|
Captain Sherley was an Oxford educated man, born into wealth,
but forced to make his own way in the world after his family went bankrupt.
On a stint as a soldier in Normandy under the command of the Earl of
Essex, he was knighted by the French for his valiant efforts. Back in
England in 1593, however, he was imprisoned until he renounced his foreign
title.
Striving to again rise in stature, he married a cousin of the Earl of
Essex, but soon found his wife intolerable. Captain Sherley then decided to
use his relationship to the earl to acquire funds for an expedition to
capture Sâo Thomé, a Portuguese island off the coast of Africa.
In 1596, Captain Sherley assembled eight ships carrying about 400
soldiers, but the expedition was struck by disease early in the voyage so he
changed his course to the north. He instead took Santiago in the Cape Verde
Islands, but the booty was very sparse.
His forces now depleted, he headed for Colombia, where he sacked Santa
Marta. His next attack was of a poor Jamaican settlement of Santiago de la
Vega in order to replenish supplies. So far the sum total of booty for his
raids was pretty sparse.
While in Jamaica, Captain Sherley met Captains William Parker and Michael
Geare. The two joined with forces with Captain Sherley in an attack upon
Trujillo (Honduras), but were unsuccessful. Next they attacked Puerto
Caballos only to find it to be impoverished.
Geare parted ways, then Captains Sherley and Parker decided to try to
march across the Guatemalan mountains to the Pacific, but they were daunted
by the severity of the trip and chose to take their remaining men through
the Strait of Magellan instead. By this time, Captain Sherley's men had lost
faith in their captain and deserted him. With his remaining ship, Captain
Sherley went back to England and also to tremendous debts.
Toward the end of 1597, Captain Sherley was sent to Ferrara, Italy, in
the company of English troops. By the time they arrived, the differences
between Italy and England were settled and Sherley was faced with
unemployment. Captain Sherley, once again using his relationship with the
Earl of Essex, managed to raise enough money to sail to Persia. He planned
to establish diplomatic relations (without the consent of the crown) with
the new shah. The shah made Captain Sherley his ambassador and enlisted him
to gain allies against the Ottoman Empire. When Captain Sherley returned to
England, his plan was condemned and he was forbidden to return to Persia.
Sherley then made his rounds from royal court to court and conned nobles out
of funds.
In 1607, Captain Sherley managed to become an agent for the Spanish.
During this time, he wrote to Captains Simonson and John Ward attempting to
convince them to attack the Ottoman Empire. In 1609, the Spanish had Captain
Sherley assemble ships in Sicily to attack the Barbary corsairs. It was
planned that Captain Sherley would join in a Spanish attack on Tunis, but
instead Captain Sherley attacked European merchantmen and looted the Greek
Islands. After Captain Sherley's failure to support Spain's attack on Tunis,
he lost all influence in the Spanish courts but stayed in Spain constantly
trying to gain political stature. He died destitute in Spain in 1637. |
