ABSTRACT
Elizabeth I came to power just when the military, political and religious maps of Europe were beginning to change. During the first half of the century, France and the Habsburg Empire were the two major military powers in Europe, with England a respected second-runner. Thus, Francis I and Henry II of France proved capable of putting large armies into the field to challenge the might of Charles V, while Henry VIII was a much sought-after ally. During the second half of the sixteenth century, however, Spain came to be the pre-eminent power in Europe. In 1567, its army stationed in the Netherlands comprised 10,000 men; soon afterwards it was augmented to 50,000; and at its peak of strength in 1574 the governorgeneral in the Netherlands formed an army of some 86,000 men. Philip II’s naval force was also impressive: Spanish galleons contributed to the Holy League’s victory over the Turks at Lepanto (1571); and the armadas against England were formidable both in the number and size of their ships. The French monarchs, on the other hand, were militarily and financially weakened by a series of civil wars, which ran from 1563 to 1598. France consequently could provide no effective counterbalance to Spain. Indeed, in the early Elizabethan period, only the Turks provided a military challenge to the Spanish Empire, and distracted Philip II from asserting his power in northern Europe. After 1577, however, the Turks signed a series
of truces with Spain, thereby freeing the king to pursue expansionist policies.
