While internal strife and foreign invasion effectively prevented the
building of great nation-states in France, Germany, and Italy, Spain
and England each succeeded in developing a political and spiritual
unity which fostered the development of unique and virile drama.
Great dramatic literature and great theatre reached a peak almost
simultaneously in these two countries.

The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1467 and their subse-
quent defeat of the Moors marked the beginning of Spain's greatness,
just as the end of the War of the Roses and the accession of Henry
VII in 1485 marked the beginning of England's influence and pros-
perity. These two great powers were briefly united in 1554 by the
uneasy marriage of Mary of England and Philip of Spain. But the
increasingly nationalistic Englishmen refused to crown Philip, and
he left England the next year. By 1558 Mary was dead, Philip was
King of Spain, and Elizabeth was on the throne of England, Thence-
forth the destinies of these two powers were divided and in conflict.
The conflict culminated in the invasion of the Spanish Armada and
its defeat at the hands of the English in 1558. England was preserved,
Spain looked elsewhere for conquest, and the great age of the drama
in both countries was shortly to get under way.

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