<P> In 1595, Maurice's campaign was resumed to retake the cities of the Twente region from the Spanish . This was delayed after Huy was besieged in March but Maurice was unable to prevent its fall . When Maurice did go on the offensive an attempt to take Grol in July ended in failure when a Spanish force under a 90 year old veteran Cristóbal de Mondragón relieved the city . Maurice then tried to make an attempt on the city of Rheinberg in September but Mondragon defeated this move at the Battle of the Lippe . Maurice was then forced to cancel further planned offensives as the bulk of his English and Scots troops were withdrawn to take part in the attack on Cadiz . The Spanish under the new commander Archduke of Austria took advantage of this lull and recaptured Hulst the following year which led to a prolonged stalemate in the campaign and delayed the reconquest . </P> <P> In this period of respite, the Spanish were able to refit and retool their navy, partly along English lines . The pride of the fleet were named The Twelve Apostles--twelve massive new galleons--and the navy proved itself to be far more effective than it had been before 1588 . A sophisticated convoy system and improved intelligence networks frustrated English naval attempts on the Spanish treasure fleet during the 1590s . This was best demonstrated by the repulse of the squadron that was led by Effingham in 1591 near the Azores, who had intended to ambush the treasure fleet . It was in this battle that the Spanish captured the English flagship, the Revenge, after a stubborn resistance by its captain, Sir Richard Grenville . Throughout the 1590s, enormous convoy escorts enabled the Spanish to ship three times as much silver as in the previous decade . </P> <P> English merchant privateers or corsairs known as Elizabeth's Sea dogs however enjoyed more qualified success . English courtiers provided money for their own expeditions as well as others, and even Elizabeth herself would make investments . The Earl of Cumberland made a number of expeditions and a few did yield profit - his first being the Azores Voyage in 1589 . Others failed however due to bad weather and his 1591 voyage ended in defeat with Spanish galleys off Berlengas . Cumberland with Sir Walter Raleigh and Martin Frobisher combined financial strength and force that led to the most successful English naval expedition of the war . Off Flores island in 1592 in a naval battle the English fleet captured a large rich Portuguese carrack, the Madre de Deus as well as having outwitted a Spanish fleet led by Alonso de Bazán . The expedition's reward equalled nearly half the size of the Kingdom of England's royal annual revenue and yielded Elizabeth a 20-fold return on her investment . Raleigh himself in 1595 went on an expedition to explore the Orinoco river in an attempt to find the mythical city of El Dorado in the process the English plundered the Spanish settlement of Trinidad . Raleigh however exaggerated the wealth there on his return to England . Supporting Raleigh with his expedition was another led by Amyas Preston and George Somers known as the Preston Somers expedition to South America notable for a daring overland assault that saw the capture of Caracas . </P> <P> Many of the expeditions were financed by famed London merchants, the most notable of these being John Watts . An expedition Watts financed to Portuguese Brazil led by James Lancaster saw the capture and plunder of Recife and Olinda - which was highly profitable for both . In response to English privateering against their merchantmen, the Spanish monarchy struck back with the Dunkirkers devastating English shipping and fishing in the largely undefended seas around England . </P>

What two things led to conflict between spain and england in mid 1500s