<P> While Frenchmen and Spaniards fought one another in Europe and the Caribbean, England sided with Spain, largely because of dynastic alliances . In 1509, Prince Henry of England married Princess Catherine of Aragon and soon thereafter they were crowned king and queen . It was a tortuous marriage, to say the least, and Henry VIII began to separate from Catherine in 1527 . When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry VIII pushed the English Catholic Church to separate from Rome and become the Church of England, free from the pope's authority . Following Henry VIII's death in 1547, yet another Anglo - Spanish dynastic marriage was arranged, this time between Spain's Prince Phillip and Queen Mary I, the Catholic daughter of Anglican Henry VIII . During their brief reign, the Church of England was again subject to the pope's authority . </P> <P> When Mary I died in 1558, Phillip II ceased to be king of England and England broke from Rome again . Her successor, Elizabeth, actually rejected a plan to continue the Anglo - Spanish dynastic union when she refused to consider marrying Philip; she was to remain virgin and Protestant . As Protestantism spread further in European kingdoms such as England and France and it became predominant in other formerly Catholic nations, religious antagonisms played an increasingly important role in determining war and peace among the nations of Europe . Tensions increased between England and Spain, particularly following the ascent of Anglican Queen Elizabeth to the throne in 1558 . The new English monarch's anti-Catholic zeal mirrored Philip II's trenchant hatred of the Protestant faith . Protestantism also spread in France and throughout parts of the Holy Roman Empire . By the mid-1560s, two discernible opposing blocs had taken shape: a southern European Catholic bloc led by Spain and a northern European bloc led by England . </P> <P> One of the most valuable ideological weapons of the Reformation and wars against Catholic Spain was the "Black Legend," the systematic denigration of Spain and its people, culture, and religion . Largely fed by the works of Bartolomé de las Casas, English and Dutch Protestants portrayed Spaniards as backward, dishonest, fanatical, cruel, and lazy . Dutch, English, and German editions of las Casas' Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies circulated throughout Europe beginning in 1578 with titles such as "Spanish cruelties and tyrannies ." Theodore De Bry, a Protestant, edited, illustrated, and published editions of las Casas' book and others on related topics and included gruesome engravings depicting Spanish cruelty . </P> <P> Spain's relations with England further soured upon the crowning of Elizabeth in 1558 . She openly supported the Dutch insurrection and aided Huguenot forces in France . After decades of increasing tensions and confrontations in the northern Atlantic and the Caribbean, Anglo - Spanish hostilities broke out in 1585, when the English Crown dispatched over 7,000 troops to the Netherlands and Queen Elizabeth liberally granted licenses for privateers to carry out piracy against Spain's Caribbean possessions and vessels . Tensions further intensified in 1587, when Elizabeth I ordered the execution of Catholic Mary Queen of Scotts after twenty years of captivity and gave the order for a preemptive attack against the Spanish Armada stationed in Cadiz . In retaliation, Spain organized the famous naval attack that ended tragically for Spain with the destruction of the "invincible" Armada in 1588 . Spain rebuilt its naval forces, largely with galleons built in Havana, and continued to fight England until Elizabeth's death in 1603 . Spain, however, had received a near - fatal blow that ended its standing as Europe's most powerful nation and virtually undisputed master of the Indies . </P>

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