How did English and

Spanish soldiers Differ?

Dan Kimberley and Taroun Balasubramanian 8CP
The English

by Dan Kimberley
The Soldiers

During the Spanish Armada, ground soldiers were

not massively used as the English excelled at sea,
but there are a number of weapons that were still
used amongst them.

Here are some of them:

The Rapier
Among upper class families, it was
expected for children to fence. This
influenced the design of the rapier.

It is a super lightweight sword with a

thin blade and an often intricate hand
guard.

As firearms became increasingly

popular, the rapier became more for
show a and for melee tournaments.
The Matchlock
One of the first firearms used
among the British was a gun
called the matchlock.

It gets its name from the firing

mechanism, which worked by a
match being lowered onto some
gunpowder which would then
activate the hammer firing the
projectile.
Traditional Weapons
Crossbow

Axe

Poleaxe

Bow and arrow

Musket

Spear

Mace

Longbow

Dagger
Ships

Ships were where the Royal Navy really exceeded

the Spanish. They had skilled sailors that were
used to the rough waters around England. Their
ships were also more appropriate.
Sir Francis Drake

One of the main commanders of the Royal Navy,

sir Francis drake was one of the best of the navy.

He travelled around the world after being asked by

Elizabeth to look around Spain.

He was given knighthood by Elizabeth in 1581.

 The design of the ships were better suited than
the Spanish ships.

They had no focus on decoration, and has a much

larger number of weapons on board than the
Spanish.

A drawing of
The Mary Rose
Tactics
The English were very good at tactics at several
points.

They knew the Spanish had a lot of ships and

made the decision to set some of their ships on
fire and sending them into docks where the
Spanish were harboured.

Elizabeth also made a speech in tilbury to give

morale to the soldiers which shows that she cared
about the country.
The Spanish

by Taroun Balasubramanian
The Soldiers

The Spanish soldiers were called the

conquistadors.

They were split into two groups:

Cavalry

Infantry
Cavalry

These soldiers, sometimes known as horsemen,

could be very threatening.

They would carry lances with metal spikes at the

end causing devastating damage to foot soldiers.

When they got close, they would use swords.

These men would get significantly more money

than the men on the ground.
The Spanish Sword
This sword was sharp on both sides and was often
approximately 3 ft long.

A town in Spain called Toledo was known for the

quality of their arms.

It was very valuable and natives were not allowed

to have one.

It had to be able to take the full impact of the

blade hitting a metal helmet.
The Infantry

These soldiers, also known as foot soldiers did the

cavalry's dirty work.

They used a variety of weapons. Some of these

include:
The Harquebus
The main firearm used by the
Spanish.

It had many disadvantages,

including the slow recoding
times and a wick having to
constantly be kept alight.

It was still undeniably effective

against any kind of opponent.

Due to its problems the main

use of the harquebus was to
scare people. This could be
very useful as some natives
believed the Spanish could
create thunder.
Armour

Armour was also very popular in Spain. A lot of

soldiers would have a set of steel armour from
head to toe.

Like swords, Toledo was known for their armour

and a full set could cost huge amounts of money.
 Ships
Spanish ships were made much more intricately
than the Spanish ships.

They had far less weapons than the English.

They were made to sail in the Mediterranean.

A model of a
Spanish ship.
A English drawing
Showing the crescent
Formation of the
Spanish
Thank you for watching.