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Armada
(857 words)

Until the beginning of the 18th century, the word armada (originally Spanish: “armed forces”) generally meant any armed forces on land or sea; later as a rule it meant a very large fleet of  warships. In the narrower sense, the (Spanish) Armada was the  fleet, enormous for its day, that King  Philip II of  Spain intended to use in 1588 for his planned invasion of  England.

Occupation of England would be the basis for destroying the attacks on the Spanish overseas empire encouraged by  Elisabeth I, halting the support the English queen was giving the Dutch Revolt, and encouraging restoratio…

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Luh, Jürgen, “Armada”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_017057>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



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