Sir Walter Raleigh

 

 

Sir Walter Raleigh has become one of the most famous figures in British history. A firm favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, he could do little wrong under her reign, but in the court of King James it was a different story. When Raleigh returned home from his South American adventures in disgrace, having disobeyed the king and failed to find ‘El Dorado’, he was sent to the Tower of London and, eventually, beheaded.

 

 

One of the most famous figures in British history, Sir Walter Raleigh’s status as an explorer, poet and favoured courtier to Queen Elizabeth I is common knowledge. What is less well known is that his expeditions to colonize parts of the New World seldom received royal patronage; instead, they were funded by himself and his friends, and their purpose was primarily to line his own pocket.

When he failed to establish English colonies in the Americas, several times, he was looked upon less favourably; and eventually, after Queen Elizabeth died and the incoming king James accused him of plotting against the throne, he was imprisoned at the Tower of London, where he spent many years. Finally, after a further adventure when he went in search of the fabled ‘City of Gold’, El Dorado, and attacked the Spanish against the wishes of the king, he was beheaded. Like many other privateers of his day, he had to walk a precarious line between pursuing his own interests – thereby improving his standing as a man of fortune and influence at court – and bending to whims of whichever monarch happened to be in power.

 

Religious persecution

Walter Raleigh was born into a wealthy Protestant family at Hayes Barton, a grand house in the village of East Budleigh, Devon, at some point between 1552 and 1554 (opinion is divided as to his exact date of birth). His father, who bore the same name, was a prominent nobleman, and his mother, Catherine Champernowne, had connections at court, being related to Queen Elizabeth I’s governess, Kat Ashley. One of Ashley’s main duties was to introduce suitable young gentlemen to court, so Walter automatically had a powerful entrée to court circles. Catherine had five sons in total, from two marriages: Walter’s brother Carew Raleigh and his half brothers Humphrey, John and Adrian Gilbert. All five brothers were to prove important figures, but Walter became the most celebrated.

Despite their wealth and position, as a well-known Protestant family, the Raleighs were subject to religious persecution. As a child, Raleigh often witnessed his family on the run from ‘Bloody Mary’, the Catholic Queen Mary I. On one occasion, his father was forced to hide in a church tower to escape execution. As a result of these early experiences, the young Walter developed an abiding loathing for Catholicism, which he did little to hide when the Protestant Elizabeth I acceded the throne.

 

The jealous queen

As a young man, after attending Oxford University, Raleigh fought on the side of the Huguenots in France before settling in London to study law. But his was not to be the quiet life of a scholar. Instead, he went to Ireland and helped to suppress various uprisings against English rule, also foiling a Catholic plot to dethrone the queen. As a result of these activities, he became a court favourite. Legend has it that, on one occasion, when the queen was forced to step out into a muddy street, Raleigh laid down his cloak for her to walk on. Whether or not this is true no one knows, but he certainly had a very close relationship with her. However, this was not always to his advantage. When he fell in love with one of her maids of honour, Bessie Throckmorton, Elizabeth was so jealous that she had him thrown into the Tower of London. Eventually, however, he was released and he married Bessie, to whom he remained devoted for the rest of his life.

 

El Dorado

Like many other English noblemen of the day, Raleigh was keen to explore the world, to colonize foreign countries, and to bring back treasures from far-off lands – all of which would, of course, increase his standing at court and ensure security for his family. He had heard stories of a ‘City of Gold’ – El Dorado – in South America, and in 1594, set off to find it. Legend had it that this golden land existed in the forests around the Orinoco river. However, his voyage was unsuccessful. When Queen Elizabeth died, his fortunes took a further turn for the worse, as the new Catholic king, James I suspected him of being involved in a plot to overthrow him, and imprisoned him once more in the Tower of London. He remained there for the next 12 years, with a death sentence hanging over him, but was finally released.

Hoping to find favour at court once more, Raleigh then set off on another expedition to find El Dorado. This was no more successful than the first, and indeed made him even more unpopular with the king, because on the way, Raleigh and his men sacked the settlement of San Thome, situated on the Orinoco, killing many Spaniards. Several of Raleigh’s men were killed too, including his son, also named Walter. This event was to prove Raleigh’s undoing. He had had strict instructions from the king not to harm any Spaniards on his travels, so when he finally returned to England – without the legendary treasure he had set out to find – King James was furious. Under pressure from the Spanish ambassador, the king announced that the death sentence would be re-invoked, and that this time Raleigh would be beheaded.

 

The ultimate crime - failure

The beheading of Sir Walter Raleigh took place on 29 October 1618. Raleigh did not want to show that he was afraid, and asked the executioner to dispatch him quickly. He asked to see the axe that would be used to kill him, commenting as he looked at it, ‘this is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases and miseries’. As he lay waiting for the axe to fall, he once again told the executioner to hurry; his final words were, ‘Strike, man, strike!’ According to the customs of the day, his severed head was embalmed and presented to his wife, who was said to have taken it with her wherever she went.

Although by the time he died, Raleigh was no longer a prestigious figure at court, many felt that his execution was extremely unjust. Had he been a favourite of the king’s, as he had been under Elizabeth I, his quelling of the Spanish force might have been seen as brave and courageous, instead of being viewed as a crime punishable by death. In the same way, had he returned loaded with treasure from the imaginary ‘City of Gold’, he would probably have been given a hero’s welcome. As it was, he had his head cut off, as a warning to others not to go against the king’s commands.

The life, and death, of Sir Walter Raleigh is a salutary reminder that in the 16th and 17th centuries, privateering – even for a highborn nobleman – was an extremely precarious business. Those who succeeded were certain to be rewarded and held in the greatest esteem, while those who failed could easily be put to death or imprisoned. For in a world where there was virtually no law and order on the high seas, and little sense of cooperation, respect or commitment to justice among the European monarchs, the only real crime, it seems, was failure.