It's true that the Spanish were a major superpower,before and after the 1500's.Can anybody tell me one battle,

Question

....and after the 1500's.Can anyone tell me of one single sea(or land battle,where the British lost to the Spanish?

Answer 1

Spain was the World ruler during 2 centuries the XVI and XVII centuries. The spanish golden ages not only economically with control over most part of America, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, part of the German empire , part of Italy and North Africa . The spanish power declined after 200 years of war all around Europe , in fact most of the gold and silver that was coming to Spain from the American colonies was used in to pay the wars in Europe . The big confrontations between english and Spanish (beside the Invincible Army fiasco ) were after the decline of the spanish empire in the XVIII and XIX century

Answer 2

The Spanish were truly a superpower under Charles V, 1519-1556 and Philip II 1556-1598. Charles' overextension of the empire and Philip's very poor economic policies led to Spain's later abrupt decline. Part of the explanation is that in the 1500s the English were not that strong, and tried to avoid war with Spain. In addition, from 1553 to 1558 Mary Tudor was married to Philip II, which resulted in their having an alliance of sorts. Later under Elizabeth British "Sea Dogs," such as Sir Francis Drake took booty from Spain, but did not win actual battles. The ill planned Spanish Armada was more a self inflicted Spanish defeat than a British victory. Its lack of coordination and bad weather caused the defeat. Despite the defeat Spain still menanced England.

Battles in which the Spanish defeated England are hard to find. The closest I can find is that in the Netherlands, despite a strong uprising by William the Silent supported by England, it took the Dutch until the early 17th century to get formal indepence in the north. The Spanish Netherlands remained in Hapsburg hands for more than two hundred years.

No question the clear pattern was the English gaining strength and the Spanish losing it. But in the 1500s Spain had more territory and influence worldwide, but the defeat of theArmada allowed Britain to claim parity.

Answer 3

The Spanish beat just about every English (British didn't exist until 1603 and not in a military sense until 1707) effort from the Armada to the signing of peace in 1604, except for the attack on Cadiz in 1596. If you want an example, you can have the English attempt on Portugal in 1589.
The Spanish infantry were the best in the West. They were trained professionals - if they'd landed in 1588 they would have made mincemeat out of the English, who were all part-timers apart from the beefeaters. Elizabeth was too clever to commit English forces in any number to the war in the Netherlands.