1588?
If Spain had conquered England and deposed Queen Elizabeth I, our lives would surely be different today:
- The Protestant Reformation probably wouldn’t have endured
- Spanish explorers would have claimed much more of the world for Spain
- Science, philosophy, and literature would have developed very differently.
Many people credit Sir Francis Drake with defeating the Spanish Armada. But without ordinary people, Drake couldn’t have succeeded. How did ordinary people help ?
- Spies (often civilians in the right place at the right time) passed on important military information to England, and codebreakers interpreted it.
- Merchants and even pirates supplied 192 of the 226 ships the British navy assembled to face the Spanish Armada in 1588—only 34 ships belonged to Queen Elizabeth I. Civilian ships carried supplies and troops, as well as battling to defend themselves or others.
- Shipbuilders (shipwrights) designed and built ships that could function both to carry cargo and defend themselves or battle hostile ships.
Even after the defeat of the Armada, England still faced danger.
Here’s a dramatic true example of the power of an ordinary person in England in the early 1600s:
One lit fuse could blow up a king and all his Parliament members. BUT one brave man could save all those lives by speaking up about a letter he received.
This was the Gunpowder Plot, which took place in England in 1605. Religious divisions had fractured the English nation for decades, and now a group of unhappy Catholics wanted to rid England of King James I.
One of the plotters—his identity is still debated—wanted to protect his friend, Lord Monteagle, who would normally attend Parliament meetings. The plotter sent Monteagle a letter warning him to stay far away on November 5th, because Parliament would receive “a terrible blow.”
Lord Monteagle took the letter to Robert Cecil, England’s Secretary of State, who instructed his officers to search the upper and lower levels of the House of Lords.
On November 4th, the night before King James and Parliament gathered, Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellar of the House of Lords with barrels of gunpowder and fuses—just in time to prevent the plot from succeeding!
One man’s courage and effort saved King James I and many others.
What examples can you share of other situations where ordinary people changed the course of history?