┬"There is plenty of time to win this game and to thrash the Spaniards too", the English sailor Sir Francis Drake is reputed to have declared during a game of bowls, unmoved by the approaching Spanish Armada sent to invade England. This anecdote shows how confident the English - the leading Protestant power in Europe - were at the end of the 16th century as they fought with Catholic Spain for control of the seas and for the riches of the Americas. j@Spain's Golden Age@
In the 16th century Spain became wealthy as a result of the gold and silver it plundered from Central and South America. Spain was the most powerful country in Europe. In 1580 Philip II of Spain (1527-98) also took the Portuguese crown, thus combining the colonial empires of both powers. In 1583, at Terceira in the Azores, the Spanish fleet and infantry showed their overwhelming strength in decimating Portuguese troops who refused to recognize their new king. But as new powers began to dispute Spain's supremacy, Spain turned its back on the world, smothering itself in religious fanaticism.
