Sir Walter Raleigh’s political fall resulted in his death

Politics are rough these days, but 17th century England was no cakewalk.

Sir Walter Raleigh, an important figure in North Carolina history, upset the wrong people and it resulted in his untimely death on October 29, 1618.

Raleigh was a soldier, explorer, and author and gained significant political power during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but when James I took the throne, things took a turn for the worst. James never liked Raleigh and when the king came to power, Raleigh was opposed to his peace plans and also facing financial troubles.

Raleigh did some exploring with his half brother Sir Humphrey Gilbert and set out for Greenland in 1578. The trip didn’t go well and ended up devolving into “unsanctioned privateering,” better known as piracy. When he returned to England, he was imprisoned briefly.

He became a favorite of Elizabeth’s, although he continued to get in trouble, getting arrested twice for dueling. He was considered handsome, flamboyant, and a ruthless politician. He was knighted in 1584 and became captain of the Queen’s Guard in 1586.

He never set foot in North Carolina, but he sent an expedition that reached the Pamlico Sound in 1584 and another group that settled at Roanoke Island in 1587 (the Lost Colony).

Raleigh did a lot of exploring in the 1590s, but started getting on the wrong side of royalty with his secret marriage to Elizabeth Throckmorton (because of his position, he had to get the queen’s permission to marry). The couple was briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London, a sort of celebrity jail.

Raleigh was accused of being involved in a conspiracy to overthrow James I and replace him with Arabella Stuart. During the trial, he proclaimed his innocence and begged for the right to confront his accuser — something Americans take for granted, but was not part of the English system.

In 1603, he was convicted and sentenced to this: “to be hanged and cut down alive, and your body shall be opened, your heart and bowels plucked out, and your privy members cut off and thrown into the fire before your eyes; then your head to be stricken from your body and your body shall be divided into four quarters to be disposed of at the King’s pleasure.”

A last-minute reprieve saved Raleigh, but he was not pardoned. Instead, he was imprisoned again in the Tower of London.

Things looked up for Raleigh as he developed a friendship with Prince Henry, the son of James I. However, Henry died in 1612. There was some belief that he was poisoned by the king’s enemies.

He was allowed to leave the Tower when he was 65 and sent on an expedition to Guinea to look for gold. He was ordered to not clash with longtime enemy Spain as James I was trying to arrange a marriage between his son and a Spanish royal.

Raleigh’s son Walter (also called Wat) went along and as soon as they reached the South American coast, they were attacked by the Spanish. Wat was killed and a Spanish settlement was destroyed. Raleigh’s men found documents that showed Raleigh had been set up by James I, who had given full details of the expedition to the Spanish. The plan was to kill Raleigh or have him return to England as a traitor for disobeying orders.

Raleigh returned to England and the old sentence was ordered to be carried out, but his popularity had the king decide to not carry out the mutilation. His wife, Elizabeth, buried the body but had the head embalmed and kept it by her side for years.

Sources:

Dr. H.G. Jones, Scoundrels, Rogues and Heroes of the Old North State

Amy Rudersdorf, “Sir Walter Raleigh,” NCPedia