Thomas Stukley (1525–1578) was one of the most commented English military and naval commanders of his time in Europe. Throughout his career, this English Catholic served the Kings of England (Kings Henry VII, Edward VI and Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I), France (King Henry II), Spain (King Philip II), the Papacy (Pope Gregory XIII), and Portugal (he died serving King Sebastian at the Battle of Alcazar-Quibir). Mostly mentioned as a traitor (as in the cover design below), Stukley was also a character who played a role in the processes of nautical knowledge transfer within Europe.
In late 1562, French captain Jean Ribault returned to France from his voyage of exploration to Florida. Arriving at a Dieppe under revolt against King Charles IX, the Huguenot French captain fled to England. There he met Thomas Stukley, who proposed Ribault organizing an Anglo-French expedition to Florida, profiting from French geographical knowledge accumulated during the expedition. When Ribault was jailed in the Tower of London for attempting to flee to France with his knowledge, to return to Admiral Gaspard de Coligny’s service, Stukley took his chance. He hired some of Ribault’s pilots for the expedition, and likely their French nautical rutters and cartography of Florida, and proposed personally to Queen Elizabeth I an English expedition to Florida in 1563. The Queen supported Stukley’s plan but was not aware that, in the meantime, Stukley was also negotiating with the Spanish ambassador in England to enter the service of King Philip II.
In the end, Stukley’s fleet and pilots were employed neither for an English expedition to Florida, nor to join King Philip II’s forces. As he would do several times during his career, Stukley deceived personally Queen Elizabeth I and King Philip II by not entering their service, dedicating himself to privateering. However, Stukley’s renown allowed him to obtain French geographical knowledge. His aborted voyage to Florida in 1563 also influenced all English later plans for voyages and expeditions to the area (for instance it is well-known that William Cecil ordered John Hawkins to visit Florida in his 1564 voyage).
Despite being another polemical moment in his controversial career, Stukley’s aborted English expedition to Florida in 1563 influenced English overseas plans more than it is usually assumed. More than a simple traitor, Stukley was a complex personality and one, among several others in his days, that truly recognized the value of foreign geographical knowledge to plan overseas expeditions. Like other greater explorers such as Hawkins, Drake, Ribault, and Laudonniere, Stukley knew well that he needed to accumulate all the nautical and geographical knowledge before planning his voyage. Thus, in his constant trading of fidelities, Stukley is another example of 16th-century globalization: a key-character brokering nautical knowledge between maritime players. [Nuno Vila-Santa]
No comments:
Post a Comment