50 Facts About Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh was the younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and a cousin of Sir Richard Grenville.

Sir Walter Raleigh rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585.

Sir Walter Raleigh was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, paving the way for future English settlements.

In 1594, Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of "El Dorado".

Sir Walter Raleigh returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, he was arrested and executed in 1618.

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Sir Walter Raleigh grew up in the house of Hayes Barton, in East Devon.

Sir Walter Raleigh was the youngest of the five sons of Walter Raleigh of Fardel Manor, in South Devon.

Sir Walter Raleigh's family was highly Protestant in religious orientation and had a number of near escapes during the reign of Roman Catholic Queen Mary I of England.

In 1569, Sir Walter Raleigh left for France to serve with the Huguenots in the French religious civil wars.

In 1572, Sir Walter Raleigh was registered as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford, but he left a year later without a degree.

Sir Walter Raleigh proceeded to finish his education in the Inns of Court.

Sir Walter Raleigh's life is uncertain between 1569 and 1575, but in his History of the World he claimed to have been an eyewitness at the Battle of Moncontour in France.

Between 1579 and 1583, Sir Walter Raleigh took part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions.

Sir Walter Raleigh was present at the siege of Smerwick, where he led the party that beheaded some 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers.

Sir Walter Raleigh made the town of Youghal his occasional home during his 17 years as an Irish landlord, frequently being domiciled at Killua Castle, Clonmellon, County Westmeath.

In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh attempted a second expedition, again establishing a settlement on Roanoke Island.

Sir Walter Raleigh took part in court life and became a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I because of his efforts at increasing the Protestant Church in Ireland.

In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh was knighted and was appointed warden of the stannaries, that is of the tin mines of Cornwall and Devon, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall and vice-admiral of the two counties.

Sir Walter Raleigh was a member of parliament for Devonshire in 1585 and 1586.

Sir Walter Raleigh was originally called Ark but became Ark Raleigh, following the convention at the time by which the ship bore the name of her owner.

In 1592, Sir Walter Raleigh was given many rewards by the Queen, including Durham House in the Strand and the estate of Sherborne, Dorset.

Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, 11 years his junior, and was pregnant at the time.

Sir Walter Raleigh was sent to organise and divide the spoils of the ship.

Sir Walter Raleigh was sent back to the Tower, but by early 1593 had been released and become a member of Parliament.

Sir Walter Raleigh was elected a burgess of Mitchell, Cornwall, in the parliament of 1593.

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Sir Walter Raleigh retired to his estate at Sherborne, where he built a new house, completed in 1594, known then as Sherborne Lodge.

Sir Walter Raleigh was elected to Parliament, speaking on religious and naval matters.

Sir Walter Raleigh is sometimes said to have discovered Angel Falls, but these claims are considered far-fetched.

In 1596, Sir Walter Raleigh took part in the capture of Cadiz, where he was wounded.

Sir Walter Raleigh served as the rear admiral of the Islands Voyage to the Azores in 1597.

On his return from the Azores, Sir Walter Raleigh helped England defend itself against the major threat of the 3rd Spanish Armada during the autumn of 1597.

Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Walter Raleigh were able to organise a fleet that resulted in the capture of a Spanish ship in retreat carrying vital information regarding the Spanish plans.

In 1597 Sir Walter Raleigh was chosen as member of parliament for Dorset and in 1601 for Cornwall.

Sir Walter Raleigh was unique in the Elizabethan period in sitting for three counties.

Sir Walter Raleigh's trial has been regularly cited as influential in establishing a common law right to confront accusers in court.

Sir Walter Raleigh wrote not about England, but of the ancient world with a heavy emphasis on geography.

Sir Walter Raleigh's son, Carew, was conceived and born while Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower.

In 1617, Sir Walter Raleigh was pardoned by the King and granted permission to conduct a second expedition to Venezuela in search of El Dorado.

Sir Walter Raleigh's body was to be buried in the local church in Beddington, Surrey, the home of Lady Raleigh, but was finally laid to rest in St Margaret's, Westminster, where his tomb is presently located.

Sir Walter Raleigh's poetry is written in the relatively straightforward, unornamented mode known as the plain style.

Sir Walter Raleigh's writing contains strong personal treatments of themes such as love, loss, beauty, and time.

In poems such as "What is Our Life" and "The Lie", Sir Walter Raleigh expresses a contemptus mundi attitude more characteristic of the Middle Ages than of the dawning era of humanistic optimism.

Sir Walter Raleigh wrote a poetic response to Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" of 1592, entitled "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd".

In 2002, Sir Walter Raleigh was featured in the BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

Sir Walter Raleigh has been widely speculated to be responsible for introducing the potato to Europe, and was a key figure in bringing it to Ireland.

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However, modern historians dispute this claim, suggesting it would have been impossible for Sir Walter Raleigh to have discovered the potato in the places he visited.

The story of Sir Walter Raleigh's trial is included in John George Phillimore's 1850 book The History and Principles of Evidence, and his commentary on the story is included in many law school textbooks on evidence in common law countries.

Sir Walter Raleigh left three surviving children—Elizabeth, Philippa and Anne.

Philip Sir Walter Raleigh championed his grandfather's cause, publishing several of his hitherto unpublished papers.

The third son, Captain-Lieutenant Grenville Sir Walter Raleigh, served in the Duke of Marlborough's army throughout the War of the Spanish Succession and died of fever in 1717, while guarding the prisoners at Chester after the 1715 Jacobite rising.