The Elizabethan era was a time of exploration and many credit it as being the foundations
of the British Empire as a number of high profile explorers tried to claim new lands
in the name of the English Queen Elizabeth I. One of the most celebrated soldiers and
explorers of her time was Sir Walter Raleigh, who was a very talented man.
He was a politician, courtier, spy and also a writer, and he is famous for a huge amount
of things including introducing tobacco into England, and also being one of the first men
to set up a English colony in North America, and he was given permission from the Queen
to do this, and he named it after her calling it Virginia after the Virgin Queen.
But his colonies weren’t the most successful, and his settlement on Roanoke Island seemingly
disappeared.
But Raleigh was a favourite of Elizabeth I, but he did get in a significant amount of
trouble and also ended up in prison a number of times.
But during the reign of Elizabeth’s successor James I, he was executed in brutal scenes.
Join us today as we look at the brutal execution of Sir Walter Raleigh, and remember to support
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Sir Walter Raleigh was born around 1552 into a protestant family, and during the reign
of Mary I when he was just a young boy, the family lived dangerously as the Catholic Queen
went after high ranking Protestant families.
Bloody Mary persecuted a huge amount of Protestants with some even burned at the stake, and because
of this the family hid out at times.
Walter as a young man began to hate Catholicism because of this persecution, and in 1569 he
left England to go to France and he was a soldier in the French Civil Wars before he
returned to study at Oxford University.
He didn’t receive a degree there, and it was claimed that he studied law, but he continued
to fight at French battles.
Raleigh then was involved in Ireland and in specific putting down rebellions and he was
there at a siege where he led a group of soldiers that resulted in the executions and killings
of 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers.
In Ireland he caught the attention of the Queen of England, and he was given a large
amount of land in Ireland and he became rather rich following his conquests.
His service in Ireland led to him being given more gifts of land and financial wealth, and
Elizabeth I was keen on him.
He quickly became one of Elizabeth’s favourites, and he was invited to attend the royal court,
and whilst here he captivated the eye of the Queen, and made a great impression on her.
He was considered a brilliant gentleman, who was very handsome and gallant and brave, and
during one incident whilst he was walking with the Queen, he took off his cloak and
put it across a puddle so that the Queen could walk over this without getting her feet wet,
showing what a charmer he really was.
But Raleigh continued to go on explorations to different areas and parts of the world,
and he claimed them for England after they hadn’t been discovered before.
In 1584, Elizabeth I granted him a royal charter and permission to give him the authority to
colonise areas all around the world and to explore over any remote, Heather and barbarous
lands, and it was said that countries that were not possessed by a Christian King,’
were up for grabs and Elizabeth encouraged this exploration.
Raleigh was given 7 years to set up a settlement or lose the right to do so, and Elizabeth
encouraged competition with other explorers too.
Raleigh would explore these foreign and new lands, which would then give Elizabeth I a
lot of riches, new items to consider and also lands where she could set up naval bases to
attack the Spanish from.
The Spanish were the most feared empire at the time across England, and the Spanish were
huge enemies of the English, and the different colonies gave the English chances to attack
them away from England.
Raleigh received further promotions and celebrations, and he continued as a member of the Queen’s
court, and was knighted in 1585.
He was also given more titles and he became a member of Parliament.
Following this he then commissioned a huge ship to be made for him for his voyages, and
this became one of the most feared ships in English history, named initially the Ark Raleigh,
but then the Crown bought the ship from him and it became known as the Ark Royal.
This became a very important ship that was involved in fighting the Spanish Armada, and
was one of the biggest ships used to fight the enemy.
It was used in the Raids on Cadiz where ships were burned, and was seen as a pivotal piece
of the navy.
Raleigh did help to defend England against the Spanish, and he continued to be in the
Queens good books.
In 1592 he was given more rewards, and was given Durham House on the Strand and further
homes and lands in Dorset, but he became the Captain of the Yeoman of the Guard too.
But he then caused chaos with the Queen, after he decided to marry Elizabeth Bess Throckmorton.
In 1591 he married Bess, and she was one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting, and was 11
years younger than Raleigh, and the pair did marry in secret and a son was born around
March 1592.
This greatly upset Elizabeth I, as Raleigh demonstrated slight disloyalty.
Their child later died the following year after catching the plague, but Elizabeth I
was outraged when she found out about the secret marriage, and she sent Raleigh into
the Tower of London with Bess, and then dismissed her from court completely.
Following a few months under lock and key, Raleigh was released but he was forced to
leave court for 5 years and Elizabeth was broken.
He tried to win her back and around this time began to show interest in El Dorado, the mythical
city that was supposed to be covered in gold in South America.
He ventured to try and find this and did come across some gold mines, but was not given
much backing to colonise the area.
He did take part in 1595 in the capture of Cadiz and continued to fight the Spanish Armada
and try to defend England from attack, and with this he did gain the Queen’s favour.
He came back to court in 1597, and stayed until the death of Elizabeth I.
But despite being a favourite of the Queen, Raleigh’s life would change when her successor
came onto the throne.
Elizabeth died on the 25th March 1603, and following this Raleigh was thrown inside the
Tower of London again and was accused of being involved in a plot to remove James I, her
successor from the throne and he wanted to replace him with Lady Arabella Stuart.
Raleigh was accused of treason and at his trial he defended himself, arguing the evidence
against him was not concrete and was just gossips and despite being convicted, the new
English King spared his life.
He was sent back to the Tower of London and he stayed here for 13 years inside the fortress,
and he was allowed some luxuries and during this time he grew many exotic plants and herbs
inside of a garden there where he made his own medicines.
He was then in 1617 pardoned and was summoned by the King to go and look for El Dorado,
but the expedition went terribly wrong when Raleigh’s men attacked a Spanish outpost
and violated peace between England and Spain, and this almost caused an outbreak of the
war.
Raleigh had been told explicitly not to become involved in attacks on the Spanish, including
their colonies.
But during the attack, his own son had been killed and Raleigh who still hated Catholics
and opposed the Spanish did not retreat.
James I was furious and when Raleigh returned to England, the Spanish Ambassador demanded
that he should be executed and that his death sentence should be reinstated.
James I saw him as a rebel, and for this sent him back to prison to await his death.
It was clear that Raleigh was being used as a way of building bridges with the Spanish,
but on the 29th October 1618 he was taken out of the Tower of London to the Palace of
Westminster at 8am by an escort of armed pikemen.
He was dressed in a black nightgown and he wore black, as he approached the executioners
scaffold.
The crowd despite it being in the morning was huge, and the escort had to push through
the huge masses of people to get Raleigh to the scaffold.
The night before he had been visited by the Dean of Westminster, and Raleigh’s wish
that his execution would be performed in public was granted.
He made a speech to the people, and captivated a huge audience, and many were hanging out
of balconies to see his final moments.
He was led up the scaffold by two sheriffs, and the Dean of Westminster and he said, ‘I
was yesterday taken out of my bed in a strong fit of fever which hath weakened me, and whose
untimeliness forbearing no occasion nor place, I likewise expect today.
I do therefore first desire the AlmightyGod to keep sickness from me, that I may have
time to deliver my mind.
He continued saying, ‘‘God hath Brought me into the light to die before the eyes of
so many honourable and worthy personages, and that he hath not suffered me to die in
obscurity in the dark prison of the Tower, where for the space of 14 years together,
I have been oppressed with many miseries and have suffered much affliction and sickness.’
For 25 minutes he spoke and he claimed loyalty to England and James I, and was even asked
by the Sheriff if he wanted to pause and stand by a fire for a moment before continuing,
and he said, ‘No good Mr Sheriff, let us dispatch for within this quarter of an hour
mine ague will come upon me, and if I be not dead before then, mine enemies will say that
I quake in fear.’
He prayed with the crowd saying, ‘being a man full of venire who has lived a sinful
life in such callings, I have been a seafaring man, a soldier, and courtier and in the temptations
the the least of these is enough to overthrow a good mine and a good man.’
His final words to the nobility who gathered there were, ‘I have a long journey to go,
therefore I must take my leave of you.’
As the scaffold cleared, Raleigh spent some time in prayer then took off his nightgown
and prepared for his death.
He asked to touch and see the axe which was going to take his life and it was shown and
he said, ‘This is a sharp medicine, but it is a sure cur for all diseases.’
The executioner was given his forgiveness from Raleigh, and offered him a blindfold
but he refused.
Then he stretched himself over the block and the executioner then placed his neck on the
block to position it.
Raleigh then signalled he was ready and he stuck out his arms, but in front of the huge
crowd the executioner panicked.
Raleigh screamed, ‘What doest thou fear, strike man, strike!’
Because of the hesitation his head was not taken clean off, and it took 2 blows to take
his head.
It was said his lips still quivered when the head was shown to the crowd.
It was placed inside a red bag and his body was wrapped in the velvet nightgown he wore.
Interestingly, Raleigh’s head was embalmed and given to his wife and his body was placed
inside of St Margaret’s Church in Westminster.
Raleigh’s wife kept the head with her and carried it with her every day for the next
9 years, and it was then interred with his body.
But Walter Raleigh was the intrepid Tudor explorer who made great efforts to bring riches
and wealth to Elizabeth I. He was a skilled sailor and military commander, and it’s
believed James I had him executed to signal that the new order was now in power, and it’s
considered his execution was very unpopular and unjust.
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