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{{Short description|English sea captain and privateer (1535–1594)}}
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{{Use British English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person          
| honorific_prefix   = [[Sir]]
| name               = Martin Frobisher
| image              = Martin Frobisher by Cornelis Ketel (1577).png
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Portrait by [[Cornelis Ketel]], 1577
| birth_date         = {{circa|1535}} or 1539
| birth_place        = [[Altofts]], [[Yorkshire]], England
| death_date         = {{death date|df=yes|1594|11|22}} (aged 55–59)
| death_place        = [[Plymouth]], England
| education          =
| occupation         = Sea captain, privateer
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Isobel Richard|1559|1588}}
* {{marriage|Dorothy Wentworth|1590}}}}
| parents            = Bernard Frobisher and Margaret York
| children           =
| signature          = Signature of Martin Frobisher (c. 1535 – 1594).png
}}

'''Sir Martin Frobisher''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|r|oʊ|b|ɪ|ʃ|ər}}; {{c.|1535/1539}} – 22 November 1594{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=7, 478}}) was an English sea captain and privateer who made three voyages to the [[New World]] looking for the [[North-west Passage]].<!-- In British English, directions such as "North-west" are hyphenated. --> He probably sighted [[Resolution Island (Nunavut)|Resolution Island]] near [[Labrador]] in eastern Canada, before entering [[Frobisher Bay]] and landing on present-day [[Baffin Island]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |first1=James H. |last1=Marsh |first2= Daniel |last2=Panneton |date=18 December 2015 |title=Sir Martin Frobisher |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-martin-frobisher}}</ref>

On his second voyage, Frobisher found what he thought was gold ore and carried {{convert|200|ST}} of it home on three ships, where initial assaying determined it to be worth a profit of £5.20 per ton (equivalent to £{{Inflation|UK|5.20|1577|r=-2|fmt=c}} per ton in {{Inflation/year|UK}}).{{inflation/fn|UK}} Encouraged, Frobisher returned to Canada with an even larger fleet and dug several mines around Frobisher Bay. He carried 1,350 tons of the ore back to England, where, after years of smelting, it was realized that the ore was a worthless rock containing the mineral [[hornblende]]. As an English [[privateer]], he plundered riches from French ships. He was later knighted for his service in repelling the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588.

==Early life==
Martin Frobisher was probably born in 1535 or 1536, the son of merchant Bernard Frobisher of [[Altofts]], [[Yorkshire]], and Margaret York of [[Gouthwaite]].{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=xi}} He was the third of five children when his father died prematurely in 1542. The family was left in the care of his uncle, Francis Frobisher. Little else is known of his early life in Yorkshire; his education appears to have been rudimentary. In hopes of better opportunity, young Frobisher was sent to London in 1549 to live with a maternal relative, Sir [[John York (Master of the Mint)|John York]].{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=8–10}} York was a wealthy and influential member of the [[Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors|Merchant Taylors]] and had important connections in the royal government.{{sfnmp|1a1=McDermott|1y=2001a|1pp=21–22|2a1=McGhee|2y=2001|2p=25}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Eric H. Ash|title=Power, Knowledge, and Expertise in Elizabethan England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IfyHKqKewugC&pg=PA124|year=2004|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-7992-0|page=124}}</ref>

In 1553, [[Thomas Wyndham (navigator)|Thomas Wyndham]] led the first English expedition to West Africa, comprising three ships and 140 men. York was an investor in the enterprise and Frobisher accompanied the fleet in an unknown capacity. After plundering Portuguese ships in the vicinity of [[Madeira]], they made their most successful transactions on the Gold Coast, trading English cloth for 150 pounds of gold. Pushing further south they reached [[Benin City|Benin]] and negotiated directly with [[Oba of Benin|Oba]] [[Orhogbua]] for 80 [[Long ton|tons]] of [[Grains of paradise|melegueta pepper]].<ref name="Fryer1984">{{cite book|author=Peter Fryer|author-link=Peter Fryer|title=Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8rVeu2go8IC&pg=PA6|year=1984|publisher=University of Alberta|isbn=978-0-86104-749-9|page=6}}</ref> After some initial reluctance, Orhogbua agreed to trade but while the pepper was being gathered, disease swept through the English crew killing many of them including the expedition leader, Wyndham. Lacking sufficient sailors to crew the entire fleet, they abandoned one ship and, in their panic to leave, even left behind some members of the expedition. The return voyage was extremely difficult for the sick and short-handed crew. Another ship was lost and when the one remaining ship returned to England only 40 of the original 140 crewmen were still alive. Frobisher was one of the survivors, perhaps a confirmation of York's assessment that Frobisher had "great spirit and bould courage, and natural hardnes of body{{sic}}."{{sfnmp|1a1=McDermott|1y=2001a|1pp=35–38|2a1=McGhee|2y=2001|2p=27}}

Despite the loss of two ships and 100 lives, the 1553 voyage was considered a financial success and investors, including York, funded another trading expedition to Portuguese Guinea in 1554. Undaunted by his first experience, Frobisher joined the new expedition and served as an apprentice merchant working for York's trading representative, John Beryn.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=34–35}} Three ships left Dartmouth in November 1554 under the command of [[John Lok]]. This may have been Frobisher's first acquaintance with the Lok family, a relationship that would play an important role in his future.{{sfnmp|1a1=McDermott|1y=2001a|1pp=39–40|2a1=McGhee|2y=2001|2p=27}}

After seven weeks' sailing, they made their first landfall near the [[Cestos River]] in present-day Liberia. They traded for a quantity of pepper and then proceeded to the Gold Coast, the West African gold trade centre. The local government refused to deal with the English until they provided a hostage to ensure negotiations in good faith. Frobisher volunteered to serve as the hostage and discussions were allowed to proceed. However, before they could conclude a deal, a Portuguese ship appeared offshore and fired on the English fleet.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=40–41}}<ref name="Eliot1917">{{cite book|author=K.M. Eliot |editor=Mandell Creighton |editor2=Justin Winsor |editor3=Samuel Rawson Gardiner |editor4=Reginald Lane Poole |editor5=John Goronwy Edwards|title=The English Historical Review|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5_RAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA91|volume=XXXII|date=January 1917|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.|pages=91–92|chapter=First Voyages of Martin Frobisher}}</ref> The expedition abandoned Frobisher and went elsewhere to trade, eventually returning to England with a valuable cargo of gold, pepper, and ivory. His African captors then handed Frobisher over to the Portuguese at their [[History of Elmina|trading post of Mina]], where he was imprisoned in the [[Elmina Castle|castle of São Jorge da Mina]]. After nine months or so, the Portuguese authorities sent him to Portugal, whence he eventually made his way back to England about 1558.{{sfnp|McGhee|2001|p=25}}<ref name="Kupperman2009">{{cite book|author=Karen Ordahl Kupperman|title=The Jamestown Project|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIp7_e8KMJ0C&pg=PA27|date= 2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02702-2|page=27}}</ref>

==Privateer and pirate==
The circumstances and timing of Frobisher's return from Portugal are unclear. There is no indication of any diplomatic or financial effort to secure his release; perhaps the Portuguese simply saw no advantage to holding a low-ranking political prisoner any longer.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=42–44}} Frobisher must have returned to the sea soon after his release. There is some evidence that by 1559, he led a voyage to the [[Barbary Coast]] to secure the release of an English hostage, Anthony Hammond.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=44}} In September of the same year the well-known pirate, [[Henry Strangways (pirate)|Henry Strangways]], testified in court that Frobisher had been part of an aborted plot to attack and plunder the Portuguese fortress of Mina where Frobisher had been held captive in 1555.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=49}}

On 30 September 1559, Frobisher married a Yorkshire widow, Isobel Richard, who had two young children and a substantial settlement from her previous marriage to Thomas Rigatt of [[Snaith]]. Little is known of their domestic life, but having spent all her inheritance to finance his ventures, Frobisher seems to have left her and her children by the mid-1570s; Isobel's death in a [[poorhouse]] in 1588 went unremarked by the ambitious captain.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=45–46}}<ref name="Kitzan1999109">{{cite book|author=Chris Kitzan|title=Meta Incognita: A Discourse of Discovery : Martin Frobisher's Arctic Expeditions, 1576–1578|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BhS4R7qnvAC&q=%22Snaith%22|year=1999|publisher=Canadian Museum of Civilization|isbn=978-0-660-17507-2|page=109}}</ref>

In 1563, Frobisher became involved in a privateering venture with his brother, John Frobisher, and a fellow Yorkshireman, John Appleyard. Appleyard was [[Letter of marque|licensed]] to seize ships of the French Catholic party and financed a fleet of three vessels. Martin Frobisher captained one vessel and may have been fleet commander. By May 1563, they had seized five French ships and brought them to [[Plymouth]] harbour. Frobisher was promptly arrested by officers of the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]] because his ship had also participated in the seizure of a Spanish ship which resulted in the death of 40 Englishmen. The leader of this attack was the pirate [[Thomas Brooke alias Cobham|Thomas Cobham]], who gave Frobisher the Spanish cargo of tapestries and wine. Possession of these goods was sufficient evidence to land Frobisher in prison.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=58–60}}

In 1564, Frobisher was released from prison. In 1565, he purchased two ships, the ''Mary Flower'' and ''William Baxter''. His stated intention was to outfit the ships for a trading expedition to the Guinea coast. Based on previous experience, officials were skeptical of his motives and when a storm drove him into [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]], he was seized along with the ''William Baxter''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Martin Frobisher and Scarborough|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220045608/http://www.scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk/article.php?article=124.html|url-status=live|archive-date=20 December 2020|url=http://www.scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk/article.php?article=124.html|access-date=2020-12-20|publisher=Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre}}</ref> His brother, John Frobisher, was captain of the ''Mary Flower'' and escaped arrest. Martin Frobisher was once again imprisoned briefly by the [[admiralty court]].{{sfnp|McDermott|1999|pp=61–62}}<ref name="Rowse2003">{{cite book|author=A. L. Rowse|title=The Expansion of Elizabethan England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eVAVd3g8UlMC&pg=PA256|year=2003|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-18824-5|page=256}}</ref>

On 31 October 1566, Frobisher was again set free on the condition that he refrain from going to sea without a license. In 1568, he commanded the ''Robert'' in service to the exiled [[Cardinal of Chatillon]] who licensed at least six vessels to prey on French shipping. For a brief time Frobisher associated with other notable privateers including [[John Hawkins (naval commander)|John Hawkins]] and [[William Winter (admiral)|William Winter]]. However, Frobisher refused to limit his depredations to French Catholic vessels and also seized Protestant ships carrying English goods. In 1569, he was again arrested by admiralty officers and imprisoned first at [[Fleet Prison|Fleet prison]] and then at [[Marshalsea]]. He might have remained there for some time if not for the intervention of the lord admiral, [[Edward Fiennes de Clinton]] and the secretary of state, [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|William Cecil]]. With their help, Frobisher was free again in March 1570.{{sfnp|McDermott|1999|pp=62–63}}

The terms of his release are unknown but it appears that Frobisher was required to undertake certain assignments at the direction of the Privy Council. In October 1571, he was commissioned to command four ships in the search for pirates and smugglers along the English coast. There is no indication that he had any success in this effort. In 1572, he was directed to the Irish coast to provide logistical support for the English campaign against the [[Desmond Rebellions]].{{sfnmp|1a1=McDermott|1y=1999|1pp=62–63|2a1=McDermott|2y=2015}}

Starting in 1571, Frobisher was involved in various plots that ran counter to government interest. He possibly had the tacit approval of the Privy Council, suggesting that he may have been working as a double agent. He was briefly associated with a plan to help the [[Earl of Desmond]] flee England; then a proposal to lead a group of disaffected English mercenaries to seize Flushing for the Spanish king; and finally, in 1573, a plot to capture the English rebel, [[Thomas Stukley]].{{sfnp|McDermott|2015}}

According to the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'', the first direct notice of Frobisher apparently is an account in the [[state papers]] of two interrogations in 1566, "on suspicion of his having fitted out a vessel as a pirate". On 21 August 1571, Captain E. Horsey wrote to [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Lord Burghley]] from Portsmouth that he "has expedited the fitting out of a hulk for M. Frobisher"; this is the earliest mention of Frobisher being in the Crown's employ. Burghley, then chief minister of the Queen, became [[Lord High Treasurer]] in 1572.<ref name="Cartwright1872">{{cite book|author=James Joel Cartwright|title=Chapters in the History of Yorkshire: Being a Collection of Original Letters, Papers, and Public Documents, Illustrating the State of the County in the Reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. ... Subscriber's Copy|url=https://archive.org/details/chaptersinhisto00cartgoog|year=1872|publisher=B. W. Allen|page=[https://archive.org/details/chaptersinhisto00cartgoog/page/n121 100]}}</ref> From the latter part of 1571 to 1572, Frobisher was in the public service at sea off the coast of Ireland.{{sfnp|Coote|1889}}

==North-west passage==
<!-- This article is written in British English, which hyphenates compass directions. -->

Throughout much of the sixteenth century, the feasibility of a northern route to [[Cathay]] and the [[East Indies]] was debated and tested by England. In 1508, [[Sebastian Cabot (explorer)|Sebastian Cabot]] led one of the first expeditions to search for a [[North-west Passage]]. In the 1530s, Robert Thorne and Roger Barlow tried unsuccessfully to interest [[Henry VIII]] in a plan to sail directly over the North Pole to China. In 1551 a company of English merchants (later known as the [[Muscovy Company]]) was formed to search for a northeast passage to Cathay. The initiative failed to find a route but did establish a long-lasting trade relationship with Russia. In the 1560s [[Humphrey Gilbert]] was an influential advocate for seeking a North-west Passage and penned a detailed treatise in support of the idea.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=The Context of English Northwest Exploration |encyclopedia=Meta Incognita : a discourse of discovery : Martin Frobisher's Arctic expeditions, 1576–1578 |publisher=Canadian Museum of Civilization |location=Hull, Quebec |last=Quinn |first=David R. |date=1999 |editor-last=Symons |editor-first=Thomas H. B. |volume=1 |pages=7–18 |isbn=0-660-17507-X |oclc=40892244}}</ref>

Although Frobisher may have expressed interest in a search for the North-west Passage as early as 1560, it was only much later that he actively pursued the idea. In 1574, Frobisher petitioned the [[Privy Council of England#History|Privy Council]] for permission and financial support to lead an expedition to find a north-west passage to "the Southern Sea" (the Pacific Ocean) and thence to Cathay.<ref name="Mayers2016">{{cite book|author=Kit Mayers|title=The First English Explorer: The Life of Anthony Jenkinson (1529–1611) and his adventures on route to the Orient|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m3RyDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA278|year=2016|publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd.|isbn=978-1-78589-228-8|page=278}}</ref> Some of its members were intrigued by his proposal, but cautiously referred him to the Muscovy Company, an English merchant consortium which had previously sent out several parties searching for the [[Northeast Passage]] around the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia, and held exclusive rights to any northern sea routes to the East.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=103}}<ref name="Householder2016">{{cite book|author=Michael Householder|title=Inventing Americans in the Age of Discovery: Narratives of Encounter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rE8fDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT103|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-11322-5|page=103}}</ref>

===First voyage===
[[File: Greenwich Palace (anonymous).jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|[[Palace of Placentia|Greenwich Palace]] on the south bank of the [[River Thames]], from a window of which Queen Elizabeth waved to the departing ships (by an unknown artist)]]

In 1576, Frobisher persuaded the Muscovy Company to license his expedition. With the help of the company's director, [[Michael Lok]] (whose well-connected father [[William Lok]] had held an exclusive [[Worshipful Company of Mercers|mercers]]' licence to provide Henry VIII with fine cloths),<ref name="Alford2017">{{cite book|author=Stephen Alford|title=London's Triumph: Merchants, Adventurers, and Money in Shakespeare's City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUk6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT142|date=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-62040-823-0|pages=142–143}}</ref> Frobisher was able to raise enough capital for three [[barque]]s: ''Gabriel'' and ''Michael'' of about 20–25 tons each, and an unnamed [[Full rigged pinnace|pinnace]] of 10 tons, with a total crew of 35.<ref name=Bumsted55>{{cite book|last=Bumsted|first=J. M.|title=The Peoples of Canada: A Pre-Confederation History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfMMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP55|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-543101-8|page=55}}</ref><ref name="McCoy2012">{{cite book|author=Roger M. McCoy|title=On the Edge: Mapping North America's Coasts|url=https://archive.org/details/onedgemappingnor0000mcco|url-access=registration|date= 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press, US|isbn=978-0-19-974404-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/onedgemappingnor0000mcco/page/72 72]}}</ref> Queen [[Elizabeth I]] sent word that she had "good liking of their doings", and the ships weighed anchor at [[Blackwall, London|Blackwall]] on 7 June 1576. As they headed downstream on the Thames, Elizabeth waved to the departing ships from a window of [[Palace of Placentia|Greenwich Palace]], while cannons fired salutes and a large assembly of the people cheered.<ref>{{cite book|title=The United Service Magazine|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NtsRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA437|year=1875|publisher=Hurst and Blackett|page=437|chapter=Arctic Discovery}}</ref><ref name="Markham2014">{{cite book|author=Clements R. Markham|title=The Lands of Silence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2q8BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA83|date=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-07687-6|page=83}}</ref>

On 26 June 1576, the little fleet reached the [[Shetland Islands]], where it stopped to repair a leak in ''Michael''{{'s}} hull and repair the barques' water casks. The ships hoisted sail the same evening and set course westwards, sailing west by north for three days until a violent storm arose and pounded them continuously through 8 July.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=136}} On 11 July 1576, they sighted the mountains of the southeastern tip of Greenland, which they mistook for the non-existent island called 'Friesland'. Crossing the [[Davis Strait]], they encountered another violent storm in which the pinnace was sunk and ''Michael'' turned back to England,<ref>{{cite book|title=Calendar of State Papers: Colonial Series, East Indiès, China and Japan, 1513–1616, preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office, and elsewhere. Edited by W. Noël Sainsburg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIg9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA23|year=1862|publisher=Longman|volume=I|page=13}}</ref> but ''Gabriel'' sailed on for four days until her crew sighted what they believed was the coast of [[Labrador]]. The landmass was actually the southernmost tip of [[Baffin Island]]; Frobisher named it "Queen Elizabeth's Foreland".{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=139}}

The ship reached the mouth of Frobisher Bay a few days later, and because ice and wind prevented further travel north, Frobisher determined to sail westwards up the bay, which he believed to be the entrance to the North-west Passage, naming it Frobisher's Strait,<ref name="Craciun2016">{{cite book|author=Adriana Craciun|title=Writing Arctic Disaster|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0mSSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205|date= 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-12554-4|page=205}}</ref> to see "whether he might carry himself through the same into some open sea on the backside".<ref name="Hakluyt1880">{{cite book|author=Richard Hakluyt|title=Voyages of the Elizabethan Seamen to America: Thirteen Original Narratives from the Collection of Hakluyt|url=https://archive.org/details/voyageselizabet00haklgoog|year=1880|publisher=T. De La Rue & Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/voyageselizabet00haklgoog/page/n96 66]}}</ref> ''Gabriel'' sailed northwestwards, keeping in sight of the bay's north shore. On 18 August 1576, Burch's Island was sighted and named after the ship's carpenter who first spied it;<ref name="Chalmers1814">{{cite book|editor=Alexander Chalmers|title=The General Biographical Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/generalbiograph53chalgoog|year=1814|publisher=J. Nichols and Son|page=[https://archive.org/details/generalbiograph53chalgoog/page/n169 139]|chapter=XV}}</ref>{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=143}} there the expedition met some local [[Inuit]]. Having made arrangements with one of the Inuit to guide them through the region, Frobisher sent five of his men in a ship's boat to return him to shore, instructing them to avoid getting too close to any of the others. The boat's crew disobeyed, however, and five of Frobisher's men were taken captive.<ref name="McCoy201276">{{cite book|author=Roger M. McCoy|title=On the Edge: Mapping North America's Coasts|url=https://archive.org/details/onedgemappingnor0000mcco|url-access=registration|date= 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press, US|isbn=978-0-19-974404-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/onedgemappingnor0000mcco/page/76 76]}}</ref>

After days of searching, Frobisher could not recover the insubordinate sailors, and eventually took hostage a native man to see if an exchange for the missing boat's crew could be arranged. The captive refused to communicate with his fellow Inuit and Frobisher's men were never seen again by their fellows,<ref name=" Morison1986287">{{cite book|author=Samuel Eliot Morison|title=The Great Explorers: The European Discovery of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnotvLHX80gC&pg=PA291|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-504222-1|pages=287–288}}</ref> but Inuit oral tradition tells that the men lived among them for a few years of their own free will until they died attempting to leave Baffin Island in a self-made boat.<ref name="Williams2010">{{cite book|author=Glyn Williams|title=Arctic Labyrinth: The Quest for the Northwest Passage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H6kwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|date=2010|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-26995-8|page=20}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the local man, "Wherupon, when he founde himself in captivitie, for very choler and disdain, he bit his tong in twayne within his mouth: notwithstanding, he died not therof, but lived untill he came in Englande, and then he died of colde which he had taken at sea."<ref>George Best's ''The three voyages of Martin Frobisher, in search of a passage to Cathaia and India by the North-west, A.D. 1576–8. Reprinted from the first ed. of Hakluyt's Voyages, with selections from manuscript documents in the British Museum and State Paper Office''. Edited by Rear-Admiral Richard Collinson. Printed for the Hakluyt Society, London, 1867, p. 74.</ref>

Frobisher turned homewards, and was well received by the Queen when he docked in London on 9 October.<ref name="Allen1997" /> Among the things which had been hastily brought away by the men was a black stone "as great as a half-penny loaf" which had been found loose on the surface of [[Christopher Hall Island|Hall's Island]] of Baffin Island by the shipmaster, Robert Garrard, who took it to be sea-coal, of which they had to need.<ref>Garrard was one of the five men captured by the [[Inuit]] several days later.{{Harv|McDermott|2001a|p=72}}</ref>{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=4, 72}} Frobisher took no account of the black rock but kept it as a token of possession of the new territory.

Michael Lok said that Frobisher, upon his return to London from the Arctic, had given him the black stone as the first object taken from the new land. Lok brought samples of the stone to the royal assayer in the [[Tower of London]] and two other expert assayers, all of whom declared that it was worthless, saying that it was [[marcasite]] and contained no gold. Lok then took the "ore" to an Italian alchemist living in London, [[Giovanni Battista Agnello]], who claimed it was gold-bearing.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=154}} Agnello assayed the ore three times and showed Lok small amounts of gold dust; when he was challenged as to why the other assayers failed to find gold in their specimens, Agnello replied, ''"Bisogna sapere adulare la natura"'' ("One must know how to flatter nature").<ref name="Collinson1867">{{cite book|author=Sir Richard Collinson|title=The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher: In Search of a Passage to Cathaia and India by the North-west, 1576–8, A.D. 1576–8|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_03952|year=1867|publisher=Hakluyt Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/cihm_03952/page/n134 93]|isbn=9780665039522 }}</ref> Ignoring the negative reports, Lok secretly wrote to the Queen to inform her of the encouraging result,<ref name="Andrews1984173">{{cite book|author=Kenneth R. Andrews|title=Trade, Plunder and Settlement: Maritime Enterprise and the Genesis of the British Empire, 1480–1630|url=https://archive.org/details/tradeplundersett0000andr|url-access=registration|date=1984|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-27698-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/tradeplundersett0000andr/page/173 173]}}</ref> and used this assessment to lobby investors to finance another voyage.{{sfnp|Bumsted|2009|page=56}} Subsequently the stone became the focus of intense attention by the Cathay enterprise's venturers, who saw in it the possibility of vast profits to be derived from mining the rocky islands of ''Meta Incognita'';{{sfnp|McGhee|2001|p=60}} gossip spread in the court and from there throughout London about the gold powder Agnello was supposedly deriving from the rock.<ref name="SmithFindlen2013">{{cite book|author=Deborah E. Harkness |editor=Pamela Smith |editor2=Paula Findlen|title=Merchants and Marvels: Commerce, Science, and Art in Early Modern Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LUuMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA152|date=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-135-30035-7|page=152}}</ref>

===Second voyage===
[[File:John White – The skirmish at Bloody Point, Frobisher Bay (British Museum) (cropped).png|thumb|Skirmish between Martin Frobisher's men and [[Inuit]], {{circa|1577–78}}.]]

In 1577, a much bigger expedition than the former was fitted out. The Queen lent the 200-ton ship {{ship|English ship|Aid|1562|2}} or ''Ayde'' to the Company of Cathay (Frobisher's biographer James McDermott says she sold it) and invested [[Pound sign|£]]1000 ({{Inflation|UK|1000|1577|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-3}}) in the expedition.<ref name="Allen1997">{{cite book|author=David Beers Quinn|editor=John Logan Allen|title=North American Exploration|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RGlz9a4wVYC&pg=PA311|volume=I|year=1997|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-1015-9|pages=311–312|chapter=The Northwest Passage in Theory and Practice}}</ref>{{sfnp|McGhee|2001|p=59}} Prior to 30 March 1577, Frobisher petitioned the Queen to be confirmed as High Admiral of the north-western seas and governor of all lands discovered, and to receive five per cent of profits from trade. It is unknown whether or not his request was ever granted. Michael Lok, meanwhile, was petitioning the queen for his own charter, by the terms of which the Company of Cathay would have sole rights to exploit the resources of all seas, islands and lands to the west and north of England, as well as any goods produced by the peoples occupying them; Frobisher would be apportioned a much smaller share of the profits. Lok's request was ignored and a charter was never issued, nor was a royal license granted, creating corporate ambiguity that redounded to the Queen's benefit.{{sfnmp|1a1=McDermott|1y=2001a|1p=160|2a1=McGhee|2y=2001|2p=59}}

Besides ''Ayde'', the expedition included the ships ''Gabriel'' and ''Michael''; Frobisher's second-in-command aboard ''Ayde'' was Lieutenant [[George Best (chronicler)|George Best]] (who later wrote the most informative account of the three voyages) with Christopher Hall as [[Master (naval)|master]], while the navigator [[Edward Fenton]] was in command of ''Gabriel''.<ref name="Ruby2001">{{cite book|author=Robert Steven Ruby|title=Unknown Shore: The Lost History of England's Arctic Colony|url=https://archive.org/details/unknownshorelost00ruby/page/138/mode/2up|url-access=registration|date=2001|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|isbn=978-0-8050-5215-2|page=139]}}</ref> The learned [[John Dee]], one of the preeminent scholars of England, acquired shares in the [[Cathay Company]]'s venture,<ref name="BueltmannGleeson2012">{{cite book|author=Glynn Parry |editor=Tanja Bueltmann |editor2=David T. Gleeson |editor3=Don MacRaild|title=Locating the English Diaspora, 1500–2010|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7K4gCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-1-78138-706-1|page=28|chapter=Mythologies of Empire and the Earliest Diasporas}}</ref> and instructed Frobisher and Hall in the use of navigational instruments and the mathematics of navigation, as well as advising them which books, charts, and instruments the expedition should purchase.{{sfnp|McGhee|2001|pp=34–35}} The fleet left Blackwall on 27 May 1577 and headed down the Thames, ostensibly having, per the instructions of the Privy Council, a maximum complement of 120 men, including 90 mariners, gunners and carpenters to crew the ship, as well as refiners, merchants, and thirty [[Cornish people|Cornish]] miners;<ref name="Mulholland1981">{{cite book|author=James A. Mulholland|title=History of Metals in Colonial America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwzyBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT28|date=1981|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-0053-1|page=28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Calendar of State Papers: Colonial Series, East Indiès, China and Japan, 1513–1616, preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office, and elsewhere. Edited by W. Noël Sainsburg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIg9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA20|year=1862|publisher=Longman|volume=I|page=20}}</ref> this figure included a group of convicts to be expatriated and put to use as miners in the new lands. Frobisher had exceeded the assigned quota of crewmen by at least twenty men, and perhaps by as many as forty. Letters from the Privy Council were waiting for him at Harwich, however, commanding him to trim the excess; consequently, he sent the convicts and several seamen ashore at the harbour on 31 May and set sail northwards to Scotland. The fleet anchored at St Magnus Sound in the [[Orkney|Orkney Islands]] on 7 June 1577 to take on water, and weighed anchor that evening. It enjoyed fair weather and favourable winds on its passage across the Atlantic, and "Friesland" (southern Greenland) was first sighted on 4 July.<ref name="Allen1997" /> Hall and Frobisher each attempted landing in the ship's boat but were driven back by fog and the certain knowledge of unseen ice in the water before them.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=172–175}}

[[File:Kalicho.jpg|thumb|The Inuk 'Calichough' or '[[Kalicho]]'. Watercolour by [[John White (colonist and artist)|John White]]]]

On 8 July 1577, presented with no opportunity to land, Frobisher set his course westwards. The ships were caught almost immediately in severe storms and separated, each of them lowering their sails for long intervals. They continued this way for several days, tracking before the wind until the weather cleared on 17 July and the fleet was able to regroup, a testament to the skill of the masters. A sailor aboard ''Ayde'' spied [[Christopher Hall Island|Hall's Island]] at the mouth of Frobisher Bay the same evening. The next day, Frobisher and a small party landed at Little Hall's Island in ''Ayde's'' pinnace to search for more samples of the black ore acquired originally by Robert Garrard, but found none. On 19 July, Frobisher and forty of his best men landed at Hall's Island and made their way to its highest point, which he dubbed Mount Warwick in honour of the [[Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick|Earl of Warwick]], one of the principal investors in the expedition. There they piled a [[cairn]] of stones to mark possession of the new land and prayed solemnly for the success of their venture.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=175}}

Several weeks were now spent in collecting ore, but very little was done in the way of discovery, Frobisher being specially directed by his orders from the Company of Cathay to "defer the further discovery of the passage until another time".<ref name=" Alexander1915">{{cite book|author=George Best|editor=Philip F. Alexander|title=The North-West and North-East Passages, 1576–1611|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rn1-mSkzyosC&pg=PA39|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-60061-4|page=39|chapter=Frobisher: Second Voyage (1577)}}</ref> There was much parleying and some skirmishing with the Inuit, and earnest but futile attempts were made to recover the five men captured the previous year. The expedition's return to England commenced on 23 August 1577, and ''Ayde'' reached [[Milford Haven]] in Wales on 23 September. ''Gabriel'' and ''Michael'' later arrived separately at [[Bristol]] and [[Yarmouth, Isle of Wight|Yarmouth]].{{sfnp|McGhee|2001|p=79}}<ref name="Williams201024" />

Frobisher brought with him three Inuit who had been forcibly taken from Baffin Island: a man called Calichough or [[Kalicho]], a woman, Egnock or [[Arnaq]], and her child, Nutioc or Nuttaaq.<ref name="Fossett2001">{{cite book|author=Renée Fossett|title=In Order to Live Untroubled: Inuit of the Central Arctic, 1550–1940|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yK7cac_mXGgC&pg=PA37|year=2001|publisher=Univ. of Manitoba Press|isbn=978-0-88755-328-8|page=37}}</ref><ref>{{cite ODNB |first=Alden T. |last=Vaughan |title=American Indians in England (act. c. 1500–1615) |date=26 May 2016 |id=71116}}</ref> All three died soon after their arrival in England,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Death of the Inuit Man in England: Postmortem report and comments of Dr. Edward Dodding (Excerpts) |website=American Beginnings: The European Presence in North America, 1492–1690 |publisher=[[National Humanities Center]] |date=2006 |url=http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text3/dodding.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Kupperman200994">{{cite book|author=Karen Ordahl Kupperman|title=The Jamestown Project|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIp7_e8KMJ0C&pg=PA94|date=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02702-2|page=94}}</ref> Calichough dying from a wound suffered when a rib was broken unintentionally during his capture and eventually punctured his lung.

Frobisher was received and thanked by the queen at [[Windsor Castle|Windsor]].<ref name="Brimacombe2011">{{cite book|author=Peter Brimacombe|title=All the Queen's Men|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dsYSDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT85|date=2011|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7524-7404-5|page=85}}</ref> Great preparations were made and considerable expense incurred for the assaying of the great quantity of "ore" (about 200 tons) brought home. This took much time<ref name="Schwartz2008">{{cite book|author=Seymour I. Schwartz|title=The Mismapping of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ytxhjRNCeqkC&pg=PA80|date=2008|publisher=University Rochester Press|isbn=978-1-58046-302-7|page=80}}</ref><ref name="Mayers2016" /> and led to disputes among the various interested parties.<ref name="Williams201024">{{cite book|author=Glyn Williams|title=Arctic Labyrinth: The Quest for the Northwest Passage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H6kwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24|date=2010|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-26995-8|page=24}}</ref>

===Third voyage===
[[File:Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Merckliche Beschreibung sampt eygenlicher Abbildung eynes frembden unbekanten Volcks - 000003625.jpg|thumb|Printed text in German telling of Martin Frobisher's third voyage. Illustrated are the three [[Inuit]], [[Kalicho]]; [[Arnaq]], and her child Nuttaaq, forcibly brought back to Bristol by Frobisher from his second expedition to Baffin Island in late 1577.]]

Meanwhile, the Queen and others in her retinue maintained a strong faith in the potential productivity of the newly discovered territory, which she herself named ''[[Meta Incognita Peninsula|Meta Incognita]]''<ref name="Morison1986291">{{cite book|author=Samuel Eliot Morison|title=The Great Explorers: The European Discovery of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnotvLHX80gC&pg=PA291|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-504222-1|page=291}}</ref><ref name="Williams201024" /> (Latin: Unknown Shore).<ref name="Hallowell2004">{{cite book|author=Gerald Hallowell|title=The Oxford Companion to Canadian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O_Z5AAAAMAAJ&q=%22%E2%80%98The%20Unknown%20Shore%27%22|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-541559-9|page=400}}</ref> It was resolved to send out the largest expedition yet, with everything necessary to establish a colony of 100 men.<ref name="Andrews1984">{{cite book|author=Kenneth R. Andrews|title=Trade, Plunder and Settlement: Maritime Enterprise and the Genesis of the British Empire, 1480–1630|url=https://archive.org/details/tradeplundersett0000andr|url-access=registration|date=1984|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-27698-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/tradeplundersett0000andr/page/176 176]}}</ref> Frobisher was again received by the queen,{{sfnp|McGhee|2001|p=79}} whereupon she threw a chain of fine gold around his neck.<ref name="Markham201486">{{cite book|author=Clements R. Markham|title=The Lands of Silence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2q8BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|date=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-07687-6|page=86}}</ref>

The expedition consisted of fifteen vessels:<ref name="Hall1864">{{cite book|author=Charles Francis Hall|title=Life with the Esquimaux: The Narrative of Captain Charles Francis Hall|url=https://archive.org/details/lifewithesquima00hallgoog|year=1864|publisher=Sampson Low, Son and Marston|page=[https://archive.org/details/lifewithesquima00hallgoog/page/n141 121]}}</ref> the flagship ''Ayde'', ''Michael'', and ''Gabriel'', as well as ''Judith'', ''Dennis'' or ''Dionyse'', ''Anne Francis'', ''Francis of Foy'' and ''Moon of Foy'', ''Bear of Leycester'', ''Thomas of Ipswich'', ''Thomas Allen'', ''Armenall'',<ref>Sometimes conflated with the ''Admiral'', a by-name for the flagship ''Aid''.</ref> ''Soloman of Weymouth'', ''Hopewell'', and ''Emanuel of Bridgwater''.<ref name="BestEames1938">{{cite book|author1=George Best|author2=Wilberforce Eames|title=The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher in Search of a Passage to Cathay and India by the North-west, A.D. 1576–8|url=https://archive.org/stream/threevoyagesofma02bestuoft#page/62/mode/2up|year=1938|publisher=Argonaut Press|page=62}}</ref><ref name="Markham201486"/> There were over 400 men aboard the ships, with 147 miners, 4 blacksmiths, and 5 assayers in the crew.<ref name="HerbertKnapp2002">{{cite book|author=Robert M. Ehrenreich |editor=Eugenia W. Herbert |editor2=A. Bernard Knapp |editor3=Vincent C. Pigott |title=Social Approaches to an Industrial Past: The Archaeology and Anthropology of Mining|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGiFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-67652-1|page=110|chapter=European miners and the indigenous population in the Arctic}}</ref>

On 3 June 1578, the expedition left [[Plymouth]] and, sailing through the Channel, on 20 June reached the south of [[Greenland]], where Frobisher and some of his men managed to land. On 2 July 1578, the foreland of Frobisher Bay was sighted. Stormy weather and dangerous ice prevented the rendezvous, and, besides causing the wreck on an iceberg of the 100-ton barque ''Dennis'', drove the fleet unwittingly up a waterway that Frobisher named "Mistaken Strait". He believed that the strait, now known as [[Hudson Strait]], was less likely to be an entrance to the North-west Passage than Frobisher Bay ("Frobisher's Strait" to him).<ref name="Morison1986">{{cite book|author=Samuel Eliot Morison|title=The Great Explorers: The European Discovery of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnotvLHX80gC&pg=PA310|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-504222-1|pages=310–311}}</ref><ref name="Riendeau2007">{{cite book|author=Roger E. Riendeau|title=A Brief History of Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFWy0EfzlX0C&pg=PA31|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0822-3|page=31}}</ref> After proceeding about sixty miles up the new strait,<ref name="Hunter2010">{{cite book|author=Douglas Hunter|title=God's Mercies: Rivalry, Betrayal, and the Dream of Discovery|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzoSiqV--t8C&pg=PA74|date=2010|publisher=Doubleday Canada|isbn=978-0-385-67268-9|page=74}}</ref> Frobisher with apparent reluctance turned back, and after many buffetings and separations, the fleet at last came to anchor in Frobisher Bay. During this voyage, the vessel ''Emanuel'' claimed to have found the phantom [[Buss Island]].<ref name="Morison1986319">{{cite book|author=Samuel Eliot Morison|title=The Great Explorers: The European Discovery of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnotvLHX80gC&pg=PA319|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-504222-1|pages=319–320}}</ref>

Some attempt was made at founding a settlement, and a large quantity of ore was shipped, but dissension and discontent prevented the establishment of a successful colony. On the last day of August 1578, the fleet set out on its return and reached England at the beginning of October, although the vessel ''Emanuel'' was wrecked en route at [[Ard na Caithne]] on the west coast of Ireland.<ref>[http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/e89-086 Discovery of Martin Frobisher's Baffin Island "ore" in Ireland]</ref> The ore was taken to a specially constructed smelting plant at Powder Mill Lane in [[Dartford]]; assiduous efforts to extract gold and further assays were made over five years, but the ore proved to be a valueless rock containing [[hornblende]] and was eventually salvaged for [[road metal]]ling and wall construction.<ref>Ruby 2001 pp. 257–258</ref> The Cathay Company went bankrupt and Michael Lok was ruined, being sent to [[debtors' prison]] several times.<ref name="Dunlap2012">{{cite book|author=Thomas R. Dunlap|title=On the Edge: Mapping North America's Coasts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZNpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA85|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-997416-0|page=85}}</ref>

==Anglo-Spanish War==
[[File:British - A Man, called Sir Martin Frobisher Kt - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|The man on this portrait has traditionally been identified as Frobisher, but there is some disagreement. (British School, [[Dulwich Picture Gallery]])]]

Finding his reputation as an adventurer-explorer damaged following the disastrous outcome of the Cathay Company venture, and that his services in that line were no longer required,<ref name="DoranJones2014">{{cite book|author=Ken MacMillan|editor=Susan Doran|editor2=Norman Jones|title=The Elizabethan World|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iiDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA653|date= 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-56579-6|page=653|chapter=Exploration, trade and empire}}</ref> Frobisher sought other employment. He applied to a major shareholder in the Arctic enterprise, Sir [[William Wynter]], one of the Queen's most trusted naval commanders, who was leading a fleet of four heavily armed vessels to Ireland under orders to put down the [[Second Desmond Rebellion|Desmond rebellion]] against the English Crown. Frobisher secured an appointment as captain of ''Foresight'' and sailed in early March 1580; in November, he participated in the [[Siege of Smerwick#Siege and massacre|Siege of Smerwick]] at the [[Dingle Peninsula]],<ref name="McFee1928">{{cite book|author=William McFee|title=The life of Sir Martin Frobisher|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8gGgAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Foresight%22|year=1928|publisher=Harper & Brothers|page=118|isbn=9780598779298}}</ref> a rocky promontory on the southwestern shore of [[County Kerry]], where ''Emanuel'' had wrecked two years previously.<ref name="Jones1878">{{cite book|author=Frank Jones|title=The Life of Sir Martin Frobisher, Knight: Containing a Narrative of the Spanish Armada|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_07843|year=1878|publisher=Longmans, Green|page=[https://archive.org/details/cihm_07843/page/n215 167]|isbn=9780665078439 }}</ref>

Frobisher joined [[Francis Drake]] on his [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|1585 raids of Spanish ports and shipping]] in the West Indies as vice-admiral of Drake's fleet, appointed to that position by the Queen; his flagship was the ''Primrose''.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=299}} Shortly after the voyage began, Frobisher was admitted to a select group of advisors to Drake (together with [[Christopher Carleill]], Nichols, and Fenner). On 20 July 1588, the [[Spanish Armada]] set sail from [[Corunna]] in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] to escort the [[Army of Flanders]], led by the [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma|Duke of Parma]], to invade England. Sir [[Francis Walsingham]] sent a dispatch to [[Whitehall]] stating that the Armada had been sighted in the chops (entrance) of the Channel that day.<ref name="Strickland1893">{{cite book|author=Agnes Strickland|title=Lives of the Queens of England: From the Norman Conquest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-hlLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA584|year=1893|publisher=Lippincott|page=584}}</ref> When the two navies first engaged,{{sfnmp|1a1=Kelsey|1y=2009|2a1=McDermott|2y=2005|2p=257}} Frobisher was in command of ''[[English ship Triumph (1562)|Triumph]]'', the [[Royal Navy#1500–1707|Royal Navy]]'s largest ship, leading a consort of the ships ''Merchant Royal'', ''Margaret and John'', ''Centurion'', ''Golden Lion'' and ''Mary Rose''.{{sfnp|McDermott|2005|page=252}}

===Spanish Armada===
Following a council of war, [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham|Lord Howard]], the [[Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom|Lord High Admiral of the Fleet]], reorganized the English fleet into four squadrons.<ref name="Wilson2012">{{cite book|author=A. N. Wilson|title=The Elizabethans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KToqD1c60PoC&pg=PA253|date=2012|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-1-4668-1619-0|page=253}}</ref> Frobisher was made commander of one of these and assigned ''Triumph'', as well as [[Edmund Sheffield, 1st Earl of Mulgrave|Lord Sheffield]]'s ''White Bear'', [[Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk|Lord Thomas Howard]]'s ''Golden Lion'', and Sir [[Robert Southwell (died 1598)|Robert Southwell]]'s ''Elizabeth Jonas'', all heavily armed vessels.{{sfnp|McDermott|2005|page=224}} On the morning of 21 July 1588, Frobisher in ''Triumph'', Drake in ''Revenge'', and Hawkins in ''Victory'' attacked the seaward wing of the Spanish defensive formation, damaging ''San Juan de Portugal'', the ship of the Armada's vice-admiral, [[Juan Martínez de Recalde]], and forcing his rescue by [[galleass]]es from the [[Biscay|Bizcayan]] squadron. Later that day Frobisher and Hawkins engaged Pedro de Valdez, commander of the [[Andalusia]]n squadron, who did not yield his ship, ''[[Spanish ship Nuestra Señora del Rosario (1587)|Nuestra Señora del Rosario]]'' (Our Lady of the Rosary) until Drake came to their assistance the next morning,<ref name="Motley1872">{{cite book|author=John Lothrop Motley|title=History of the United Netherlands: From the Death of William the Silent to the Synod of Dort|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9JQAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA591|year=1872|publisher=Robbers|page=591|isbn=9780404045289}}</ref> much to his rival Frobisher's consternation.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=353}} Three days later, the English fleet was reinforced by [[Lord Henry Seymour (naval commander)|Lord Seymour]]'s channel patrol of thirty-five or forty sail, and Frobisher assumed command of his newly formed squadron.{{sfnp|Coote|1889}}

[[File: Martin Frobisher (1620).png|thumb|Two decades after his death, this portrait of Frobisher was created for the ''Heroologia Anglica'', a collection of engraved portraits of illustrious English people (1620).]]

Frobisher's squadron was close inshore at dawn on 25 July 1588, the only one landwards of the Armada that morning; the sea was dead calm when he engaged the [[Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia|Duke of Medina Sidonia]]'s flagship ''San Martín'' and gave her another pummeling like that of a few days past. However, a breeze rose from the southwest, allowing several Spanish galleons to move in and save their flagship. The other English ships withdrew in time, but ''Triumph'' was caught on the lee shore off [[Dunnose, Isle of Wight|Dunnose]] cape on the [[Isle of Wight]], and more than thirty Armada ships bore down upon him. Frobisher used his boats to manoeuvre ''Triumph'' with good effect and managed to escape when the wind shifted again, allowing him the [[weather gage]].<ref name="Kitzan1999">{{cite book|author=Chris Kitzan|title=Meta Incognita: A Discourse of Discovery : Martin Frobisher's Arctic Expeditions, 1576–1578|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BhS4R7qnvAC&q=%22At%20dawn%20on%20that%20day%22|year=1999|publisher=Canadian Museum of Civilization|isbn=978-0-660-17507-2|page=97}}</ref><ref name="Perrett2012">{{cite book|author=Bryan Perrett|title=The Changing Face of Battle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cew3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT144|date=2012|publisher=Orion Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-78022-525-8|page=144}}</ref>

Frobisher was knighted for valour on 26 July 1588 by Lord Howard aboard Howard's flagship [[English ship Ark Royal (1587)|''Ark Royal'']], alongside Sheffield, Thomas Howard, and Hawkins.<ref name="Library1977">{{cite book|author=British Library|title=Sir Francis Drake: an exhibition to commemorate Francis Drake's voyage around the world, 1577–1580|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cwgAAAAMAAJ&q=%2226%20July%201588%22|year=1977|publisher=British Museum Publications Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7141-0393-8|page=117}}</ref><ref name="KnightonLoades2013">{{cite book |editor=C. S. Knighton |editor2=David Loades|title=The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgSiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA531|date= 2013|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-8240-6|page=531}}</ref> Two days later the English launched eight [[fire ships]] into the midst of the Armada at its moorings, forcing its captains to cut their anchors;<ref name="Perrett2012146">{{cite book|author=Bryan Perrett|title=The Changing Face of Battle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cew3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT146|date=2012|publisher=Orion Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-78022-525-8|page=146}}</ref> the decisive action was fought 29 July 1588 on the shoals off [[Gravelines]], where Frobisher, Drake, and Hawkins pounded the Spanish ships with their guns. Drake in ''Revenge'' gave Medina Sidonia's flagship, ''San Martin'', a full [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]] while [[Thomas Fenner (sea captain)|Thomas Fenner]] in ''Nonpareil'' followed his example and the rest of Drake's squadron did the same. Even so, ''San Martin'' sustained no major damage although her men suffered heavy casualties. Drake withdrew to the north-east, with his squadron in line astern of ''Revenge'', and engaged the other Spanish ships nearby as he passed.<ref name="Bradford2014">{{cite book |last1=Bradford |first1=Ernle |title=Drake: England's Greatest Seafarer |year=2014 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1-4976-1715-5 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbAfAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT88}}</ref> Frobisher, directly behind him in the English line, stayed with the ''San Martin'' at close range and poured cannon shot into her oaken flanks, but failed to take her. Five Spanish ships were lost.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=363}}

Following this defeat of the Spanish fleet, ''Revenge'' was engaged in harassing Spanish shipping and it was Frobisher's flagship in 1590 when he commanded the efforts to intercept Spanish treasure galleons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer C. |year=2020 |title=Weapons and Warfare: From Ancient and Medieval Times to the 21st Century |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lk_VDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |page=72 |isbn=978-1-4408-6728-6}}</ref>

==Later life==
In 1590, Frobisher visited his native Altofts and found himself welcomed in the homes of the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom|peers]] and [[landed gentry]] of Yorkshire county as an honoured guest. He paid particular attention to a daughter of [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth|Thomas, 1st Baron Wentworth]], Dorothy Wentworth, {{nowrap|(1543 –}} 3 January 1601), recently widowed by the death of her husband, Paul Withypool of Ipswich;<ref name="Collins1779">{{cite book|author=Arthur Collins|title=The Peerage of England: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the Peers of that Kingdom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfk-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA210|year=1779|publisher=W. Strahan, J. F and C. Rivington|page=210}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers Etc. ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zwo4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA354|year=1899|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=354}}</ref><ref name="Smith1936">{{cite book|author=G. C. Moore Smith|editor=Percy Hide Reaney|title=The Family of Withypoll: With Special Reference to Their Manor of Christchurch|url=https://archive.org/stream/officialpublicat34waltuoft#page/54/mode/2up/search/Frobisher|year=1936|publisher=Walthamstow Antiquarian Society|page=55}}</ref> sometime before October she became Frobisher's second wife. In November 1591, he purchased from the Queen the leasehold of the manor of Whitwood in Yorkshire for an unstated sum, and of Finningley Grange in [[Nottinghamshire]], which had belonged to the [[Mattersey Priory]], for £949 ({{Inflation|UK|949|1591|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-3}}).{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=389}} Frobisher made Whitwood his chief residence, befitting his new status as a landed proprietor, but found little leisure for country life.<ref name="Jones1878309">{{cite book|author=Frank Jones|title=The Life of Sir Martin Frobisher, Knight: Containing a Narrative of the Spanish Armada|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_07843|year=1878|publisher=Longmans, Green|page=[https://archive.org/details/cihm_07843/page/n360 309]|isbn=9780665078439 }}</ref>

The following year Frobisher took charge of an English fleet sent out to blockade the Spanish coast and rendezvous with the [[Spanish treasure fleet]]; it was fitted out by investors including the Queen, the [[George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland|Earl of Cumberland]], Sir [[Walter Raleigh]] and his brother, and John Hawkins. Raleigh and Cumberland were the principal organizers of the expedition, and on 28 February Raleigh was commissioned to lead it; the Queen, however, was not eager to send her current favourite off to sea, and he, no great lover of sea life and with no experience in the command of fleets, recommended Frobisher take his place. The fleet was divided into two divisions, with Frobisher's squadron patrolling the waters off the coast of Portugal near [[the Burlings]], while Sir John Burgh (Borough) and John Norton's squadrons sailed for the [[Azores]] where they [[Battle of Flores (1592)|captured a rich prize]], the ''[[Madre de Deus]]'', much to the discomfiture of Frobisher when he learned the news.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=392–395}}<ref name="Childs2009">{{cite book|author=David Childs|title=Tudor Sea Power: The Foundation of Greatness|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qe_RAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA191|date=2009|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=978-1-84832-031-4|page=191}}</ref>

In September 1594, Frobisher led a squadron of ships that [[Siege of Morlaix (1594)|besieged Morlaix]] and forced its surrender.<ref name="Doran2002">{{cite book|author=Susan Doran|title=Elizabeth I and Foreign Policy, 1558–1603|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTqEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-74120-5|page=59}}</ref> The following month he was engaged with the squadron in the siege and relief of [[Brest, France|Brest]], where he received a gunshot wound to his thigh during the [[Siege of Fort Crozon]],<ref name="Kennedy1">{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=John J |title=Hudson, Frobisher and the Early Exploration of Canada: Some Heraldic Puzzles |publisher=Académie internationale d'héraldique}}</ref> a Spanish-held fortress. The surgeon who extracted the ball left the wadding behind and an ensuing infection resulted in his death days later at Plymouth on 22 November.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=419}} His heart was buried at [[St Andrew's Church, Plymouth]], and his body was then taken to London and buried at [[St Giles-without-Cripplegate]], [[Fore Street, London|Fore Street]].<ref name=EncylLon>{{cite book |last=Hibbert |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Ben Weinreb |author3=John Keay |author4=Julia Keay |title=The London Encyclopaedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xa0D0PqiwfEC&pg=PA762|year=2010|location=London|publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-73878-2|page=762}}</ref><ref name="Hutchinson2014">{{cite book|author=Robert Hutchinson |title=The Spanish Armada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KsKLAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA162|date=2014|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-1-250-04712-0|page=162}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:St Giles-without-Cripplegate, London 05.JPG|thumb|Plaque in [[St Giles-without-Cripplegate]], London]]
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2025}}
===Britain===
A {{sclass|Parker|flotilla leader}} destroyer was named HMS ''Frobisher'' during construction but was named {{HMS|Parker|1916|6}} when launched in 1915. It was scrapped in 1921.

The Royal Navy {{sclass|Hawkins|cruiser}} {{HMS|Frobisher|D81|6}} was named after him. It was ordered in 1915 and scrapped in 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CL-Frobisher.htm |title=HMS Frobisher - Hawkins-class Cruiser |access-date=22 July 2025}}</ref>

A [[SR Lord Nelson class]] [[steam locomotive]] was named after him.

Frobisher Crescent, part of the [[Barbican Estate]] in London, is named after Frobisher.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Housing/Private_housing/Barbican_history/block_names.htm |title=Barbican block names |publisher=Cityoflondon.gov.uk |access-date=28 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110115112/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Housing/Private_housing/Barbican_history/block_names.htm |archive-date=10 November 2011 }}</ref>

A stained glass window placed in the memory of him is located in [[All Saints' Church, Normanton]], near his birthplace in [[Altofts]], West Yorkshire.

Martin Frobisher Infants School in [[Altofts]], [[City of Wakefield]], [[West Yorkshire]] is named after him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.martinfrobisher.wakefield.sch.uk/ |title=Martin Frobisher Infants School |access-date=22 July 2025}}</ref> One of the six houses at Queen Elizabeths Grammar School, Blackburn (founded 1509) is named after him. One of the four houses at [[Spratton Hall School|Spratton Hall Preparatory School]], Northamptonshire is named after him.

A portrait of him can be found at [[Normanton railway station]].

Training Ship Frobisher II, [[Rochdale]] Sea Cadets training establishment, is named after him.

===Canada===
[[File: Martin Frobisher 1963 Canada stamp.jpg|thumb|Canadian commemorative postage stamp issued in 1963]]

[[Frobisher Bay]] in [[Nunavut]] is named after him. This was also the former name of Nunavut's capital, [[Iqaluit]], from 1942 until 1987.<ref>{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Frobisher Bay}}</ref><ref name="city">{{cite web |url=https://www.iqaluit.ca/visitors/explore-iqaluit/history |title=About Iqaluit: History & Milestones – City of Iqaluit |website=www.city.iqaluit.nu.ca |access-date=22 July 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623013451/https://www.iqaluit.ca/visitors/explore-iqaluit/history |archive-date=23 June 2020}}</ref> The city's airport was Frobisher Bay Air Base from 1942 to 1963, and Frobisher Bay Airport from 1963 to 1987, before being renamed [[Iqaluit Airport]].

An early version of [[Thanksgiving]] was celebrated after the safe landing of Frobisher's fleet in Newfoundland after an unsuccessful attempt to find the North-west Passage.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |title=Thanksgiving |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Earth]] |date=12 October 2012 |url=http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Thanksgiving}}</ref>

A shrub rose is named after Martin Frobisher.<ref name="HMF2019">{{cite web |title='Martin Frobisher' Rose |url=https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.4156.0 |website=helpmefind.com |access-date=4 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504175256/https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.4156.0 |archive-date=4 May 2019 |date=2019}}</ref>

The small settlement of [[Frobisher, Saskatchewan]], and [[Frobisher Lake]], in northern and southern Saskatchewan, respectively.{{citation needed |reason=needs citation, more likely named after one of the Frobisher brothers who were fur traders in the regions|date=May 2023}}

===In popular culture===
He is a minor character in ''[[The Sea Hawk (1940 film)|The Sea Hawk]]'', where he is played by [[Robert Warwick]].

==See also==
* [[Arctic exploration]]
* [[List of Arctic expeditions]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite ODNB |last=Baldwin |first=R.C.D. |date=3 January 2008 |title=Schütz, Christopher (1521–1592) |id=75999}}
* {{cite ODNB |last=Bennell |first=John |date=3 January 2008 |title=Kranich, Burchard [known as Dr Burcot] (d. 1578) |id=52152}}
* {{cite DNB |last=Coote |first=Charles Henry |author-link=Charles Henry Coote |wstitle=Frobisher, Martin |volume=20 |pages=281–284}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hogarth |first1=Donald D. |year=1986 |title=Precious Metals in Martin Frobisher's "Black Ores" from Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories |journal=Canadian Mineralogist |last2=Loop |first2=John |volume=24 |pages=259–63 |url=http://rruff.info/doclib/cm/vol24/CM24_259.pdf}}
* {{cite ODNB |last=Kelsey |first=Harry |date=8 October 2009 |title=Drake, Sir Francis (1540–1596) |id=8022}}; {{DNBfirst |last=Laughton |first=John Knox |author-link=John Knox Laughton |wstitle=Drake, Francis (1540?-1596) |display=Drake, Francis (1540?–1596) |volume=15 |pp=426–442}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Lemon |editor-first=Robert |year=1856 |title=Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reigns of Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, 1547–1580 |location=London |publisher=Longman, Brown, Green |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924091775274|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924091775274/page/n560 543] }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=McDermott |first=James |editor-last=Symons |editor-first=Thomas H. B. |encyclopedia=Meta Incognita |title=A Right Heroicall Heart |date=1999 |publisher= Canadian Museum of Civilization |volume=1|location=Quebec |isbn=066017507X |pages=55–118 }}
* {{cite book |last=McDermott |first=James |title=Martin Frobisher: Elizabethan Privateer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeMcPYIKNYUC&pg=PP1 |date=2001a |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-08380-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=McDermott |first1=James |title=The Third Voyage of Martin Frobisher to Baffin Island, 1578 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1K8MAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP1 |date=2001b |publisher=Hakluyt Society |isbn=978-0-904180-69-5}}
* {{cite ODNB |last=McDermott |first=James |date=23 September 2004 |title=Lok, Michael (c.1532–1620x22) |id=16950}}; {{DNBfirst |wstitle=Lok, Michael |first=John Knox |last=Laughton |author-link=John Knox Laughton |volume=34 |pages=92–93}}
* {{cite book| last=McDermott |first=James |title=England and the Spanish Armada: The Necessary Quarrel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_FHG8C9RaoC&pg=PP1|year=2005|publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-10698-5}}
* {{cite ODNB |last=McDermott |first=James |title=Frobisher, Sir Martin  |date=28 May 2015 |id=10191}}; {{DNBfirst |last=Coote |first=Charles Henry |author-link=Charles Henry Coote |wstitle=Frobisher, Martin |volume=20 |pages=281–284}}
* {{cite book |last=McGhee |first=Robert |title=Arctic Voyages of Martin Frobisher: An Elizabethan Adventure |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1mVg8wU_TsgC&pg=PP1|year=2001|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-6950-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Stefansson |first=Vilhjalmur |author-link=Vilhjalmur Stefansson |year=1938 |title=The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher |location=London |publisher=Argonaut Press |volume=II |url=https://archive.org/stream/threevoyagesofma02bestuoft#page/82/mode/2up}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Fitzhugh |editor1-first=William W. |editor2-last=Olin |editor2-first=Jacqueline S. |title=Archeology of the Frobisher Voyages |date=1993 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |isbn=1560981717}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hoffman |first=A. |year=1977 |title=Lives of the Tudor Age |publisher=Barnes & Noble |location=New York |isbn=978-0-0649-4331-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2MDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP1}}
* {{cite journal |last=Neatby |first=L.H. |title=Martin Frobisher (ca. 1540–1594) |journal=[[Arctic (journal)|Arctic]] |volume=36 |issue=4 |date=December 1983 |pages=374–375 |doi=10.14430/arctic2295 |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic36-4-374.pdf}}
* {{cite book |editor-link=Edward John Payne |editor-last=Payne |editor-first=Edward John |title=Voyages of the Elizabethan Seamen to America |date=1900 |publisher=Oxford |edition=second |url=https://archive.org/stream/voyagesofelizabe00hakliala}}

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Frobisher, Sir Martin}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.museedelhistoire.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/frobisher/frint01e.shtml |work=The Canadian Museum of Civilization |title=The Nunavut Voyages of Martin Frobisher}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/discoveriehistor00atkirich#page/16/mode/2up |first=Stephen |last=Atkinson's |title=The Discoveries and Historie of the Gold Mynes in Scotland |publisher=James Ballantyne and Co |location=Edinburgh, Scotland |date=1825 |orig-year=1619 |pages=16–18 |access-date=3 November 2013}}
* {{cite web |url=http://dev.museum.ie/The-Collections/Documentation-Discoveries/October/Smerwick-Harbour%E2%80%99s-Black-Ore |title=Smerwick Harbour's Black Ore |work=National Museum of Ireland |access-date=10 November 2013 |archive-date=24 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124004507/http://dev.museum.ie/The-Collections/Documentation-Discoveries/October/Smerwick-Harbour%E2%80%99s-Black-Ore |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite DCB |first=Alan |last=Cooke |title=Frobisher, Sir Martin |volume=1|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/frobisher_martin_1E.html}}
* {{cite Americana |wstitle=Frobisher, Martin}}
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1073 The Papers of Eloise McCaskill Popini] at Dartmouth College Library

{{Thanksgiving}}
{{Polar exploration|state=collapsed}}
{{Pirates}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Frobisher, Martin}}
[[Category:1530s births]]
[[Category:1594 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century English explorers]]
[[Category:16th-century Royal Navy personnel]]

[[Category:Burials at St Giles-without-Cripplegate]]
[[Category:English polar explorers]]
[[Category:Explorers of Canada]]
[[Category:Explorers of the Arctic]]
[[Category:English people of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)]]
[[Category:English privateers]]
[[Category:People from Altofts]]
[[Category:Muscovy Company people]]
[[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]]