A father figure of mine passed away this year. Today was his birthday. He carried a picture of Francias Drake so that he could tell his barber what he wanted his beard to look like. It's serendipitous that Drake's Biographic came out today. Cheers, Keith. Rest in Peace.
In that particular era the lines were blurred between navy, pirate, and merchant. The official Royal Navy that beat the Spanish was heavily subsidised by merchants who were often routinely pirates on the side, depending on which way the wind was blowing.
Drake was a brave man and an English patriot at a time when that was needed. He helped build his nation and set it on the glorious path Britain blazed in the next couple centuries!
@@-TheRealChris oh I’m aware, I just want to see Simons reactions to each sinking and subsequent survival by the cat. Also maybe a “cat came back” reference or two
@@nalmolen9394 or one about sergeant reckless, a cavalry horse in the Korean War that would perform solo resupply missions and earned more medals in her service than most humans
“There must be a beginning of a any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory” Sir Francis Drake
Yes, there must be a beginning of my series proving that the British Empire was NOT the biggest, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory. Knighting a pirate to call him sir means chivalry died in England centuries ago.
1:05 - Chapter 1 - Early Years 5:00 - Chapter 2 - Privateering profiteering 10:50 - Mid roll ads 12:25 - Chapter 3 - Around the world 18:35 - Chapter 4 - War of the armadas 21:40 - Chapter 5 - Decline & death
So you’re telling me Francis Drake was not a pink-haired anime pirate woman that commanded a fleet of magical boats? What other lies has Fate told me?!?
I know that Simon has an inviolable rule to include one grotesque mispronunciation in every video, but it's pretty sad hearing an Englishman mispronouncing "hind"....
I agree, I enjoy the videos but Simon's mispronunciations are distracting and the Golden Hind is such an important ship in English history, you can still visit it today.
@@andrewbirch5738 I remember going to see it on a school trip in the 90's. Didn't really appreciate the significance of the original vessel at the time.
Definitely one of the most fascinating figures to grace the pages of Naval history. I'm always surprised at how few people actually know about this man.
I’m 36 and I’m here bc I’m looking at buying land in ES and I heard this man buried some gold near where I’m buying land, so I’m doing a little digging. Lol
@@sammythelegendarygamer6855 Sir Francis Drake didn't have any kids. I'm guessing you descend from one of his many siblings? He had something like a half dozen that survived into adulthood.
It is that if we look in history we will see that there were Spanish corsairs with a much more successful career than that of Francis Drake and other English pirates who in most cases died violently and in frank decline. For example, the Spanish corsair Amaro Pargo had a much more successful and long career than, for example, Blackbeard. Amaro not only was able to survive piracy, but he died peacefully in his house after having achieved nobility and being one of the richest people in Spain at the time. That really is a successful career and worthy of being remembered.
We're not here to look for "succesful" people, this is a biographic channel, and the most interesting biographies are those that have people that success and fail, that makes them more complex.
It would be interesting because they were contemporaries except Raleigh was a failure at just about everything and Drake was a success at just about everything.
Wait, I could've sworn Francis Drake was a pink-haired women who had cannons that shot lasers and commanded a fleet of flying pirate ships. Fate has lied to me.
Sir Francis Drake is an ancestor of mine and his name lives on in the first born sons of our family. His roll top desk has helped a lot of us in our studies in school.
@@Simonsvids if you knew history as well, you would know the Argentine have a solid claim. The English ceased their claims to the Spanish in the Nootka Conventions, Spain then gave the administration to Buenos Aires as it was the closest major city of the Empire. After independence, those territories had 3 argentine governors, 2 extra settlements were founded making a total of three (Puerto Luis, Rosas and Dorrego) and people were born there for the first time and with Argentine nationality until the occupation in 1833, which was resisted by the locals who were then kicked out.
Suggestion for a BIOGRPAHICS EPISODE of ; willem van oranje (William of Orange) is known as the founding father and hero of The Netherlands. he made his fame when he led the Dutch uprising against the rule of the Spanish Habsburgthe (The Spanish where in the Netherlands) , The uprise led to the 80-year war (in the Netherlands) (1568-1648) between the Dutch states and Spain There is a English page on wikipedia "William the Silent" that's his nickname.
Hey Simon, how about a biographics on Jimmy Hoffa? Think he would be interesting subject. His story has a lot of topics of discussion such as labor organizer, mafia deals, and unsolved disappearance.
So, fun fact: Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis & Clark) is a relation of Sir Drake. I only know this because they're both cousins on my mom's side, turns out not very many times removed.
@@hashtag415 hey I can actually prove my lineage by my family tree. Sir Francis Drake was my 16th great uncle and his brother William was my direct descendant and where my family came from.
I spent the day at Drake’s house on Thursday, showing a local youth group the house and history. They have in temperature and humidity regulated glass displays the actual original coats of arms flags that literally flew aboard the golden hinde during many voyages and battles. He brought water directly to Plymouth which made it expand to the city it still is today. It was a massive thing to be knighted back then, so for him to reach that height as a commoner who grew up on farm was a phat accomplishment.
For anyone interested, sir Francis drake is based on the ONE PIECE character, X Drake. He was a navy marine who betrayed his crew and became a pirate with his dragon powers.
Thank you for this video. It is quite accurate except for a few areas where you need more explanation. The massacre in Rathlin was in contrast to virtually all of Drake's character so I give Drake the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't do it. Drake's first trip on his own was entirely reconnaissance for a planned attack to follow. And when he first attacked Nombre de Dios, on his next trip, he found a huge warehouse full of silver. Drake directed his men to break down a massive door which he thought was protecting a huge amount of gold. He passed out from loss of blood due to getting shot in the foot and his men abandoned the whole campaign to get their beloved captain Drake back to the safety of the ship. The Doughty incident was not right either. Doughty was a clear mutineer and Drake had every cause, legal and moral, to execute him.
I'd love to see a biography of Phillip II. I think we get an Anglofied version of his his life, but his life is a lot more interesting then just the failed invasions of England
The trade of slaves between the Spanish colonists and vessels from another country than Castille and Aragon followed a script. They would anchor off the coast, the colonists would fire off their cannon, the slavery would land with a force of men and attack the town, and the colonists would give up. This way they could tell Spanish bureaucrats they "had" to buy slaves as part of the surrender(at quite a discount from the Spanish prices).
Idea for a future BIOGRPAHICS episode; Judas Maccabeus was a Jewish priest (kohen) and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (the Greeks) (167-160 BCE). The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE, after Judah Maccabeus removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses and purified it !
Sir Francis Drake is one of the greatest men in history and doesnt get the credit he deserves. His achievements in exploration and navigation rank along side that of Captain Cook and while Magellan gets the credit for being the first to circumnavigate the globe, he never actually achieved it as he died along the way. Drake completed the task and lived to tell the tale. And his contribution in helping to defeat the Spanish Armada is as significant as Nelsons defeat of the French at the battle of Trafalgar. Both helped turn the tide and helped Britain dominate the seas for centuries. The only difference being is Drake survived and lived to tell the tale. And where as Nelsons achievements where deliberately hyped up by the powers that be for propaganda purposes to give moral to the nation, Drakes achievements were deliberately played down by the powers that be because Queen Elizabeth wanted to keep things secret from the French and Spanish rivals. Drake is thought to have discovered far more judging by charts and maps created unofficially at the time but much of the evidence is thought to have been lost or destroyed during the Great fire of London or the English civil war.
He hid his fleet in a place now called Drakes pool, up the estuary from my village Crosshaven, co. Cork, Ireland when the Spanish Armada was chasing him.
There is no evidence that they were an item. Maybe Drake got some since she did give him an eye-full one hot day. Drake said she had a very good bosom or something like that. Drake really did respect her and her position way to much to try anything. But who knows? Drake was her favorite.
@@markerhein That's right. He barged into her private bed chamber. She was in "a state of undress" and wasn't wearing her wig. Said she had some large plumpies.
The Golden Hind had on Drakes return to England around £500,000 worth of treasure in its hold, which was enough to equal the total tax take for England for 1 year, quite a haul.
Glad to see that you at least mentioned the Counter-Armada attack of 1589, always forgotten thanks to english historiography. Keep up the good work, I just recently discovered the channel and I´m already blown away by the quality
A reason the English Navy did so well against the Spanish was the use of flintlocks in the cannon which could fire at a greater rate than the Spanish fuses. Drake was continually begging Elizabeth 1 for more ammunition. My favourite Drake legend was from Drake's Leat, which brought fresh water from Dartmoor to the rapidly expanding Plymouth (and handily supplying water for his mills as well). When the leat opened, he galloped next to the flow of water on a white horse all the way to Plymouth (to Drake's reservoir on North Hill). When this story got to the Spanish, they had him in such high esteem that the story was that Plymouth needed drinking water, so Drake rode to the moors on a white horse and commanded a river to follow him all the way back to Plymouth. Plymouth hides her exceptional history well.
I like how you presented 'both sides" of Drake's seafaring endeavors . Wasn't he "knighted' by Queen Elizabeth I? To conclude whether he was a maritime hero or maritime pirate, perhaps a little of both (as your video presents). But that's me being subjective , so it would depend on who you asked.
I had to do a reasearch paper on him in World Civilization class. Even had to build a ship. All the other kids had to build a very specific ship, such as a Frigate or a Galleon, and what they were used for. My teacher gave me a 'Fire ship.' I dont know what that says about me at the time or why she thought to give me that specific... I would say Catagory of ships, since Drake had used mainly broken down ships for these 'Fire Ships.' I was able to build literally any ship he was known to use. Which is alot of them, so I chose the Frigate. Its my favorite style of ship, I dont know why. I think it stems from the early days of Pirate of the Carribean online and my choice of ship was always a frigate, more specifically the War Frigate. That was untill the Brigs came in on an update to the game.
Ironically when tracing my roots through my mother's side, it goes back to Francis Drake... On my father's side... Spanish! Lol! My son is named after him Drake, not Francis. Shocked my parents don't get along. Shocked I tell you.
Great video as always. I use your videos a lot to teach secondary history. Ive been playing the new Assassins Creed and would love to see you do a video on Ivar the Boneless!
And there is an ignorant bunch of malcontents trying to have it removed claiming incorrectly that Drake was a "slave trader" and simple pirate. Protect that statue!
some of these old sailor ones remind me of John Paul Jones (American revolution one, not Led Zeppelin one nor the bachelorette contestant lol). he would be incredibly interesting for an episode here.
In one of AC Black Flag DLC's your can get his privateering uniform, his sets of silver broadswords and his flintlock pistol, but however flintlock firearms weren't yet invented until the early 1630's almost 35 years after his death in 1596 so Drake's flintlocks in the game are historical incorrect. The only firearms that were around Drake's time were matchlock and wheelock.
As a kid, I read G. A. Henty's " Under Drake's Flag". Almost half a century later, I still remember, albeit vaguely some of the scenes. There is of course a slab stone monument in California but not much else to remind one of him. Since he himself was dealing with slaves, he was after all not much different from the catholic spainiards. G A Henty however ignores it and now my childhood hero, unlike Thomas Cook, has shown his feet of muck. Nevertheless a significant contributor to english Maritime and geographical know-how, that would make this island folk the greatest maritime empire builders on earth.
The Drake-Norris expedition was support for the King in Exile who had lived in England for years after Spain had claimed the throne for its own. It was expected that rebels would rise up and support Antonio. That support never materialized and doed any hope of the expedition being a success. Also, Norris was on the ground in A Coruna and in charge of the infantry. Up until this period naval expeditions for most Euro countries had a sea captain, usually of low birth, who got the army to where it was going and the army was led by a nobleman. It was Drake's execution of Douty that began to signal a change that would really begin in the next century and the British Navy became a professional force.
I am a direct descendant of Francis and I would or couldn't ever not like my relative. He comes from a loyal, noble and honorable and christian family. He was not a terrible or cruel man. Every ship captain or in Francis case and admiral) was tough on thier crew back them. He is no different. His hatred of Spaniards was his drive and to beat them from taking all the gold. People assume things bad of my Francis and they dont know what and how he did things. Our family has those writing and records that are not for the public to read. Slavery was the one thing that he did do that was wrong and had some family that would not admit he was related. He didnt do or make bad disissuns any different then others back them. I am a bay area native and yes, Salsatito bay was named after him( drake Bay). False records and writings were written on some of this dealings as of other American or world history was.
Alright! I live just a few miles inland from where he allegedly(hearsay ) moored to repair the Golden Hind. There's a very very long road that goes from the tip of the point at the Lighthouse all the way to the Bay , about 50 miles or 60, Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. And on a barely related point, me and my old man used to always joke around and say allegedly when someone would say hearsay and or vice versa
You should do a video on Jessica Mitford. The red sheep Mitford sister. The one who drew the line between fascism and family by literally drawing a line between her sister Unity's side of the room
I read somewhere that when he raided the old Panama original city , he and Morgan hung the Spaniards from their jewels to obtain info about where the gold was ? 😮
OH! I've been to Point Reyes many times. I never knew about the history of the place, I always assumed it was just a beautiful place in the world to visit. It's GORGEOUS, and one of my favorite places in the world. If you're in the San Francisco area, definitely check it out.
I live in Marin County and our main street running through many of our towns was/is called Sir Francis Drake. Even my school was called Sir Francis Drake High. After the prostests of George Floyd’s killing, our school was renamed and our street is in the process of being renamed. Even a statue of his was taken down. I understand that his history is complicated, but hontestly getting our street and schools names changed does nothing (also, the name change cost my school a cool half mil too 😎)
@@markerhein well technically no I’m not his direct but his brother William was who my grandfather and Drake line continued through us into America. Even here in America my Drake family were farmers and soldiers.