In 1586, thanks in part to Drake’s relentless privateering, King Philip II began assembling the famed Spanish Armada for an invasion of England. Desperate to beat his old enemy to the punch, Drake set sail the following spring and launched a preemptive strike on the Spanish mainland at the port of Cadiz. After catching the town by surprise, he and a small fleet spent two days occupying its harbor and bombarding, burning or pillaging everything in sight. The Cadiz raid succeeded in destroying between 30 and 40 ships and several thousand tons of supplies, and Drake later continued his reign of terror by harassing the Portuguese coastline and capturing a treasure ship off the Azores. All told, his “singeing of the King of Spain’s beard,” as he jokingly called it, may have delayed the Armada’s launch by over a year. Drake would later serve as the vice admiral of the English fleet that helped scatter the Spanish invasion in the summer of 1588.
He began his career as a slave trader.
Drake went to sea as a young man, but his first major expeditions came in the 1560s, when he joined a cousin named John Hawkins on some of Britain’s earliest slave trading voyages to West Africa. The pair usually procured their human cargo by attacking native villages or attacking Portuguese slave ships. They would then transport the slaves to the Spanish Caribbean and sell them off to local plantations—an action that was illegal under Spanish law. During one of these slaving expeditions in 1568, a flotilla of Spanish ships ambushed Drake and Hawkins at the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa, destroying four of their vessels and killing or capturing many of their crew. Drake escaped unharmed, but the defeat left him with a seething hatred for Spain and its king, Philip II.
On April 4, 1581, a few months after he completed a daring circumnavigation of the globe, the British navigator Francis Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I during a ceremony aboard his flagship Golden Hind. Drake’s round-the-world voyage was a high point in a career that saw him serve as everything from a naval commander and explorer to a statesman and civil engineer, but he was best known as Britain’s most feared “Sea Dog”—the nickname for the ruthless privateers who preyed on Spanish shipping in the New World. Explore ten fascinating facts about Queen Elizabeth’s favorite pirate.
Drake’s Circumnavigation:
Was Drake a Hero or a Villain?
Task 1:
Individual Work
· Using the
details of Drake’s journey from the Google Earth tour at www.activehistory.co.uk, find
evidence to fill in this table.
· Any evidence
that Drake was a hero (for example, he was kind and brave) should be placed in
the left-hand column.
· Any evidence
that he was a villain (for example, he was cruel and cowardly) should be placed
in the right-hand column.
· Any evidence
which you are not sure about can be placed in the middle column.
·TIP: Two
events have been added to start you off (you can delete them if you wish!).
Hero
Villain
Mogador: 27th Dec. 1577
Drake traded sheep and chickens with the locals. This shows he is
willing to make friends with the people he meets.
Cape Blanco: 17th Jan. 1578
Drake hijacks a Spanish ship. This shows that he is a thief.
Task 2:
Group Work
Working with a partner, then in a larger group, compare what you put
into the middle column. Work together to decide whether it should be moved into
the “Hero” or “Villain” column.
Alternatively, your teacher may ask you to contribute these ideas to a
whole-class discussion, and for each point raised the class would vote on whether
it belongs in the “Hero” or “Villain” category.
Task 3: Writing up your findings
Using your completed table to help you, provide a written answer to
this question:
“Was Drake a hero or a
villain?”
Paragraph 1: “There is evidence to suggest that Drake was a
hero. For example,…” [use your information from column 1]
Paragraph 2: “There is evidence to suggest that Drake was a
villain. For example,…” [use your information from column 2]
Paragraph 3: “In conclusion, my opinion of Drake is
that…”[reach your own judgement – be as detailed as you can!]
Francis Drake was the first English explorer to sail around the world. His ship was originally called the Pelican, but was renamedGolden Hind,sometimes spelled the Golden Hinde.
Drake was basically a pirate. He stole gold and silver and cargo from other ships! He loaded his own ship with so much cargo, some from trading, some from theft, that he was a bit concerned his own ship might sink! He pushed on anyway, and sailed successfully round the world.
Drake returned to England with an enormous amount of treasure, mostly stolen from Spanish explorers and Spanish ports in the Americas. This delighted the Queen of England when she heard about it, as England and Spain were enemies at the time. The Queen was so pleased, in fact, that she knighted Francis Drake. Forever after, Francis Drake becameSirFrancis Drake.
The attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588 – when plucky little England smashed mighty Catholic Spain – has come down to us as a truly David and Goliath moment. But is this really what happened? Here we attempt to winnow out the truth from the heroic tales that have sprung up over the last 400 years.
MythThe trigger for the launch of the Armada was Francis Drake's attack on Spanish ships in Cadiz harbour – when he was said to have 'singed the king of Spain's beard'. FactThe raid on Cadiz took place in 1587, when Philip's preparations for war were already well under way. In fact, the raid actually delayed the sailing of the Armada because it put 24 Spanish ships out of action. MythThe attack of the Armada was an attempt to invade and conquer England. The ships carried huge numbers of Spanish troops, armed with siege engines and other land-war weapons as well as cannon for fighting at sea. FactPhilip did not really believe he could conquer England. But he did intend to land troops and march on London, to force Elizabeth to negotiate. And the Armada was heavily equipped for a land war. However, when it sailed into the Channel from the west, its main fighting force – the duke of Parma's 18,000-strong army – was not yet aboard. The Spanish plan was to sail up the Channel to the Low Countries (Belgium), rendezvous with Parma's army and escort them to a landing in Kent. Poor communication meant the rendezvous was never made. MythWhen the Armada was sighted, Francis Drake was playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe. In a characteristic display of bravado, he finished the game before he took to sea. FactThere's no evidence that Drake was playing bowls at the time. But if he was, he might as well have gone on to finish his game, as the English fleet couldn't get out of the harbour. The wind was blowing from the south-west and the tide was coming in, trapping the ships in port for several hours. Still, at least that gave the ships' commanders time to round up their crews from taverns and lodging houses all over town. MythThe Spanish Armada was bigger and more powerful than the English fleet. FactWhen the Armada sailed into the Channel, it was in a crescent formation seven miles wide. It looked vast, but consisted of just 130 ships to the English fleet's 197. Many of the Spanish ships were hulks, carrying land weapons and supplies but ill-equipped to defend themselves. On their fighting ships, the Spanish had bronze cannon that were slow to reload; the English iron cannon could fire almost three times as fast. Many of the key English ships had been built with low forecastles, making them faster and more manoeuvrable than their Spanish counterparts. In almost every respect, the English fleet was the more technologically advanced fighting force. MythThe English defeated the Spanish in battle. FactThe so-called 'battle' of the Armada was a series of inconclusive engagements during which the Spanish fleet struggled up the English Channel. Several ships were damaged and one Spanish ship accidentally exploded, but no ship on either side was sunk or destroyed by enemy fire. On the night of 7 August, the English used fireships (small ships packed with inflammables and set alight) to scatter the Armada. Then storms swept the Spanish into the North Sea, and they were scattered round the Scottish coast, and many ended up wrecked off Northern Ireland.
Ask the Spanish what they thought of Sir Francis Drake, and they'll definitely say "villain."
But Queen Elizabeth I loved him - and you can't blame her, as she was one of the main beneficiaries of his high seas plundering.
In fact, Tavistock's most famous son has been dubbed the Queen's Pirate because of his habit of pinching other people's treasure.
Drake was born in Tavistock some time between 1541 and 1543, and went on to become a daring seafarer.
He first went to sea at the age of just 13, and he successfully circumnavigated the world between 1577 and 1580 on board the Golden Hind - a real achievement in those days.
Only Magellan had done this before - and he had not lived to tell the tale.
But it wasn't Drake's maritime achievements which endeared him to the Queen - it was the treasure he presented to her after he'd raided Spanish and Portugese ships.
Queen Elizabeth I dined with him on board the Golden Hind, and afterwards, she knighted him - much to the annoyance of the King of Spain.
But then, Drake did a lot to antagonise the Spanish.
He helped to see off the Spanish Armada in 1588, and, according to legend, he even had time to play bowls on Plymouth Hoe while preparing for battle.
He died at sea on his final voyage, off the coast of Panama. He had been suffering from dysentery for several days and in January 1596, he finally died.
His body was placed inside a lead casket and he was slipped overboard.
Historian Harry Kelsey reckons Drake was a "ruthless, arrogant, self-willed, covetous, money-minded, and amoral" man. He goes on to label him a bully and sociopath.
Not that Drake would have cared - his plundering paid for Buckland Abbeyhis home in Buckland Monachorum, West Devon, which is now run by the National Trust.
And he's still regarded as a hero by Devonians. He was appointed Mayor of Plymouth without being a member of the council, and his statue stands tall and proud in Tavistockand on Plymouth Hoe.
READ THIS POEM ABOUT F. DRAKE
Francis Drake was a pirate,
Who sailed all around the world.
He liked to attack Spanish ships
And steal their jewels and gold.
He gave the treasure to the queen,
She thought he was a hero.
The Spanish were afraid of him
And called him the dragon, "El Draco."
One day he was playing bowls
With some friends by the sea,
When he saw some Spanish ships coming,
They wanted back their jewellery.
"Quick" said his friends, "We must go at once
And chase that Armada away!"
But Drake said "No, we can finish our game,
We still have time to play."
Eventually the game was over,
And Francis Drake said "Right!
Let's play a trick on them,
And give them such a fright."
He took an empty ship
And set fire to the mast,
Then pushed it towards the Spanish
Who were looking on, aghast.
They saw the fireship coming towards them
And they were filled with fear.
"It's Draco the dragon" they told themselves,
"Let's get out of here!"
The Spanish ships turned around
And headed back for Spain.
Drake laughed and shouted at them
"Don't come back again!"
Sir Francis Drake was born in 1540 in Tavistock, Devon, England. He first started going to sea while living in Chatham in Kent, at the age of 12 or 13. He was an apprentice on a small trading ship which was left to him when the master died. but became famous as a pirate and explorer. During his life, Protestant England was often at war with Catholic Spain and there were rich rewards for capturing Spanish ships. Drake, who was an incredibly bold and brilliant sailor, captured more than his fair share of Spanish ships. His pirate raids on Spanish ships off the coast of America were encouraged by Queen Elizabeth I. Drake's successful battles against the Spanish helped England become a major sea power. He was the first Englishman to sail around the world, which he did (1577 - 1580) in his ship The Golden Hinde. Drake started his famous circumnavigation of the world from Plymouth, England, November 15, 1577, passed through the Straight of Magellan (southern tip of South America) into the Pacific, coasted up the western shores of the Americas, crossed to Asia and the Philippines, and finally returned to Britain on September 26, 1580.
Drake's route around the world
On the way round the world, Drake landed in what is now California, naming it Nova Albion (New England) and claiming it for his queen. Drake returned from his voyage with his ship packed full of spices from the Indies, and plundered Spanish silver and treasure.
ACTIVITIES
Drake succeded in becoming the first man to sail around the entiere world . 1) Describe his travels 2) Explain the meaning of 'circumnavigate
Knighted Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth l for his courage, and for the treasures he brought back with him. He brought back enough treasure to pay off the entire national debt. Spanish Armada In 1587, Elizabeth I put Drake in command of an expedition to attack a Spanish fleet which was getting ready to attack England. Drake sailed right in to Cadiz harbour and wrecked the ships there, before going on to capture another hundred Spanish ships elsewhere. It was said he'd 'singed the king of Spain's beard'. By 1588, he was Vice-Admiral of the fleet which defeated the Spanish Armada.
As a sailor, adventurer, navigator, politician, engineer and landowner, Drake was as famous in his own lifetime as David Beckham is today. He was one of the most famous men in Elizabethan times. Website links Sir Francis Drake Questions and answers about Drake Sir Francis Drake - Snaith PrimaryWho was he?
What great deeds did he do? St Francis Drake - Channel 4 site Sir Francis Drake
These pages focus on Sir Francis Drake, and in particular on his "Famous Voyage" - the circumnavigation of the world in the sixteenth century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Golden Hind Website - Click on the Education Centre
The Golden Hind captained by Sir Francis Drake undertook one of the most historic and exciting voyages of all time.
In a series of privateering raids, Drake was commissioned in 1570 by the Queen to sail to America with two ships and some 70 men furnished by his cousin Hawkins. He had little success at first in his concentrated efforts against Spanish colonies and shipping, but persistence paid off in his second attempt to capture the annual mule train carrying Spanish gold and silver across the isthmus of Panama. Although he brought back the equivalent of millions, the Queen could not openly sanction the work of the one she called, 'my pirate' after a peace treaty was signed with Spain. The man the Spanish would call, 'The Dragon' decided to lay low until the climate was more favorable.
In March 1579, Francis Drake captured with one shot one of the largest hauls of all time; the Cacafuego galleon yielded enough gold, silver, and jewels to put England's economy in the black. It took four days just to transfer it to the Golden Hinde's hold. Drake sailed to the coast of California, did some surfing, and then headed west to arrive in England by September 1580, the first to circumnavigate the globe. The Queen knighted him in 1581.An expedition five years later to the capture of Santo Domingo, Cartagena, and Saint Augustine, but produced little in terms of wealth. Sir Francis Drake also played a major role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. His last expedition was in 1595 when he led a force of 27 ships in a failed attempt to capture Panama. In February 1596, Sir Francis Drake died at sea of a fever disease and was buried at sea with a cannon's salute. His cousin John Hawkins had died earlier on the same journey.
One of the first pirates highlighted in the film is Queen Elizabeth's Sir Francis Drake. Considered a privateer and hero to the English, he was no more than a pirate in the eyes of Spain. The video follows Drake's legendary voyage along ...
ACTIVITIES:
1) Definition of corsaire, pirate and buccaneer. 2) What´s the difference between pirate and corsaire? 3) Analyse the symbols of the pirate flag? 4) Wich interests did Drake stand up for? 5) Who did Drake attack and why? 6) Can the State turn a criminal into a national hero?Is it lawful? 7)Drake, hero or villain?.Arguments for and against.
