Thomas Doughty (explorer)

Thomas Doughty (1545 – 2 July 1578) was an English nobleman, soldier, scholar and personal secretary of Christopher Hatton. His association with Francis Drake, on a 1577 voyage to raid Spanish treasure fleets, ended in a shipboard trial for treason and witchcraft, and Doughty's execution.

Although some scholars doubt the validity of the charges of treason, and question Drake's authority to try and execute Doughty, the incident set an important precedent: according to a history of the English Navy, titled To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World by Arthur L. Herman, Doughty's execution established the idea that a ship's captain was its absolute ruler, regardless of the rank or social class of its passengers.