In 1588 Henry VIII's daughter Mary was Queen of England, her husband was Phillip II, the King of Spain. She had an atlas made for him as a present and to show their unity she had both their coats of arms placed on it. However, the atlas was not finished before she died and when Elizabeth became Queen it was given to her.

Elizabeth hated Phillip and ordered that his coat of arms be scratched out. She could have just had the atlas destroyed but quality maps were very valuable at the time, which explains why she just eliminated all reference to the Spaniard. Eventually the two would go to war, it was Phillip who sent the Armada to invade England later in Elizabeth's reign.