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Elizabeth used Drake's Spanish silver as a weapon against Spain by funding Dutch Protestant rebels.

Drake revealed that Spanish silver from South America funded Philip's wars against Protestantism, so Elizabeth turned his own plunder against him by shipping it to Dutch rebels. ✦ AI generated

Tom Holland · The Rest Is History · 2026-08-06 · original ↗

starts at this moment · 11:12

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 are fueling increased silver extraction from the great minds there. 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 from all this silver in his cold war against me, why shouldn't I use his silver against him? 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?

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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

12:23cautiously, you know, in her kind of classic crabbed and evasive manner, Elizabeth has taken the side of the most hawkish elements in her privy council. So, Leicester and Walsingham and Hatton and so on. And she is actually not afraid to signal this publicly by deploying, you know, her incredible genius for theater, for giving her subjects scenes that will then glow in their collective hearts. >> Mhm. >> So, on the 1st of April, 1581,

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