Francis Drake Stole Spain’s Gold. Elizabeth I Chose to Keep It

20 insights saved from this video by @history

@history· Rise & Fall
The iconic image is wrong: Elizabeth did not knight Drake. Monsieur de Marchaumont performed it at her direction.
@history· Rise & Fall
Elizabeth I genuinely liked Anjou and called him “her frog.” Nobody knows why.
@history· Rise & Fall
The Privy Council knew the Bond authorized extrajudicial killing, then sought mass signatures, including crosses from people unable to write.
@history· Rise & Fall
Drake’s men quietly received £14,000, while Drake secretly donated £100,000 directly to Elizabeth.
@history· Rise & Fall
Anjou's militia was wiped out in the failed Antwerp coup called the French Fury.
@history· Rise & Fall
On 5 January 1585, Mary, Queen of Scots signed the Bond of Association herself, likely to ease pressure around her.
@history· Rise & Fall
The Bond made even unwitting associates of Elizabeth's assassin liable, creating a route to execute Mary if an assassin acted for her succession.
@history· Rise & Fall
The invasion plan sent 12,000 French troops toward Catholic Lancashire, funded to ignite a local revolt.
@history· Rise & Fall
John Stubbs compared Anjou to a serpent and Elizabeth to Eve, warning their marriage could bring England a second St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre.
@history· Rise & Fall
Elizabeth flirted publicly with France despite its Catholic identity and its recent massacre of thousands of Protestants.
@history· Rise & Fall
Christopher Hatton backed Drake’s treasure despite Drake executing Hatton’s secretary, Thomas Doughty, because the profits outweighed personal grievance.
@history· Rise & Fall
Elizabeth ordered Drake’s treasure registered and sent to the Tower while privately authorizing him to divert large sums.
@history· Rise & Fall
Throckmorton's confession implicated Guise, Castelnau, Mendoza, and Mary, Queen of Scots in treasonous correspondence and conspiracy.
@history· Rise & Fall
The Duke of Anjou's death triggered France's War of the Three Henrys, consuming the country and distracting it from invading England.
@history· Rise & Fall
Even Holland and Zeeland, Protestant resistance heartlands, rejected the Catholic Anjou despite Elizabeth's endorsement.
@history· Rise & Fall
Spanish brutality against the Dutch revolt terrified English Protestants with a preview of invasion under Spanish rule.
@history· Rise & Fall
Elizabeth increasingly sided with her Privy Council’s hawks, shifting the cautious ruler toward active confrontation with Spain.
@history· Rise & Fall
Elizabeth ended the council dispute by demanding some of Drake’s loot and assuring Drake that he was safe.
@history· Rise & Fall
Philip’s ambassador Bernardino de Mendoza warned Elizabeth that war with Spain would be easy to begin but difficult to end.
@history· Rise & Fall
John Stubbs’s severed right hand showed exactly how far Elizabeth’s regime would tolerate political speech.

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