Walter
Raleigh was born in Hayes Barton, Devon, was born in 1552. After
studying at Oxford University, he volunteered
to fight for the Protestants in France. In 1578 he joined his half-brother,
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in pirate attacks on Spanish treasure ships.
Two years later he helped put down the Catholic rising in Ireland.
Raleigh's
military achievements was recognized by Elizabeth
who
granted him estates and a licence to export woollen broadcloths. In
1585 he was elected to the House of Commons
and appointed Vice-Admiral of Devon and Cornwall.
In
1584 Raleigh went on an expedition to America and created a settlement
on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. On his return he introduced tobacco
and potatoes to England. In 1587 Raleigh moved to Ireland where he
had an estate in Munster.
Soon
after his return to England in 1592 he was arrested and charged with
having an affair with Bessy Throckmorton, one of Elizabeth's maids
of honour. Raleigh
was eventually released from the Tower
of London and
allowed to marry Bessy.
In
1595 he sailed to the West Indies and explored the coasts of Trinidad.
In 1596 he landed in Cadiz and his men plundered the town. The following
year he led a failed attempt to capture the Spanish treasure fleet
in the Azores. During this campaign he quarrelled bitterly with fellow
commander, Robert Devereux.
On
17th July, 1603, Raleigh was arrested and charged with treason. He
was found guilty and condemned to death and it was only on the scaffold
that his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. While in prison
he studied, carried out scientific experiments and wrote The
History of the World.
In
1616 he was released to lead an expedition to the Orinoco to find
gold. During the mission he destroyed a Spanish town. After complaints
from the Spanish, Raleigh was arrested and beheaded at Whitehall in
1618.
(1)
Walter Raleigh, The History of the World (c. 1610)
He that will happily perform
a fight at sea must believe that there is more belonging to a good
man of war upon the waters than great daring, and must know there
is a great deal of difference between fighting loose and grappling.
To clap ships together without consideration belongs rather to a madman
than to a ship of war; for by such an ignorant bravery was Peter Strozzi
lost at the Azores when he fought against the Marquis of Santa Cruz.
In like sort had the Lord Charles Howard, Admiral of England, been
lost in the year 1588 if he had not been better advised than a great
many malignant fools were who found
fault with his behaviour.
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
