The treasure ship Madre de Deus (aka Madre de Dios) was a Portuguese vessel carrying hugely valuable cargo from the East Indies which was attacked and captured by a fleet of English privateers in the Azores in September 1592 CE. The ship, packed full of jewels, pearls, gold, silver, ebony, and spices, was the richest prize ever taken by the privateers who plundered the Atlantic during the long reign of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603 CE). The capture was masterminded by Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1552-1618 CE), and the £80,000 return on Elizabeth's £3,000 original investment helped repair relations between the adventurer and his queen, securing his release from the Tower of London. The fabulous treasure inspired many more privateering fleets to prowl the seas but none would ever make a capture as rich as the Madre de Deus.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1572/the-capture-of-the-treasure-ship-madre-de-deus/.