So just how important was the defeat of the Spanish Armada, anyway?

[SavoyTruffle]

The defeat of the Spanish Armada is often taken as one of history's inflection points, one where someone can point to it and say "if things went differently, then our world would be unrecognizable by now". While it can't be denied that it was a major event, given that its role in the national mythology of England (which gets an outsized amount of influence given its subsequent empire), just how important was the event in the greater scope of things?

Was it as important as is believed? Was it more like the Battle of Tours, which was a relatively minor conflict that eventually came to serve as a historical inflection point because of the possible ramifications?

 

[AltoRegnant]

I think the land invasion would be the big thing. And I have no idea how that could go.

But, Mary had no children, and Philip himself had no claim, so their invasion would require a new candidate unless they tried to use the schism to justify their occupation. And then hopefully they dont plunge Europe into a major war- France certainly wouldn't like the idea of Spanish england boxing them in on all sides, the ottomans would back france if Austria got involved, and I doubt Scotland would take this lying down.

 

[Belisarius II]

I would say it was very important. A Catholic England would change the balance of power in the wars of the Reformation. A Spanish dominated England might not have established the 13 Colonies. The rise of English Sea Power would have been aborted, or at least set back for generations, which would strengthen the relative position of France during the 17th Century. Louis XIV might win his wars for European domination. Canada might still be French. France, Spain, and Russia might have fought over North America. The Dutch might not have gained their independence, and built their global trading empire, which would change the history of South Africa, and South East Asia. The ripple effects would be far reaching.

 

[SavoyTruffle]

A Catholic England would change the balance of power in the wars of the Reformation.

While it would, certainly, there's the fact that you don't really need the Armada to ensure a Catholic England - the other popular POD is giving him and Catalina de Aragon a son, after all. And this was the time period when despite Europe fracturing itself apart in terms of religion, many powers flouted the traditional religious blocs in terms of forming international alliances, presaging the modern geopolitical system - France allying with the Ottomans, for instance, or France's chief political rivals in the 16th and 17th centuries being the Habsburg realms, despite both remaining Catholic.

 

[Belisarius II]

I think the land invasion would be the big thing. And I have no idea how that could go.

But, Mary had no children, and Philip himself had no claim, so their invasion would require a new candidate unless they tried to use the schism to justify their occupation. And then hopefully they dont plunge Europe into a major war- France certainly wouldn't like the idea of Spanish england boxing them in on all sides, the ottomans would back france if Austria got involved, and I doubt Scotland would take this lying down.

I would think that the Spanish would put the son of Mary Queen of Scots, James the VI of Scotland on the throne, with a Spanish approved regent, so he would be raised a Catholic. So You'd get the same man on the throne, but with a different faith. No King James Bible.

 

[SavoyTruffle]

I would think that the Spanish would put the son of Mary Queen of Scots, James the VI of Scotland on the throne, with a Spanish approved regent, so he would be raised a Catholic. So You'd get the same man on the throne, but with a different faith. No King James Bible.

Take out the KJV and you've removed one of the pillars of the Modern English language. If Shakespeare's butterflied away or is left relatively unimportant then the English language as we know it will be rather different, especially in terms of figures of speech.

 

[Belisarius II]

While it would, certainly, there's the fact that you don't really need the Armada to ensure a Catholic England - the other popular POD is giving him and Catalina de Aragon a son, after all. And this was the time period when despite Europe fracturing itself apart in terms of religion, many powers flouted the traditional religious blocs in terms of forming international alliances, presaging the modern geopolitical system - France allying with the Ottomans, for instance, or France's chief political rivals in the 16th and 17th centuries being the Habsburg realms, despite both remaining Catholic.

You must have the Armada to bring the Spanish Army to England. England had long been a land of independent political religious movements. Has far back as the reign of Henry II English Kings had chaffed under Papal authority, but the time wasn't ripe for a secular takeover of Monastic Lands, and revenue till the reign of Henry VIII. Your making very valid points about secular alliances that cross confessional lines, but those are longer term considerations. The immediate effect of a Catholic England would be the likely defeat of the Dutch Protestants, and the weakening of English independence, and freedom of action.

The Elizabethan Sea Hawks that had plagued Spain would've been disbanded, and the rise of English Sea Power would be halted at Spanish insistence. There would be no Anglo/Dutch Alliance that had such a powerful impact on European affairs till the mid 17th Century. The English Colonies would be at best delayed a generation, and if they were ever established their not going to have anything like the culture they had in the OTL.