Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh

• Interesting Picture, Facts and information about Sir Walter Raleigh in Elizabethan Times

• Short Biography about the life of Sir Walter Raleigh - Explorer, Privateer, Poet and Courtier

• Facts, Picture & History about Sir Walter Raleigh

• Famous Elizabethan Explorer - Walter Raleigh

The Age of Exploration

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Sir Walter Raleigh

Biography, Timeline & Facts about the famous explorer, explorations & voyages in the Age of Exploration

Short Biography of the life of Sir Walter Raleigh - Explorer, Poet, Privateer and Courtier
The following biography information provides basic facts about the life Sir Walter Raleigh:

• Nationality - English

• Lifespan - 1552 - 1618

• Family - Father was a farmer, his half brother explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He was also related to Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Francis Drake

• Education - Oriel College, Oxford

• Career - Poet, Courtier, Privateer and Explorer

• Famous for : The  Discovery of Guiana and establishing the Virginia colony of Roanoke Island in 1584

• Chivalry - He is reputed to have placed his cloak over a puddle in order to prevent Queen Elizabeth I from muddying her shoes

Facts, Biography, Timeline & History about the life of Sir Walter Raleigh - Explorer, Poet and Courtier
The following are additional biography facts with a timeline about the life and history of Sir Walter Raleigh:

• 1554 Sir Walter Raleigh was born in Hayes Barton in Devonshire

• Part of a leading Protestant family

• Sir Walter Raleigh hated the Catholic Church

• Distant relative of Francis Drake

• On August 24 1572 Raleigh witnessed the St Bartholomew's Day massacre where French Protestants were massacred by French Catholics in Paris

• A member of the Middle Temple in 1575

• He was nearly 6 foot tall

• In 1578 Sir Walter Raleigh sails with his half brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, to America

• Raleigh captains 'The Falcon'

• Raleigh has an illegitimate daughter by a local woman called Alice Goold

• In 1580 Raleigh helps to put down the Irish rebellion, is knighted and becomes a favourite of Queen Elizabeth. He becomes extremely wealthy

• Sir Walter Raleigh spoke with a soft Devonshire accent

• He was noted for his courtly manners and was reputed to have placed his cloak over a puddle in order to prevent Queen Elizabeth I from muddying her shoes. This is not confirmed however a cloak was included in his coat of arms

• Sir Walter Raleigh was a true man of the renaissance and a brilliant poet

• He founded the secret society called "The School of Night" which was attended by fellow highly prominent Elizabethans - new beliefs were discussed and it is closely related to the mysterious Rosicrucian movement

• March 25, 1584 - Walter Raleigh receives the patent to explore and settle in North America

• 1584: Sir Walter Raleigh's fleet of seven vessels under Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane, with 108 men, reach Roanoke Island in June.

• 1584 June 4, Virginia colony of Roanoke Island established by Sir Walter Raleigh.

• 1585 January 6: Queen Elizabeth knights Walter Raleigh and makes him governor of the new territory discovered by Amadas and Barlowe. Raleigh names it "Virginia" in her honor.

• 1586 - The Babington Plot - Sir Francis Walsingham and Sir Walter Raleigh discover plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Mary Queen of Scots (called the Babington Plot)

• July 22, 1587 - Sir Walter Raleigh backs the first English Colony in North America (North Carolina) led by John White to the English Roanoke Colony

• 1587 August 18, Virginia Dare born in Roanoke colony , the first English child born in North America 

• 1588 Raleigh donated "Ark Royal" to the English navy which was chosen to lead the English fleet against the Armada. Sir Walter Raleigh & Sir Richard Grenville were responsible for the joint defence of Devon and Cornwall against the expected Spanish Armada. The land-based soldiers did not have the opportunity to fight the Spanish.

• 1589: Sir Walter Raleigh & Sir Richard Grenville guard the sea approaches to Ireland 

• 1592 Raleigh falls out of favour with Elizabeth when she discovers that he has married one of her maids called Bessie Throckmorton

• The Queen ordered that Sir Walter Raleigh is placed in the Tower of London but he was released when one of his ships brought back a huge treasure on the captured Spanish ship "Madre De Dios"

• 6 February 1595 - Sir Walter Raleigh leaves England to sail to the New World to search for the city of El Dorado (the city of gold)

• 1595 Sir Walter Raleigh explores the Orinoco

• 24 March 1603 - Queen Elizabeth I dies and is succeeded by King James, the son of Mary Queen of Scots

• 1603 King James, eager to make peace with the Spanish, imprisons Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower of London on charges of treason

• In 1612 King James releases Raleigh, who promises to give King James a fortune if he allows him to return to Guiana

• In 1616 Raleigh travels to Guiana but his mission fails and he attacks a Spanish settlement

• 1618 Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for attacking the Spanish

Interesting Picture, Facts, Timeline and Information about Sir Walter Raleigh
Some interesting facts, timeline and biography information about the History, Life & Times of Sir Walter Raleigh

Famous Elizabethans - Sir Walter Raleigh - Explorer, Poet and Courtier
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