The royal armour workshops at Greenwich had little opportunity to make armour for the king during the second half of the 16th century, for England was ruled by two queens Mary and Elizabeth I. However, Jacob Halder and his picked team of armourers were kept busy making armours for the court and nobility. The possibility of a Spanish invasion in the 1580s led to a flurry of orders for field (that is, battlefield) armours. This one was made for the military writer and innovator Sir John Smythe.ii.84