The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake by Samuel Bawlf

Author:Samuel Bawlf
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2009-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

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Denied an audience with the Queen, Mendoza stirred up the Spanish merchants in Tondon to agitate for restoration of Drake’s plunder to its rightful owners, and told everyone he met that his King would surely retaliate if it was not returned. The already jittery mercantile powers in the City joined the chorus, again concerned that Philip might seize their assets in Spain.

As Mendoza continued to foment unrest with dire predictions of war, Burghley and Sussex led the doves on the council in an effort to persuade Elizabeth that the treasure had to be returned. At one point Drake’s backers approached Mendoza and offered him 50,000 crowns to tone down his incendiary rhetoric, but the proud Spaniard refused to be bribed. At this point, however, Mendoza’s position was abruptly undermined by King Philip himself.

Residing in London as agent for the merchant guild of Seville, many of whose members had suffered losses to Drake, was a man named Pedro de Zubiaure. Somehow, Drake’s backers managed to convince Zubiaure that if he obtained the necessary authority from Philip, it would be possible to obtain restitution of the parts of the treasure belonging to Spanish merchants through private negotiations. Zubiaure wrote to Philip, who fell for the ruse, and on December 16 he advised Mendoza that Zubiaure would lead the effort to recover the treasure. Thereafter Mendoza’s role in the matter was largely compromised, and the increasingly tangled negotiations dragged on for years with no appreciable results.

Especially galling for Mendoza were Drake’s extravagant displays at the court. The New Year was the time for gift giving, and Drake made sure that 1581 was heralded with the richest presents anyone could remember. Mendoza lamented to Philip:

Drake is squandering more money than any man in England, and proportionately, all those who came with him are doing the same. He gave to the Queen the crown which I described in a former letter as having been made here. She wore it on New Year’s Day. It has in it five emeralds, three of them almost as long as a little finger, whilst the two round ones are valued at 20,000 crowns, coming, as they do, from Peru.

He has also given the Queen a diamond cross as a New Year’s gift, as is the custom here, of the value of 5,000 crowns. He offered to Burghley ten bars of fine gold worth 300 crowns each, which, however, he refused, saying that he did not know how his conscience would allow him to accept a present from Drake, who had stolen all he had. He gave to Sussex eight hundred crowns in salvers and vases, but these also were refused in the same way. The Chancellor got eight hundred crowns worth of silver plate, and all the councillors and secretaries had a share in a similar form, Leicester getting most of all.13

The gifts had the desired effect. Drake found himself at the center of court life, moving among people of manner and station far different from those with whom he had previously associated.

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