Elizabeth risked political suicide if she returned Drake's £400,000 windfall, as the monarchy's survival depended on raising money.

10:51distant. There isn't really any evidence. And the truth is, she was never going to return such a windfall because she is too mean, too short of money, you know, she's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. >> So, remember you said 400,000 was bigger than her entire annual income, right? >> Yeah. >> I mean, this is a point at which the great issue for the monarchy in the 16th

11:12and 17th centuries is raising money. So, for her, a windfall like this, it would be suicidal. It would be insane to give that away. You're always going to keep it. >> Also, she knows from Drake, because Drake has found out this for himself, that one of the reasons why the Spanish forces under Parma in the Low Countries are starting to do better is because um technological advances in South America

11:34>> Mhm. >> are fueling increased silver extraction from the great minds there. >> Yeah. >> So, there is an increased flow of silver, which is being fed back to Spain and ultimately to to Philip's war against Protestantism. And this war against Protestantism is actively raging in the low countries, but it is also funding the cold war against Protestant England. And so, I think Elizabeth feels, well, if Philip is benefiting

11:59from all this silver in his cold war against me, why shouldn't I use his silver against him? >> Mhm. >> Um and actually, not just the cold war. She she ships some of the silver to the the Dutch rebels in the low countries. You know, this sense of proxy battles being fought, again, that's kind of very American-Soviet in the Cold War, isn't it? >> Yeah, completely. >> This is a big moment because