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| Sunday, 24 April 2005 |
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Famous trials that shook the world : Trial of Sir Walter Raleigh by Lionel Wijesiri During his own lifetime, Walter Raleigh was one of the best-known men in England. He was a courtier, politician, soldier, seaman, explorer, businessman, philosopher, historian and poet.
Raleigh was ambitious and knew that to gain the notice of the Queen he had to prove himself as a soldier and explorer. For this reason he also went to Ireland (where his family had some land) and quelled a rebellion there. Raleigh gained the notice of the Queen around this time and soon he came under the closer scrutiny of the Court. Apparently his candid ways were gilded with charm, and he soon became a favourite of the Queen, who knighted him in 1585. As Elizabeth's reigning favourite, he began to earn royal favours including vast amounts of land in Munster, wealth and influential positions, one of which was as the monopoly holder of license for sale of wines, export of broadcloths and warden of the Cornish tin mines. He became vice-admiral of Devon and Cornwall and had a seat in Parliament. He was ultimately captain of the Queen's guard, a position that many consider may have put him close enough to the Queen that more personal favours on her part were also part of his benefits. However, by this time, his fortunes became precarious. Raleigh apparently wanted a home, a wife and family, and after acquiring a house in Dorset, secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, a maid of honour at court. When the jealous Queen discovered Raleigh's duplicity, she imprisoned both Elizabeth and Raleigh in the Tower of London. Always a ruthless survivor and manipulator, Raleigh bought his release with profits he'd made from a voyage in which he'd invested. He was free, but never regained his influence at Court. Barred from the court, Raleigh continued sitting in Parliament. By this time he achieved great notoriety for his connection with the poetic group known as the 'School of Night.' Led by Thomas Harriot and including Christopher Marlowe and George Chapman, the group's sceptical attitude and critical interpretation of Scripture won them a reputation for atheism. In 1595, Raleigh embarked on an expedition with the adventurer-scholar Laurence Kemys to find the fabled city of El Dorado. They penetrated 480 km up the Orinoco River into the interior of Guiana, bringing home specimens containing gold. Releigh published his Discovery of Guyana the following year. In 1596 he commanded a squadron in the English expedition against Cadiz. By 1600 his fortunes again started ebbing. Those who had been jealous of him were beginning to highlight his faults. His extravagant spending and his pride were known all over England, and, apparently because he enjoyed playing Devil's Advocate in good stimulating philosophical discussions, he was accused by the Catholic Order of Jesuits of keeping a school of Atheism. He met his final downfall upon the accession (1603) of James I, who had been convinced by Raleigh's enemies that Raleigh was opposed to his succession. Many of Raleigh's offices and monopolies were taken away, and, on somewhat insufficient evidence, he was found guilty of intrigues with Spain against England and of participation in a plot to kill the King. Saved from the block by a reprieve, Raleigh settled down in the Tower as a prisoner and devoted himself to literature and science. During his imprisonment he completed the first volume of his History of the World (1614), which, with his other works-The Last Fight of the Revenge (1591), and The Discovery of Guyana (1596)-gave him an important place among Elizabethan intellectuals. He became a hero to the heir to the throne, Prince Henry, who tried to secure Raleigh's release from prison. However, with Prince Henry's death in 1612 Raleigh lost all hopes of release. In desperation, he proposed to give King James a fortune in gold if the King would allow him to return to Guyana. James agreed on condition that no action causing offence to Spanish inhabitants was done. English-Spanish relationship was developing favourably and James did not want to upset the prospects in any way. The expedition in 1616 was a disaster. In Guyana, Raleigh sent his son and an aide to search for El Dorado or City of Gold. Going against his and the King's wishes, Raleigh's lieutenant attacked a Spanish settlement on Guyana and burned it. Sir Walter's son died in the final bitter defeat. No gold was ever found. Raleigh returned to England, where the Spanish ambassador demanded his punishment. Failing in an attempt to escape to France, he was executed under the original sentence of treason passed in 1603. Raleigh was beheaded on October 29, 1618. It is said that at his execution he asked to see the axe and said, "This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases." The head was finally buried with his son's body to the south side of the alter at St. Margaret's Church. Today it is the parish church of the House of Parliament. Raleigh's role in history has long been appreciated as that of a popular rakish and imaginative hero with a somewhat shady reputation-neither all good, nor all bad. He had a knack for irritating his bettors, upsetting the apple cart, and daring to go one step further than the average man. |
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Raleigh, born in 1552, was the son of a Devonshire Squire but his family,
particularly on his mother's side, had some important connections. One of
these was Humphrey Gilbert, an explorer and adventurer. He accompanied
Raleigh on his first trip to the West Indies on a mission to attack Spanish
ships laden with gold. Raleigh's family were fervent Protestants and
believed that Catholic Spain was England's greatest enemy. 
