The Rise of Sir Walter Raleigh in the Court of Queen Elizabeth I

The legend has served filmmakers well: Walter Raleigh removing his cloak and tossing it over a puddle of water so that Queen Elizabeth I would not be forced to muddy her feet perfectly combines both the romantic and political. Too bad it’s probably not true, but then again maybe it is. Not that it matters. There is enough known about the real relationship between the Virgin Queen and the dashing Raleigh to make up for one possible invention. Walter Raleigh was not yet thirty years old when he first met his Queen. He must have presented quite a startling image to an Elizabeth who was surrounded by courtiers and clergymen. Raleigh was tall, handsome and rugged. Queen Elizabeth was almost fifty and looking for someone to take the place of her previous favorite, the Earl of Leicester who had gotten married not long before.

Such was Elizabeth’s attraction to Raleigh that she regularly gave him presents including land, lucrative offices within her court and even more lucrative trading licenses. Ultimately, she gave him the highest honor of all, knighting him Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584. Following the death of Raleigh’s half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, he was granted Gilbert’s patent to explore the New World and claim them in the name of the Queen. His first exploration for this purpose took him to what now comprises the Atlantic seaboard of the U.S. You are probably familiar with the name he gave to this territory: Virginia. Later on, Walter Raleigh became so dear to Queen Elizabeth that she actually refused to give him permission to leave her court and go on more exploratory voyages. In his place, Raleigh sent his cousin Richard Grenville who founded the colony of Roanoke. Things were looking mighty fine for Sir Walter Raleigh.

Enter Robert Devereux, also know as the Earl of Essex. Devereux positioned himself as a rival for the Queen’s attention in 1587. The resulting triangle was so discomforting for Raleigh that he temporarily left the court to live on his Irish estate. Upon his return, Sir Walter Raleigh made a huge error in judgment: he became romantically involved with another Elizabeth. Elizabeth Throckmorton was not just another woman; she was a member of the Queen’s maids of honor. There is one woman in the all the world that you don’t want to make jealous and that is the woman who has the power to put you in prison. And that is exactly what Queen Elizabeth did to both Sir Walter Raleigh and Elizabeth Throckmorton. Both spent time within the infamous Tower of London prison. In time, however, both were released and even allowed to marry. The price was high, however: both were removed from the Queen’s court. The couple was forced to live in far away from the queen on a country estate.

Then in 1596 Raleigh was finally granted permission to leave England again and this time his expedition took him into direct conflict with Spain in the New World. The next year he once again found Elizabeth’s favor when he fought successfully in an attack against Spain’s forces at the port of Cadiz. His triumphant return to Elizabeth’s court would prove not to be the all it seemed, however.