On December 29, 1605, John Davis died. He was a navigator who not only led several voyages to discover the northwest passage, but also discovered the Faulkland Islands. He was born around 1550, and by 1583 he was pitching voyage ideas to Francis Walsingham, and he did a lot of work with Francis Drake on his raids to Spain and the Caribbean. He was killed on a journey near Singapore when Japanese pirates killed him after he seized their vessel. We still remember him today having named Davis Straight after him. It’s the portion of the in between the western edge of Greenland, and the upper part of Canada.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th-century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Throwback Episode 31: Trade and Exploration in the 16th century
Episode 114: Richard Hakluyt – England’s first travel writer
Throwback Episode #22: The Northeast Passage
From the shop:
Old Map Collection
Featuring: Old Map Women’s Harem Pants
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.