27 - Sir Martin Frobisher meets a young Samuel de Champlain in Brittany

Frobisher leads a successful assault on El Leon, a key Spanish fort in Brittany, with the help of French troops among whom was a young Samuel de Champlain.

Reading time: 16 minutes

Sometimes, as the saying goes, facts are more fascinating than fiction. In this, the last chapter of Sir Martin Frobisher, historians could not write a better ending for the great Privateer’s life. Frobisher exited history on the same peninsula that Samuel de Champlain entered history.¹

In the fall of 1594, the English under command of Frobisher and the French under command of Marshal Aumont joined forces to defeat the Spanish defenders of Spain’s northern-most Bastian on the Atlantic coastline - Fort Corzon (El Leon in Spanish) in Brittany.

Prelude to the Anglo/Spanish war

The last decades of the 16th Century, the French or English made no real attempts to explore and settle Canada for reasons as we shall soon see. Spanish fishing fleets continued to sail to Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence to catch fish or harvest whales. English and French fleets also made the sailing for the same lucrative commodities.

Aside from this activity, English settlements and t…