“Sir Francis Drake in the Spanish Literature of the Armada”

The subject of this paper is Sir Francis Drake, Elizabeth I’s most famous privateer, and his role in Spanish texts composed throughout the Armada campaign of 1588. A well-known seaman in both the New World and Europe, Drake had a significant impact on Anglo-Spanish relations, acquiring a reputation as a violent and ambitious man determined to serve his country to the death. The fight against him was conducted not only at sea, but also in literature where he was decried as Spain’s worst enemy. In poems by Juan de Castellanos, Góngora, Cervantes and Lope de Vega, Drake is portrayed as the worst enemy Spain had ever faced. Lope de Vega’s La Dragontea, a long poem about Drake’s last voyage, shows how his fearless and arrogant nature, and his disdain for danger, were not enough to enable him to avoid death and to prevent Spaniards from ridiculing him and his fate.