Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral (c. 1540 – 27 January 1595), was an English privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral (c. 1540 – 27 January 1595), was an English privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Queen Elizabeth I awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588, subordinate only to Charles Howard and the Queen herself. He died of dysentery after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1595. His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a simple pirate to the Spaniards. To the Spanish he was known as El Draque, "the Dragon" "Draque" is the Spanish pronunciation of "Drake". His name in Latin was Franciscvs Draco. . King Philip II was claimed to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats (about £4m or $8m by modern standards) for his life. He is famous for (among other things) sailing around the world, returning to England in 1580. Francis Drake was born in the parish of Crowndale, a mile south of Tavistock, Devon, in February or March 1540. He was the eldest of the twelve sons of Edmund Drake (1518–1585), a Protestant farmer who later became a preacher, and his wife Mary Mylwaye. The elder Drake is sometimes confused with his nephew John Drake (1573–1634), who was the son of Edmund's older brother, Richard Drake. (cf. John White, note 2). Francis Drake's maternal grandfather was Richard Mylwaye. Francis Drake married 1: Mary Newman; married 2: Elizabeth Sydenham ( Sir William Courtenay of Powderham) 1585. “ The people of quality dislike him for having risen so high from such a lowely family; the rest say he is the main cause of wars. ” —Gonzalo González del Castillo in a letter to King Philip II in 1592. Francis was reportedly named after his godfather Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, and throughout his cousins' lineages are direct connections to royalty and famous personages, such as Sir Richard Grenville, Ivor Callely, Amy Grenville and Geoffrey Chaucer.
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