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\r\nhis role in Spanish texts composed throughout the Armada campaign of 1588. A wellknown\r\nseaman in both the New World and Europe, Drake had a significant impact on\r\nAnglo-Spanish relations, acquiring a reputation as a violent and ambitious man determined\r\nto serve his country to the death. The fight against him was conducted not only\r\nat sea, but also in literature where he was decried as Spain’s worst enemy. In poems by\r\nJuan de Castellanos, Góngora, Cervantes and Lope de Vega, Drake is portrayed as the\r\nworst enemy Spain had ever faced. Lope de Vega’s La Dragontea, a long poem about\r\nDrake’s last voyage, shows how his fearless and arrogant nature, and his disdain for\r\ndanger, were not enough to enable him to avoid death and to prevent Spaniards from\r\nridiculing him and his fate.