Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh was born in 1552, and Raleigh is just one of more than forty different ways that his surname was written during this time, a period when spelling was rather more a personal art than an agreed code.
During his childhood the reigning monarch was Queen Mary I and the Roman Catholic Church was in control. Given that a large part of the population had become Protestants, it was still true that those who were most open about it were persecuted. During the final four years of ‘Bloody Mary's’ reign 288 people were burnt at the stake for refusing to give up Protestantism, which may explain Raleigh’s hatred of the Catholic Church which he was free to express on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558.
In 1581 he became a favourite of the Queen. There is little to confirm the famous story of how he spread his cloak across a puddle so that the Queen could walk over it, except for the cloak included in his coat of arms.
He became Captain of the Guard and his part in foiling the Babington conspiracy - aimed at replacing Queen Elizabeth with Mary, Queen of Scots - ended with him owning a 42,000 acre estate in Ireland.
Raleigh's plan for colonisation in Virginia – named for his Virgin Monarch ended in failure at Roanoke Island, but paved the way for subsequent colonies.
In addition to his colonisation ambitions, Raleigh arranged for the construction of ships to fight the Spanish Armada. The Ark Royal weighed 800 tons and was completed in 1587. It had four masts and a crew of 270. Because the Treasury was very short of money to finance a fleet Raleigh donated the ship in exchange for an I.O.U. of £5,000! His Ark Royal was selected to lead the English fleet against the Armada in 1588. Rebuilt in 1608 to deal with its war damage, and renamed Anne Royal, it finally sank after an accident in 1636.
In 1588 Raleigh took over the defence of Devon and Cornwall against the expected Armada and arranged the construction of a series of beacon to be lit when the Armada was first sighted. As it turned out, land-based soldiers did almost nothing in the ‘war’ except watch the sea battles from the coast and guard captured Spanish ships.
Given the Queen's affection for him, it was foolish of Raleigh to assume she would be relaxed about his love affair with one of her Maids of Honour, Bessie Throckmorton. In fact, Elizabeth had him thrown in the Tower of London – only to be released after one of his ships brought back a huge treasure on a captured Spanish galleon.
In 1603 Elizabeth died and James the first took the throne. Raleigh was framed as a member of a plot against the throne and sentenced to life imprisonment. Whilst in the Bloody Tower he wrote the History of the World which was first printed in 1614. He was also an accomplished poet.
Again he was released but was then involved in another expedition against the Spanish, whose influence at court managed to have him re-arrested on the previous charge and he was sentenced to be beheaded. At his execution in 1618 he asked to see the axe and said ‘This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all Diseases.’ As was common at the time, his head was embalmed and presented to his wife. She apparently carried it with her at all times until she died 29 years later at the age of 82.
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