Sir Walter Raleigh, one time favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, was six foot tall and handsome, a heroic adventurer, a poet and a wit to boot.
Raleigh spent his childhood in a small village not far from East Budleigh on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. History tells us he studied at Oriel College Oxford and in the Middle Temple in London, however at his trial in 1603 he stated that he had never studied law. He quickly came to prominence and then to court and was knighted in 1585.
In all his years in court he is said to have retained his strong West Country accent.
Raleigh spent his childhood in a small village not far from East Budleigh on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. History tells us he studied at Oriel College Oxford and in the Middle Temple in London, however at his trial in 1603 he stated that he had never studied law. He quickly came to prominence and then to court and was knighted in 1585.
In all his years in court he is said to have retained his strong West Country accent.
In 1592, Raleigh fell from grace when the queen found out he had secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of her maids of honour. The queen was so angry she had both husband and wife imprisoned in the Tower of London. Later on his release, Raleigh attempted to gain favour and set off on an unsuccessful expedition to find El Dorado, the fabled City of Gold, but this went horribly wrong when a number of Raleigh's men disobeyed orders and attacked a Spanish outpost leading to the Spanish ambassador seeking revenge.
Elizabeth died in 1603 and Raleigh soon found that her successor, King James I, was not keen on him either, and that same year he was accused of plotting against the king and sentenced to death, but this was later reduced to life imprisonment.
Elizabeth died in 1603 and Raleigh soon found that her successor, King James I, was not keen on him either, and that same year he was accused of plotting against the king and sentenced to death, but this was later reduced to life imprisonment.
Raleigh's notes and drawings of the Nile delta.
Another one of Raleigh's talents was writing, in 1614 during his 12 years in the Tower of London, he began his History of the World, he only completed one volume, in it he stated:
"O eloquent, just and mightie death, whom none could advise, thou hast perswaded."
I expect when writing this he didn't imagine it would come so soon.
In 1616 James sent Raleigh to Guiana in a search for gold but two years later he accused of inciting war between Spain and England, James re issued the first death sentence. Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded outside the Palace of Westminster on 29th October 1618. It has been said, as he stood before the block at the Tower of London, he asked to see the axe that was to behead him and of it he said.
"This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases."
"O eloquent, just and mightie death, whom none could advise, thou hast perswaded."
I expect when writing this he didn't imagine it would come so soon.
In 1616 James sent Raleigh to Guiana in a search for gold but two years later he accused of inciting war between Spain and England, James re issued the first death sentence. Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded outside the Palace of Westminster on 29th October 1618. It has been said, as he stood before the block at the Tower of London, he asked to see the axe that was to behead him and of it he said.
"This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases."
Once executed, Raleigh's head was embalmed and presented to his wife, she is said to have carried it with her at all times until she died. Accounts of the beheading record that the head was placed in a red bag, and that it and his body, wrapped in his nightgown, were taken away in a mourning coach by his widow.
The bag found in West Horsley Place. Photograph: The Mary Roxburghe Trust
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