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Sir Walter Raleigh (; c. 1552 – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England against the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I. Raleigh was born to a landed gentry family of Protestant faith in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne. He was the younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and a cousin of Sir Richard Grenville. Little is known of his early life, though in his late teens he spent some time in France taking part in the religious civil wars. In his 20s he took part in the suppression of rebellion in the colonisation of Ireland; he also participated in the siege of Smerwick. Later, he became a landlord of property in Ireland and mayor of Youghal in east Munster, where his house still stands in Myrtle Grove. He rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. He was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, paving the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen's permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London. After his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne, Dorset. 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". After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for being involved in the Main Plot against King James I, who was not favourably disposed towards him. In 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, men led by his top commander ransacked a Spanish outpost, in violation of both the terms of his pardon and the 1604 peace treaty with Spain. Raleigh returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, he was arrested and executed in 1618. Early life Little is known about Sir Walter Raleigh's birth but he is believed to have been born on 22 January 1552 (or possibly 1554). He grew up in the house of Hayes Barton (in the parish of East Budleigh), in East Devon. He was the youngest of the five sons of Walter Raleigh (1510–1581) (or Rawleigh) of Fardel Manor (in the parish of Cornwood), in South Devon. Raleigh's family is generally assumed to have been a junior branch of the Raleigh family, 11th-century lords of the manor of Raleigh, Pilton in North Devon, although the two branches are known to have borne entirely dissimilar coats of arms, adopted at the start of the age of heraldry (c. 1200–1215). His mother was Katherine Champernowne, the third wife of Walter Raleigh senior. She was the fourth daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne (1479–1545), lord of the manor of Modbury, Devon, by his wife Catherine Carew, a daughter of Sir Edmund Carew (d. 1513) of Mohuns Ottery (in the parish of Luppitt), Devon,. Katherine was the widow of Otes Gilbert (1513–1546/7) of Greenway (in the parish of Brixham) and of Compton Castle (in the parish of Marldon), both in Devon. (The coat of arms of Otes Gilbert and Katherine Champernowne survives in a stained glass window in Churston Ferrers Church, near Greenway.) Katherine Champernowne's paternal aunt was Kat Ashley, governess of Queen Elizabeth I, who introduced Raleigh and his brothers to the court. Raleigh's maternal uncle was Sir Arthur Champernowne (c. 1524–1578), a Member of Parliament, Sheriff of Devon and Admiral of the West. Walter Raleigh junior's immediate family included his full brother Carew Raleigh, and half-brothers John Gilbert, Humphrey Gilbert and Adrian Gilbert. As a consequence of their kinship with the Champernowne family, all of the Raleigh and Gilbert brothers became prominent during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. 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 the most notable of these, his father had to hide in a tower to avoid execution. As a result, Raleigh developed a hatred of Roman Catholicism during his childhood, and proved himself quick to express it after Protestant Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. In matters of religion, Elizabeth was more moderate than her half-sister Mary. In 1569, Raleigh went to France to serve with the Huguenots in the French religious civil wars. In 1572, Raleigh was registered as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford, but he left in 1574 without a degree. Raleigh proceeded to finish his education in the Inns of Court. In 1575, he was admitted to the Middle Temple, having previously been a member of Lyon's Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery. At his trial in 1603, he stated that he had never studied law. Much of his 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 (3 October 1569) in France. In 1575 or 1576, Raleigh returned to England. In 1577 and again in 1579 Raleigh made voyages with his half-brother Sir Humphrey Gilbert in attempts to find a Northwest Passage. They failed to find a passage, but succeeded in raiding Spanish ships. Ireland See Plantations of Ireland From 1579 to late 1580, Raleigh took part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions. He was present at the siege of Smerwick, where he led the party that beheaded some 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers. In September 1584, Queen Elizabeth I had the land surveyed to be divided amongst her "Undertakers"(People she appointed to undertake supervision of colonization of the region) to colonize. In 1585, Raleigh received 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) (approximately 0.2% of Ireland) in the Munster Plantation, including the coastal walled town of Youghal and, further up the Blackwater River, the village of Lismore. Raleigh made the town of Youghal in Ireland his occasional home during his 17 years as an Irish landlord, frequently being domiciled at Killua Castle, Clonmellon, County Westmeath. He was mayor there from 1588 to 1589. Raleigh encouraged veterans of the earlier attempts of the Roanoke Colony settle in Ireland, including Thomas Hariot and John White from the 1585 trip. (He was the governor of the 1587 trip, but returned with the delivery ship to acquire additional supplies.) Raleigh is credited with introducing potatoes to England and Ireland. Potatoes would in time have an outsized role in Irish farming and culture. A potato crop failure in the 1800s would lead to the Great Famine. Amongst Raleigh's acquaintances in Munster was another Englishman who had been granted land in the Irish colonies, poet Edmund Spenser. Raleigh's management of his Irish estates ran into difficulties which contributed to a decline in his fortun.... Discover the Irwin R Blacker popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Irwin R Blacker books.