How the British equipped three expeditions to Greenland for the "fool's gold"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

While exploring the northern seas, the English corsair Martin Frobisher brought mountains of useless rock to his queen instead of gold. At the same time, he managed to write his name in world history and receive the title of a knight.

During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), for young English aristocrats, maritime, or rather privateer service, was the most attractive option for building a career. Martin Frobisher, a relative of a wealthy London merchant, was no exception. A scion of an old Scottish family, Martin was left without a father early and was given to be raised by his uncle, who planned to make him a sailor.

Pirate youth

In 1553, eighteen-year-old Frobisher, at the instigation of his uncle, entered the ship and embarked on a journey to Guinea. The brave young man immediately made a favorable impression on the captain. And during the second raid in 1554, Martin voluntarily remained in the African tribe, the leader of which demanded as a sign of seriousness of intentions to leave the hostage.

By the will of fate, Frobisher got from the Africans to the Portuguese, but even there he managed to prove himself. Together with the pirate Strangueis, he tried to take a fortress in Guinea, but failed. Only in 1559 Frobisher was released from prison, where he got for participation in a pirate raid.

In 1563, Martin became captain of the Mary Flower. The ship was owned by an English merchant who bought a letter of marque, which gave the right to rob the ships of the French. Martin liked this case. In May 1563, he captured and brought five French ships to the port of Plymouth. In 1564, in the English Channel, Frobisher captured the ship Catherine, which was delivering carpets to Madrid for King Philip II. In order not to quarrel with Spain, the British put the impudent captain in jail, but soon Frobisher went to sea in his "Mary" again.

In 1565, Martin himself bought a letter of marque signed by the leaders of the French Huguenots - the Prince of Condé and Admiral de Coligny. According to this document, its owner had the right to rob the ships of French Catholics. In 1569 Frobisher got hold of similar testimony from Prince William of Orange and began to hunt for the Spanish crown. The Spanish and French discontent with the impudent pirate was such that the British were forced to put Frobisher behind bars again. But again, not for long.

Way to the west

The fix idea of that time was the search for a sea route to China. The idea of finding the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean haunted Frobisher for over a decade. However, such an expedition required huge funds, which he did not have. Numerous attempts to persuade wealthy shipowners to finance his venture were unsuccessful. Martin was helped by the elder brother of the Queen's favorite Robert Dudley - Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick. He presented Frobisher's project to the members of the Privy Council, and at the end of 1574 they strongly recommended that English merchants from the Moscow Company take Frobisher under their wing. But the merchants, who had a monopoly on trade with Russia and, accordingly, were interested in moving east, not west, refused.

Then the Privy Council commanded them either to equip their expedition, or to grant a license to those who can do it. Thinking, the head of the Moscow company, Michael Locke, nevertheless decided to support Frobisher and ordered the merchants to chip in. Eighteen members of the company contributed £ 875, and Lock himself donated £ 700 to organize the expedition. Soon a 20-ton barque Gabriel was built for Frobisher.a 25-ton barque "Michael" and a 10-ton pinas (a small sailing and rowing vessel for reconnaissance and small shipments) were purchased. The expedition team consisted of 35 people. On June 7, 1576, the ships sailed from Ratcliffe, and when passing Greenwich, Queen Elizabeth I herself waved after them and wished them luck.

On July 11, 1576, the coast of Greenland appeared overboard, but the snow and fog made the mooring risky. Frobisher abandoned this idea and went on. A day later, a violent storm scattered the ships. Pinas sank, and the Michael barque disappeared from the horizon. Having lost the mast, "Gabriel", its captain and 23 sailors continued their risky voyage. On July 28, 1576, the British made out the coast of Resolution Island, and on August 18, Frobisher reached the coast of Baffin Land, the largest island in the Canadian archipelago.

"Gabriel" entered a narrow bay, which Martin took for the desired strait and presumptuously called by his name (it is called Frobisher's Bay to this day). Soon the ship of the British was surrounded by single boats of the natives - according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, the British took them for Asians, but they were Inuit Eskimos.

At first, the natives greeted the Europeans amiably, offering furs and food for exchange. But when five sailors went ashore to replenish supplies, the Eskimos treacherously kidnapped them. Frobisher equipped a rescue expedition, but the Eskimos could not be found. The British captured only one of them. But some sailor brought the captain several black stones interspersed with yellow grains of sand. For Frobisher, who heard from a sailor that there were a lot of such stones on the coast, it meant one thing - he had found gold. Soon the barque set sail from the coast and headed for England.

Fake by nature

On his return, the captain handed over the stones with the "gold ore" to the expedition's sponsor, Michael Lock. And he sent them to be checked by jewelers and alchemists. Three experts concluded that the stones contained pyrite, but the Italian master Angelo reported that he obtained three grains of gold from the ore. This was enough for the spring of 1577, the newly formed "Katayskaya Company" equipped another expedition for gold. And Elizabeth I, imitating the Spanish monarchs - the patrons of Columbus, awarded Frobisher the title of "chief admiral of all seas, lakes, lands and islands, countries and places, newly discovered."

On July 17, 1577, the expedition reached Hall Island in Frobisher Bay. Having declared the newly discovered land the property of the British crown, the British began mining for "gold". At the same time, the natives, hoping to seize valuable trophies, constantly fired arrows at them. A month later, Frobisher filled the holds with "gold" ore and on August 23 sailed from the cold coast. When the ships returned to England in September 1577, Martin Frobisher was expected to have a personal audience with the Queen. The alchemists of the court, examining the ore, came to the conclusion that it really contains gold. In May 1578, the company sent Frobisher on a third expedition to the North, already allocating fifteen ships to him. The sailors had to establish a settlement on the "gold" coast, equip mines and arrange the shipment of ore. On July 2, 1578, the ships approached Frobisher Bay, where the ice had not yet melted. During a blizzard, the Dennis 100-ton bark was breached and sank. Another ship returned to England and the rest scattered.

Thirteen ships of the expedition nevertheless reached the "golden" coast. True, Frobisher was no longer able to build a colony and a mine there. Having repaired the ships, he loaded 1,300 tons of "gold" into the holds and returned to England in October. Only a month later, as a result of numerous experiments, the alchemists came to the conclusion that Frobisher's ore is iron pyrite, which is popularly called the "gold of fools". And there is no real gold in it.

Despite the fiasco, Frobisher did not lose the Queen's trust and even wrote his name in history. He never found the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean (only Roald Amundsen passed it for the first time in 1906). But he opened a new bay and gave it his name. In addition, Frobisher was among the first to explore the Greenland coast.

He also concluded that icebergs are not a product of the freezing of sea waters. After all, they are insipid. Consequently, they originate on land, and only then slide into the sea.

Martin Frobisher was knighted and for many years he faithfully served the British crown, covering his name with unfading glory. He died, as befits a noble corsair, from battle wounds. In 1594, a squadron commanded by Frobisher laid siege to Fort Crozon in Brittany. During this battle, Frobisher was seriously wounded and transported to Plymouth, where he died on November 22.