Martin Frobisher

Martin Frobisher was an English navigator and privateer who led three expeditions to the Arctic in the 1570s, seeking a Northwest Passage to Asia. His voyages brought English claims to Baffin Island and sparked a short-lived effort to mine supposed gold ore.

Northwest Passage: A sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic Archipelago of North America. Finding this route to Asia was the stated aim of Frobisher’s three Arctic expeditions.
Frobisher Bay: A large inlet on southeastern Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. Frobisher entered and explored this inlet during his first Arctic voyage in 1576.
Frobisher expeditions: Three English Arctic voyages led by Martin Frobisher between 1576 and 1578. Together, the voyages tested the passage search and brought large quantities of supposed ore to England.
John Davis: An English navigator who led Arctic voyages in search of a Northwest Passage in the 1580s. Davis renewed the passage search after Frobisher’s voyages failed to find a route through the Arctic.
English overseas exploration: English voyages and ventures exploring, claiming, and exploiting territories beyond Europe. Frobisher’s expeditions belonged to England’s early push into overseas exploration.
Baffin Island: A large Arctic island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Frobisher’s voyages reached its coastline and supported England’s early claims in the region.
Fool's gold: A common name for pyrite, a metallic mineral often mistaken for gold. Frobisher’s ore was promoted as gold-bearing but proved commercially worthless.
Henry Hudson: An English navigator whose early seventeenth-century voyages sought a passage to Asia through Arctic waters. Hudson’s later searches pursued the same goal with different routes and expeditions.
Richard Hakluyt: An English geographer and promoter of overseas exploration who collected accounts of voyages. Hakluyt publicized Frobisher’s voyages as evidence for English expansion.
Elizabeth I: Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603. Her government granted support and authority for Frobisher’s expeditions.

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