Читать книгу Anglo-American Cultural Studies - Jody Skinner - Страница 85

Fig. 2.11

The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth by George Gower. You can see the Armada in the background; her hand resting on a globe signifies victory.

SpanishSpanish ArmadaSpanish ArmadaIn a previous “don’t forget” item from earlier English history we dealt with a legendary figure, King ArthurKing ArthurArthur, King, whom the English are very proud of. Here we have another legend, which is historically documented and has also become part of national identitynational identity: the Defeat of the SpanishSpanish ArmadaSpanish Armada. The Armada was a great fleet of ships built by Phillip II of SpainPhillip II of Spain (who had been married to Mary TudorMary I, Tudor, Elizabeth’s half sister, who had become Queen Mary, as you may remember) to invade EnglandEngland not only to avenge the death of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots but also to fight against the English pirates supported by Elizabeth. The skill of English sea captains but also to a great degree bad weather and bad luck defeated the Armada and thus banished the Spanish threat of an invasion of England. The defeat increased national pride, cemented the role of the Protestant religion, and helped to make the English navy famous. You could say that the Spanish Armada was just the legend England needed to assume the role that sailors on an island need: that of invincibility.

union of the crowns of ScotlandScotland and EnglandEnglandElizabeth was to reign for another fifteen years after the defeat of the SpanishSpanish ArmadaSpanish Armada and as a “Virgin QueenVirgin Queen” had no children. Her nearest relative was JamesJames, who as we’ve just heard was the son of Mary StuartMary Stuart, Queen of Scots, Queen of Scots. It was this James who became James IJames I of EnglandEngland after already being crowned James VI of ScotlandScotland and thus became the first monarch ever to rule both Scotland and England. James was also the first king of a new dynasty: the House of StuartStuart. After the problems with religion had been more or less solved with the monarch winning and the RomanRoman CatholicRoman Catholics losing, the next conflict began to get worse: the conflict between the monarch and parliament, which was to lead to a Civil War during the reign of Charles ICharles I, James’ son.