Images Dated 29th July 2005

The Spanish Armada which threatened England in July 1588

The Spanish Armada which threatened England in July 1588. The ships of the Spanish fleet are shown in combat with British vessels. The Armada, a fleet of 130 ships under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia was intended to protect an invasion force commanded by the Duke of Parma as it crossed the English Channel. Harrassment from the smaller, more manoeuvrable vessels of the British Navy, the use of fireships and unfavourable weather conditions meant that the Armada could not achieve its objective of guaranteeing Parma's barges safe passage across the Channel. Ultimately the Armada was swept up the North Sea and much of it was destroyed in storms around the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Painting in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images

Count Otto von Bismarck, Prusso-German statesman, 1870

Count Otto von Bismarck, Prusso-German statesman, 1870. Otto Edward Leopold, Count von Bismarck (1815-1898) was Chancellor of Prussia and architect of modern Germany. His ambition was to unify the various independent German states into a single nation under Prussian leadership. The catalyst to bringing this about was the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, when the other German states fought alongside the Prussians. France was defeated, and in 1871, the German Empire was established, with Bismarck as Chancellor. Cartoon from Vanity Fair, London 1870

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images

Richard Neville and Ann, the wife of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. Richard

Richard Neville and Ann, the wife of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury.
Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick (1428 April 14, 1471), was also known as "Warwick the Kingmaker." Neville was the richest man in England outside the royal family, and he used his wealth and power to help depose the "Lancastrian" Henry VI in favor of the "Yorkist" Edward IV, and then later to place Henry VI back on the throne.
Warwick was the eldest son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Alice Montagu, Countess of Salisbury. His younger brother was Sir John Neville, Marquess of Montagu and for a brief time Earl of Northumberland. He married Anne de Beauchamp, the sister of Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick, 14th Earl of Warwick. When the Duke died, his Earldom was inherited by the infant Anne de Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick. Lady Warwick died at age five, and Neville inherited the Earldom through his wife. Thus he controlled two great earldoms, with estates throughout the English Midlands and the Welsh March

© TopFoto.co.uk