1. Spain’s Military Might Spain fought several wars during the Age of Exploration (1000-1600) One of these was the 80 year war, which ended with Spain losing several of it’s colonies in the One of the greatest naval battles of all time was the battle in which the Spanish Armada tried to control the English channel… the attempt ended in failure largely due to bad storms

2. The Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada was one of the largest group of fighting ships ever put together during the age of exploration (1000-1600) 22 galleons, 108 armed merchant vessels made up the armada It was lead by the Duke of Medina Sedonia

3. The 80 Year’s War The Spanish Armada’s goal was to end England's support of the Netherlands. The 80 Year’s War consisted of several of Spain’s colonies in the Netherlands joining together to rebel against Spain. After years of fighting, the cost of this long drawn out war over taxed both sides and what was later to be called the 12 years truce was started. This pause in the fighting allowed the rebelling colonies to gain the upper hand and ultimately win the war.

4. Peace of Münster The 80 Year’s War was ended by the Peace of Münster. The discussion for peace started in 1646 and ended in 1648 Spain had entered the war as one of the great powers of the time and left the war as a great power still, yet their defeat in this war was a blow to their reputation as one of the great powers.