← Back to the front page

The Real Pirates of the Caribbean

Khalid Elhassan January 7, 2020 32 min

33. Queen Elizabeth’s Favorite Pirate

Queen Elizabeth I knighting Sir Francis Drake aboard his ship, The Golden Hind. Dissolve

Sir Francis Drake (circa 1540 – 1596) was Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite pirate, and for good reason. The Virgin Queen invested in English pirates like modern venture capitalists invest in Silicon Valley startups, and she made out like a bandit from the returns on Drake’s high seas high jinks and predations.

The most celebrated seaman of the Elizabethan Era, Drake led one of history’s most adventurous seafaring careers. He became the greatest pirate of his day, preying upon Spanish shipping and coastal settlements. He also became the second man to circumnavigate the globe after Magellan’s expedition, during which endeavor he combined exploration with opportunistic plunder. He further cemented his place in history by playing a prominent role in defeating the 1588 Spanish Armada.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.