Today's selection is a celebration of Sir Francis Drake, the great English naval adventurer of the Elizabethian age. It is from "Sir Francis Drake Revived," a collection of his writings put together by Philip Nichols in 1626.
The subtitle of the volume, "Calling upon this dull or effeminate Age to follow his noble steps for gold and silver," makes clear what Nichols is up to — glorifying plunder and war.
In this case, the reading covers how Drake and 52 men raided of the Spanish treasure house in Nombre de Dios in 1572, and made off with tons of gold and silver. In the process, he avenged earlier defeats at the hands of the Spanish fleet. So celebrated was this victory that when Drake died on this day in 1596, he was buried at sea off the coast of Nombre de Dios.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment