The Dark Side of Sir Francis Drake

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For centuries, Sir Francis Drake has been celebrated as a national hero - the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. But behind the Drake legend, was there a darker reality of violence and exploitation? Were his attacks on Spanish galleons and settlements acts of imperial bravery - or state-sanctioned piracy? What happened to the enslaved people Drake transported? And how did he justify the execution of his own shipmate?

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Richard Blakemore to take a fresh look at Drake’s voyages and uncover the brutal truths often left out of the history books.

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. Edited by Amy Haddow and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb.
0:02.6	If you'd like not just the Tudors ad-free to get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:10.5	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:16.0	including my own recent two-part series, A World Torn Apart, The Dissolution of the Monasteries, and enjoy a new release every week.
0:25.2	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:30.1	This episode is brought to you by Find My Past.
0:34.4	To commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Find My Past.co.uk are making the 1939 register totally free to access.
0:46.3	Find your relatives and delve deeper into life on the path to victory.
0:51.3	Explore the lives of 41 million people in England and Wales just before the
0:56.5	outbreak of World War II with the 1939 register. Created as air raid sirens were sounding and families
1:03.9	were separated, this national register was crucial for home front planning. Uncover extraordinary
1:10.6	details about your family and their roles during the war.
1:13.8	Find out who lived in your house in 1939 and discover if your relatives contributed to the war effort
1:19.6	as air raid wardens, members of the women's land army or in other vital roles.
1:25.2	Visit find mypass.co.co.uk slash VE Day.
1:29.9	That's visit find my past.com.
1:32.3	dot UK slash VE Day for exclusive free access to the 1939 register.
1:40.3	Find My Past. Your family history understood.
1:44.4	Terms and conditions apply.
1:49.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome to Not Just the Tudors from History Hit.
1:55.0	The podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Berlin to the Aztecs, from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to Samarise.
2:03.9	Relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft.
	...

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