If you had history teachers like I did, all you probably remember about Sir Walter Raleigh is that he introduced tobacco from the New World and once laid down his cloak in a puddle to impress Queen Elizabeth. This is typical of how history was taught. Although the cloak story is in character and nicely illustrates his relationship with the Queen, it would amuse Walter to know that it's what he's remembered for. As for tobacco, it was actually introduced by Sir John Hawkins (and became popular as a cure for venereal disease) in 1565. The link with Walter was that he made smoking fashionable at the Elizabethan Court and was responsible for the very first "no smoking" notices to be needed.
Sir Walter Raleigh - a true Elizabethan
Backing from the Queen (a push-over for his flattering love poems) and cash from his exploits as a buccaneer on the high seas, enabled him to build fleets of ships like the Bark Ralegh and establish his own empire in North America. Even by the accounts of his many rivals, Raleigh was a heroic figure - tall, tough, handsome and gifted with the ability to master anything he turned his hand to, including his legendary "way with the ladies". Rising from a modest West Country farming family to become one of the most important men in Europe, his exploits and influence helped to shape the world we know today. To the end, he was a true Elizabethan, an imaginative explorer, adventurer and Renaissance man.
Ten things you should know about Sir Walter Raleigh
1. He never used the name Raleigh, preferring Ralegh and sometimes signing himself Rawley and for a while even Rawleyghe. (Leading Raleigh biographer Robert Lacey has counted seventy three different spellings in contemporary references) The best evidence of how is name was pronounced come from puns of the time based on the syllables "raw-lee".
2. At the age of fourteen, Walter fought in the French civil war as a Protestant mercenary, experiencing four years of brutal massacres, raping and pillaging, raising a small fortune and mastering useful close-combat and survival skills. He went to France as a boy with romantic ideas but returned as a tough campaign veteran with no illusions.
3. Walter had educated himself, but on his return to England he was able to buy a place at Oriel College Oxford, where he studied to become a poet, philosopher, scientist and lawyer. He quickly became a popular society figure and despite being imprisoned for duelling and rowdiness, soon realised his ambition of gaining access to the Court of Queen Elizabeth.
4. With no chance of inheriting land (as the younger son of a tenant farmer), Raleigh used family connections to find a castle and estate in Ireland that needed "liberating" and dealt ruthlessly with the locals, hanging any trouble-makers on the spot. When over six hundred Italians came to Ireland to support the Catholics, Raleigh saw to it that none survived, despite their surrender.
5. The Queen had lavished wealth and power (and of course a Knighthood) on Walter, who had become her clear favourite. When she discovered his affair with Bess Throckmorton, one of her maids-of-honour, they were both thrown into the Tower of London, (in separate cells) where they remained until the Queen relented (largely due to the obsequious letters Sir Walter sent to her.) Bess and Sir Walter then secretly married - with Walter's arch rival the Earl of Essex as best man.
6. Exploring the New World, he asked the local Indians what they called the region and they answered "Windgandcon". The name endured until the Indian language had been translated, when it was found to mean "What gay clothes you are wearing!" (It was promptly renamed Virginia)
7. In 1585, Sir Walter decided to set up his own colony in North America. He got a patent from the Queen giving him permission and sent his first batch of settlers to Roanoke Island, to found the City of Ralegh. This didn't work very well, (over a hundred settlers disappeared without a trace) but over the next two years he sent two more groups of colonists to meet their end in the same spot.
8. After the death of Elizabeth, his enemies turned King James against him and Walter faced charges of conspiracy and high treason, for which he was given a death sentence, commuted to life imprisonment - his second visit to the dismal Tower of London. The prospect was too depressing and he attempted suicide by stabbing himself with a dinner knife, but it was too small to do real damage. He survived and wrote his monumental History of the World and several other works.
9. Released aged 62, Raleigh (always a gambler) staked everything on building a heavily armed warship called the "Destiny" and set out on a final expedition to Guiana in search of El Dorado - the city of gold. The expedition was poorly equipped, he lost half his crew and nearly died from fever. Worst of all, the Spanish captured and killed his son.
10. Sentenced to death, he was allowed to forgo the usual hanging, drawing and quartering (with privy members cut off and cast into a fire) in favour of execution. On the scaffold he made the executioner nervous by refusing a blindfold and nonchalantly inspecting the axe for sharpness. When the man hesitated, Raleigh shouted "What doest thou fear?" then "Strike man - Strike!" It took two blows to finish the job.
Tony Riches - Based in west Wales in the UK, I am a published Author and full time writer Follow me on twitter @tonyriches and visit my blogs: The ...
