John Hopkins

In 1589, he and the military commander Sir John Norris set out at the head of what is sometimes termed the English Armada.

The Queen orders Drake to destroy any warships that he finds in Spanish ports, and they are also tasked with placing a claimant named Dom Antonio on the throne of Portugal to lessen Philip II's power.

But the mission is an unmitigated disaster.

Drake ignores Elizabeth's orders and fails to meet up with Norris's land force in Lisbon as promised.

Now in his mid-fifties, in August 1595, Drake embarks upon what will prove to be his final voyage.

It is a full-circle moment, with John Hawkins acting as co-commander of the small fleet.

As with so many previous expeditions, they sail for the West Indies, stopping along the way to attack the Canary Islands.

But midway through November 1595, Hawkins dies of dysentery as the fleet approaches what is now Puerto Rico.

Drake attempts to land troops at his old haunt of Nombre de Dios in Panama, but they are driven off by fierce Spanish defenders.

As the new year gets underway, fever is sweeping through the fleet, and on the 27th of January, it claims Drake himself.

Drake's body is sealed in a lead coffin and buried at sea the very next day.

Even before Francis Drake's final expedition, his star was waning, with the failure of the English Armada having taken the shine off of Elizabeth's golden knight.

Yet future generations revive his myth, and especially in the 19th century, he is seen as one of the men who helped to transform Britain into the imperial maritime superpower it has by then become.

Shaking off humble roots as the son of a felon, Sir Francis Drake rose through the ranks of Elizabethan society as a war hero, a spy, a landowner, and even a celebrated knight.

But especially early in his career, much of his wealth was generated via the untold human suffering of the slave trade.

In the centuries since his life and death, the story of Francis Drake as an adventurer, explorer, pirate, and opportunist has been stitched into the mythic tapestry of the nation, for better or for worse.

Next time on Short History, we'll bring you a short history of the Spanish Civil War.

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I think people are still so interested in Francis Drake today because of his complexity, I think is one of them.