The Renaissance Faire is a fun event of escapism that began and evolved in California and is patterned on Bartholomew's Faire, a large yearly fair held in London during the Renaissance period. However, interestingly enough, the Renaissance itself visited the far shores of the Golden State and there is historically documented evidence of Elizabethan activity in California during the 16th-century.
Francis Drake was an English explorer, or a notorious pirate, depending on
which side of the coin you were looking at. The English loved him, Queen Elizabeth
I absolutely adored him. It was Drake who brought in the largest haul of
captured, or pirated, treasure ever seen on English shores. Beginning on
December 17th, 1577 and returning home on September 26th, 1580, "The
Famous Voyage" saw Drake and his crew circumnavigate the globe, only the
second European to do so, Magellan being the first. Out of five ships, they
returned in only one, the Pelican, which Drake renamed mid-voyage to Golden Hind. The wealth encased within
her hull, soon to flow into the hands of investors and Her Majesty, was "very richly fraught with gold, silver,
pearls and precious stones."
This one singular voyage of plunder allowed the Queen to forge, and
purchase, England's place as Europe's greatest sea power letting the ship building
bacchanal begin...
California was a distant mysterious land when Drake sailed
upon the seven seas. It had not even been determined whether it was an island
or part of a continent. Sitting on the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean, and
the Western Coast of what would later become the United States, California was
known by few with access to the right maps and physically explored by even
fewer. By Drake's Voyage this far flung land had been visited by only two
Spanish Conquistadores. Cortes, after completing the Conquest of Mexico, led an
expedition to the lower reaches of California in the 1530s and Juan Rodriguez
Cabrillo in 1542, who died in the process, taking his final resting place on an
island off the California coast.
Drake made land in what would become the Golden State in June of 1579 and stayed five weeks. His ship was careened and repaired by the crew with Drake declaring this piece of California New Albion, taking possession in the name of Elizabeth Regina. A brass plaque, complete with a coin showing the Queen's likeness, was fashioned to leave as proof of the claim. But the question remains, where in California did he land? The favored choice is what we call Drake's Bay just north of the entrance to San Francisco. This is a fairly logical choice. Drake's Bay looks very similar to the map drawing in Drake's book published after his return to England. He needed a place to repair and conduct maintenance on his ship and to get her out of the water to scrape off the barnacles. Incidentally, California was not Drake's first landfall, Oregon was. Coos Bay just didn't have what was needed so they headed South. This is where the controversy begins…
Some have argued that Drake actually went into the San Francisco Bay and made landfall there. Arguments are made concerning what flora and fauna was where, did it exist in the Bay area, that it couldn't have been in the area of Drakes' Bay etc., etc. I do not think Drake's landing spot in California will ever be resolved for sure. It is very likely that the area around modern Drake's Bay is the place. Drake mentioned that the cliffs surrounding the area looked like the White Cliffs of Dover and there are similar cliffs surrounding Drake's Bay.
In 1937 the brass plaque was found in the San Francisco Bay
area by an unsuspecting individual who had absolutely no clue who Drake was. It
fit all the right specifications, it appeared to be etched with all the right
Elizabethan terminology, it even had the hole for the coin which had apparently
fallen off and disappeared from history. This lucky finder, Mr. Beyrle Shinn,
made his way to the University at Berkley, plate in hand, and showed it to
prominent California historian, Professor Herbert Bolton. Bolton lost
absolutely all composure, overjoyed with actual physical proof that Drake had
landed in California. The discovery also backed up Drake landing in the San
Francisco Bay area, perhaps even within the Bay, proof Bolton had been searching
years for. There were problems. The
etched writing on the plaque had textual issues that didn't match up with the
way Elizabethans wrote. The metallurgical makeup of the brass didn't match with
authentic 16th-century examples. Unfortunately, the plate was a hoax, a fraud,
a fake, and could not have been manufactured in the Elizabethan era. Despite
the scientific evidence, nothing could dissuade those who wanted to believe.
In 1933 members of E Clampus Vitas (a fraternal club devoted
to history and drinking, emphasis on the later), had the plaque manufactured as
a practical joke on Bolton, a fellow drunken historian. Bolton was renowned for
asking his students and friends to keep an eye out for Drake's "Plate of Brasse" when they went
exploring the area. In the spirit of Bolton's passion his rascally fraternal
brothers left the reproduction out in the wilderness to be found by
chance. Four years later, the plate was brought to Bolton and he fell for
it hook, line, and sinker. The joke went too far and no one wanted to
destroy Bolton's dreams. He really believed this was the one true plaque,
and so did the University of California, which ended up purchasing the artifact
from Mr. Shinn, for quite a steep sum. It wasn't until the late 1970s
with modern testing techniques that the artifact was definitively incontrovertibly
debunked. The real one is still out there, waiting to be found…
Regardless of the exact landing spot, Drake and the
expedition did make landfall and spent a solid chunk of time in 16th-century
California. They made contact and interacted with the Coastal Miwok
Indians and peaceful exchanges were made. Elizabethan artifacts, from a
pewter cup to coins to broken bits of Chinese porcelain have shown up in
Northern California through the years but none can be directly linked to the
Drake visit. But there is one small caveat to the Ming Dynasty
porcelain. When he visited California in
1579, Drake had four chests of captured China in his hold. More than
likely some of it was traded or given as gifts to the local Native
Americans. In 1595, the Spanish Treasure galleon San
Augustin sank in today's Drake's Bay during a fierce storm.
It was carrying Ming Dynasty Chinese porcelain as well. Throughout the
years sherds of porcelain from the Spanish wreck have washed up on the beach,
and exhibit the worn smoothing effect that only sand and the tide can
achieve. That places these particular bits of pottery in the sunken hold
of the San Augustin. Other bits of pottery have shown up in the area
as well, only they don't exhibit that timeless ocean wear and appear as if they
were broken yesterday, crisp...with sharp edges. It is very possible
these pieces are bits of the porcelain pottery that Drake gave to the Miwoks.
There is a direct connection to Elizabethan England and California. Elizabethan sailors lounged on the beaches, explored the forests and met the indigenous people centuries before the Spanish settled in the area. Drake and his men even built a small stone fort on the beach, complete with cannon to protect the Golden Hind while she was heeled over and having her hull scraped. Very few places in the United States can claim that connection, and California, being the epicenter of the modern Renaissance Faire movement, has the distinction.
Aker, R. Von der Porten, E. (2000). Discovering Francis Drake's California Harbor. Drake Navigator Guild.
Frank, A. G. (2008). World Accumulation, 1492-1789. Algora Publishing.
Lawler, A. (2019, September 26). Did Francis Drake Really Land in California? Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/did-francis-drake-really-land-california-180973219/
Stow, J. (1592). The Annales of England. Ralfe Newbery.