Mary-helen Armour
Ranee Wates
The Film: The Babington Plot is headed by Robert Reston, Thomas Babington, William Walsingham, the Spanish king and Mary, Queen of Scots. Walsingham is aware of the plot, allowing it to continue so that he can use the evidence gathered against its conspirators.
The Film: Philip of Spain, king of the most powerful nation in the world, is waging a holy war against Europe, subjugating it to the Catholic faith with England being the only country to stand against him. Philip is entirely motivated by his faith and his devotion borders on mental instability. Philip tells his daughter Isabella that they must remove Elizabeth setting England free from the devil. The child Isabella remains mute throughout the film, so it is unknown whether she approves or disproves of his actions, though she faithfully carries a doll of Elizabeth. Intending to place Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne Philip almost deforests Spain in order to build the Armada, his efforts are hastened when Mary is executed and his attention turns to making the young Isabella Queen of England. It transpires that Philip knowingly orchestrated the Babington Plot, manipulating Mary, Queen of Scots and Walsingham so that he would have justification to attack England. Philip calls for a holy war on England and launches the Armada. When it fails Philip tearfully accepts the loss of the fleet as the will of God but is shunned by the Cardinals and his daughter. He dies ten years later having bankrupted Spain to fund the expedition.
When the Armada returned, defeated, Philip accepted it as the will of God and ensured that all the injured men received the help and treatment they needed. He was not shunned by his people or the court and he rebuilt the Spanish fleet with such swiftness that England could not capitalise on their victory. Philip died ten years later, but he had not bankrupted the country in building the fleet and he did not die in the disgrace that the film suggests.
His daughter Isabella is not the child that the film depicts, instead, she was a woman of twenty who had a very close relationship with her father and far from shunning him after the loss of the Armada, she would later become his carer in his last years.
The Film: The Armada is the largest fleet ever seen, it is so large it cannot be completed in time, with the shipbuilders claiming only a miracle can see it done. Despite this, it is apparently built in time to react to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. It sails under the flag of Christ crucified and has shrines built into the deck so that the crew can pray (complete with candles) while about their duties.
In England, it is assumed that the Armada will be successful and the resulting invasion will see Elizabeth killed and Spain take the throne. Against the advice of Walsingham, Elizabeth goes to Tilbury to rally what troops they have gathered and delivers a speech to rouse them. She sits on her horse in full armour prepared to fight the Spanish alongside them. Sir Walter Raleigh takes his ship and joins forces with Drake to combat the Armada at sea before it can reach England.
The English fleet is vastly outnumbered and the Spanish immediately begin picking off what ships they do have, but their advantage is lost when the wind turns against them. Dropping anchor so as not to break their formation, the Spanish fall to their knees in prayer while Raleigh sets fire to his ship and steers it towards the fleet.
In History: The Armada was indeed a large fleet, but it had not been created under conditions that deforested Spain or left the shipbuilders praying for a miracle. The fleet was made up of a few new ships, with the bulk made up of the existing Spanish fleet and privately owned vessels that were requisitioned by the government to form part of the Spanish navy. Much of the Armada was not built to attack, but to convey the troops and the battleships to England. The English fleet outnumbered the Spanish but did not match their firepower.
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