Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh was one of Queen Elizabeth’s favorites. He spent much of his time in court with her and became a much disliked man because of the attention that he received from the Queen. Raleigh gained favour through his extravagant explorations. It was he who organised the colonisation of parts of America, and the creation of the colony of Virginia.

Timeline of Sir Walter Raleigh’s life and achievements

1554 Walter Raleigh born in Hayes Barton, Devon.
1578 Walter Raleigh sails with his half brother to America.
1580 Raleigh travels to Ireland and helps to put down the rebellion: this gains him favour with Queen Elizabeth.
1580 Raleigh is knighted, to become Sir Walter, for his work in Ireland.
1585 Walter Raleigh sponsors the colony of Virginia in America: it fails to establish itself.
1592 Raleigh falls out of favour with Elizabeth hen she discovers that he has married one of her maids.
1595 Sails to Guiana to search for the city of El Dorado (the city of gold).
1603 King James, eager to make peace with the Spanish, imprisons Raleigh on charges of treason.
1612 King James releases Raleigh, who promises to give King James a fortune if he allows him to return to Guiana.
1616 Raleigh travels to Guina. His mission fails and he attacks a Spanish settlement.
1618 Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for attacking the Spanish.

The Tudors

Henry VII – Henry VIII – Edward VI – Mary –  Elizabeth – Depth study on Elizabethan England

Francis Drake – Walter Raleigh – William Shakespeare – Philip II of Spain – Mary, Queen of Scots – Anne Boleyn – Mary Boleyn

Battle of Bosworth – War of the Roses – Split with Rome – Spanish Armada – Voyages of Discovery – Protestant Reformation – Elizabethan Settlement – Roanoke Colony – Act of Union with Wales