Domestic security lets Elizabeth mobilize against invasion

Elizabeth's management of the English Reformation left her government secure enough to raise large forces without expecting immediate domestic collapse. Compared with Philip II's composite monarchy, she dealt chiefly with one Parliament, though other organizations still required management. The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, did not automatically turn Scotland into an active enemy because Mary had lost much of her contemporary political support there. James VI and his ministers had reasons to resent the execution but also understood the instability created by plots gathering around Mary. This reduced the chance that England would confront a coordinated Scottish threat while facing Spain. That domestic security made it easier to assemble armies and fleets without risking the government behind them.