|
Biography of Sir
Walter Raleigh by Christopher Smith
S I
R
W A L T E R
R A L E I G H
Part 11: The Wilderness
Years
 Elizabeth's refusal
to forgive his marriage was a source of
great bitterness to Raleigh; but, though
he was no longer in favour, he still
owned Durham House and Sherborne Castle
and benefited from his monopolies. He had
been shamed, but not ruined. However, he
was still separated from his beloved
wife. A situation which was only brought
to and end by a stroke of luck.
Sir John
Borough captured the Madre de Deos,
a floating castle of 1,600 tons with
seven decks manned by 800 crewmen.
Hawkins estimated the haul at £500,000
and Lord Burghley sent Raleigh to
Dartmouth to divide the spoils. Elizabeth
benefited from most of the bounty.
Raleigh secured no riches but, on 22nd
December, Arthur Throckmorton was able to
record in his diary that "my sister
was delivered from the Tower." A
grudgingly grateful Queen had, at last,
allowed Sir Walter and Bess to start
their new life together at Sherborne.
The
couple's first child must have died, but
Bess was soon pregnant again and their
son, Wat, was born in 1593. In the same
year, Raleigh started to build a grand
new house, south of the old castle at
Sherborne, on the site of a hunting
lodge. His half-brother, Adrian Gilbert,
was the surveyor. Sir Walter settled down
to the life of a country gentleman. He
became firm friends with Charles Thynne
of nearby Longleat in Wiltshire and also
turned to his brother, Carew, who became
a close companion.
Raleigh
busied himself in Parliament. He spoke on
religious matters and the need for a
strong British naval force, but ill
advisedly questioned James VI of
Scotland's succession to Elizabeth. Essex
continued to try to blacken his name, a
cause which was helped by Sir Walter
having befriended the playwright,
Christopher Marlowe, who was a well-known
atheist. To improve his image, Raleigh
arrested a half-Cornish, half-Irish
Catholic priest. He had him convicted in
Dorchester (Dorset), hanged, drawn and
quartered, and his head stuck on the
pinnacle of St. Peter's Church in the
same town.
Part
12: The Search for El Dorado
|
