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What privateering commission did Sir Francis Drake receive in 1572?
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Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, oil on panel, after an engraving attributed to Jodocus Hondius, c. 1583; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In 1572, Sir Francis Drake obtained a privateering commission from Queen Elizabeth I. This commission functioned as a license to plunder within the lands belonging to the king of Spain.1