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Sir Walter Raleigh: Being a True and Vivid…
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Sir Walter Raleigh: Being a True and Vivid Account of the Life and Times of the Explorer, Soldier, Scholar, Poet, and Courtier--The Controversial Hero of the Elizabethian Age (edition 2004)

by Raleigh Trevelyan

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1144237,579 (3.7)3
What struck me most about the contents of Sir Walter Raleigh, a lengthy biography by Raleigh Trevelyan, was why a man so talented and so proactive in defending his country against all her enemies would have had his head chopped off for treason.

First observation: don’t make powerful enemies. Raleigh was a brilliant, exciting, unique individual. He was very literate, knowledgeable in many subjects, quick-witted, courageous, and virile: simply put, superior to most men. His great mistake was that he flaunted his talents, was exceedingly ostentatious in his attire, and strived always to sway people to his way of thinking. Raleigh rose rapidly in Queen Elizabeth’s court after the Queen became acquainted with him. Rarely allowing him to leave her sight, she bestowed upon him special economic privileges, heeded his advice as much as she did any councilor, and permitted him to select subordinates to implement his plan to establish an English outpost in North America. His enemies resented that he was not of noble birth. His disdain for them, exhibited especially by his dismissal of their malice, infuriated them. They circulated vicious stories about him. He was a liar, an opportunist, a thief, an atheist, a traitor.

Second observation: don’t underestimate the scorn of a woman. Elizabeth bestowed her favoritism on several virile young men during her lengthy reign: Robert Dudley (the Earl of Leicester), during the early years; Sir Christopher Dutton during the late 1570s and early 1580s; Raleigh; and, finally, Robert Devereux (the Second Earl of Essex). Raleigh’s downfall occurred after the Queen discovered that he had secretly married one of her maids of honor, whom he had impregnated. Elizabeth did not give her favorite courtiers permission to marry. Rarely did she permit a maid of honor to marry. Dudley had done so and been punished. Raleigh’s punishment was worse: several months in the Tower of London in 1592 and, after his release, banishment from the Court for nearly five years, although Elizabeth did permit him to lead an expedition to Guiana in 1595 to search for gold. It wasn’t until Raleigh’s worst enemy, Essex, had fallen substantially out of favor that Elizabeth allowed Raleigh back to Court, in June 1597; and he remained more or less in the Queen’s good graces up to her death March 24, 1603.

Third observation: a monarch’s will trumps justice. As Elizabeth’s death neared, Raleigh’s enemies filled the ears of their future king with incessant lies. Raleigh was selfish, disloyal, an atheist, dangerous. Everything about Raleigh, James I disliked. Raleigh fell instantly out of favor. The economic privileges that he had received from Elizabeth were withdrawn. Raleigh’s worst enemies were appointed to the Privy Council. James wanted above anything else a peace treaty with Spain. Because Spain hated Raleigh, he had to be eliminated. He was tried and conviction of treason before the end of 1603 for having consented to spy for Spain. He had been offered an annual pension of 1,500 pounds. (Unbeknownst to James at least two of his Privy Council advisors were receiving such pensions) Raleigh had refused the offer. The confederates of this treasonous act lied at Raleigh’s trial. It didn’t matter. He was sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered. James, fearing a public outcry, stayed the execution. He imprisoned Raleigh in the Tower, where he stayed for nearly 15 years.

Raleigh was released in 1617 on his promise to find and mine gold in Guiana. James, in serious debt, needed his treasury replenished. He warned Raleigh that he would execute him should Raleigh attack Spanish forces. (The desired peace treaty with Spain had been signed in 1604) Raleigh tried his best to avoid confrontation during his journey to Trinidad. An old man, he was too sick to journey up Guiana’s Orinoco River. That task fell to a subordinate, who lacked good judgment. Raleigh warned the subordinate not to engage the one Spanish village on the river. Attacked by a small Spanish reconnaissance party, he and his ill-disciplined men retaliated, took the village, and burned it. Various false accusations were made against Raleigh at his trial. None carried sufficient weight to convict him, Raleigh’s prosecutors concluded. But Raleigh had to be executed. The Spanish ambassador (James’s very close friend) and King Philip III demanded it. And James wanted it. He needed the 500,000 pound dowry that Philip had promised him should his son Charles marry Spanish royalty. Consequently, James lifted his stay of execution. For the trumped up verdict of Raleigh having committed treason by agreeing in 1603 to receive a pension from Spain for spying, Raleigh was beheaded October 29, 1618.

Although tedious at times due mostly to the book’s wealth of detail (which included many excerpts of Raleigh’s poetry), I found this biography well worth reading. ( )
  HaroldTitus | Jun 5, 2013 |
Showing 4 of 4
La vita come un gioco di passioni. Un sonetto può sintetizzare la vita di Sir Walter Raleigh, cortigiano, navigatore e scrittore inglese (Hayes, Devon, 1552 circa - Londra 1618). Dopo aver combattuto in Francia per la causa ugonotta (1569-1576), si dedicò alla carriera marinaresca nel 1578, con il fratellastro sir Humphrey Gilbert, compiendo un primo viaggio a Terranova. Nel 1580 si mise al servizio di Robert Dudley, conte di Leicester, e combatté in Irlanda.

WHAT is our life? The play of passion.
Our mirth? The music of division:
Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be,
Where we are dressed for life’s short comedy.
The earth the stage; Heaven the spectator is,
Who sits and views whosoe’er doth act amiss.
The graves which hide us from the scorching sun
Are like drawn curtains when the play is done.
Thus playing post we to our latest rest,
And then we die in earnest, not in jest.
-----
Che cos’è la nostra vita? Un gioco di passioni,
La nostra gioia è la musica della divisione.
Il grembo materno sono le nostre noiose case
Dove ci vestiamo per questa breve commedia.
Il cielo ci è giudice spietato e spettatore,
Che siede e giudica chi sbaglia.
Le nostre tombe che ci nascondono al sole che tramonta
Sono come un sipario tirato quando lo spettacolo è finito.
Così procediamo, giocando, fino all’ultimo riposo,
Solo che moriamo davvero, e questo non è un gioco.

Divenuto il favorito della regina Elisabetta, ne ebbe in dono lucrosi monopoli commerciali e vasti domini in Inghilterra e in Irlanda, di cui fu amministratore capace. Nel 1584 finanziò un viaggio di esplorazione lungo le coste dell’America Settentrionale, tra la Florida e la Carolina del Nord, dando il nome di “Virginia” (in onore di Elisabetta detta “la Regina Vergine”) a un vasto territorio, l’esplorazione del quale, tuttavia, non si spinse fino all’attuale Stato della Virginia. Seguì nel 1585-1587, un tentativo di colonizzazione (sbarco nell’isola di Roanoke) ma senza successo.

Sostituito nel 1587 dal rivale conte di Essex nel favore della regina, nel 1592 fu imprigionato per aver sedotto un’ancella di questa, che sposò. Nel 1595 riprese l’attività marinara ed esplorò le coste dell’America Meridionale, sperando di scoprire il favoloso Eldorado; quindi partecipò alla presa di Cadice (1596). Nominato nel 1600 governatore di Jersey, nel 1601 partecipò alla repressione della ribellione di Essex, presenziando come capitano della guardia alla sua esecuzione.
All’avvento di Giacomo I fu imprigionato (luglio 1603) sotto l’accusa, infondata, di avere complottato contro di lui; processato nel novembre fu condannato a morte, ma la sentenza non fu eseguita, e Raleigh rimase prigioniero nella Torre di Londra fino al marzo 1616.

Liberato purché comandasse una spedizione nella Guiana alla ricerca di una miniera d’oro, senza venire a conflitto con i coloni spagnoli, salpò nel marzo 1617 raggiungendo in dicembre la foce dell’Orinoco. Ma l’oro non fu trovato, e gli uomini di Raleigh si scontrarono con gli Spagnoli; per cui al suo ritorno Giacomo I, secondo l’impegno preso con l’ambasciatore spagnolo Gondomar, lo fece giustiziare in base alla sentenza del 1603. Fra i suoi scritti, oltre a numerose poesie, si ricordano la Descrizione della Guiana e una Storia del mondo, rimasta incompiuta. Da lui fu introdotta in Inghilterra la coltivazione del tabacco e, secondo alcuni, quella della patata. Per lui la vita fu davvero "un gioco di passioni". ( )
  AntonioGallo | Nov 2, 2017 |
Okay biography with some good details making the myth more human. ( )
  JayLivernois | Jun 24, 2016 |
What struck me most about the contents of Sir Walter Raleigh, a lengthy biography by Raleigh Trevelyan, was why a man so talented and so proactive in defending his country against all her enemies would have had his head chopped off for treason.

First observation: don’t make powerful enemies. Raleigh was a brilliant, exciting, unique individual. He was very literate, knowledgeable in many subjects, quick-witted, courageous, and virile: simply put, superior to most men. His great mistake was that he flaunted his talents, was exceedingly ostentatious in his attire, and strived always to sway people to his way of thinking. Raleigh rose rapidly in Queen Elizabeth’s court after the Queen became acquainted with him. Rarely allowing him to leave her sight, she bestowed upon him special economic privileges, heeded his advice as much as she did any councilor, and permitted him to select subordinates to implement his plan to establish an English outpost in North America. His enemies resented that he was not of noble birth. His disdain for them, exhibited especially by his dismissal of their malice, infuriated them. They circulated vicious stories about him. He was a liar, an opportunist, a thief, an atheist, a traitor.

Second observation: don’t underestimate the scorn of a woman. Elizabeth bestowed her favoritism on several virile young men during her lengthy reign: Robert Dudley (the Earl of Leicester), during the early years; Sir Christopher Dutton during the late 1570s and early 1580s; Raleigh; and, finally, Robert Devereux (the Second Earl of Essex). Raleigh’s downfall occurred after the Queen discovered that he had secretly married one of her maids of honor, whom he had impregnated. Elizabeth did not give her favorite courtiers permission to marry. Rarely did she permit a maid of honor to marry. Dudley had done so and been punished. Raleigh’s punishment was worse: several months in the Tower of London in 1592 and, after his release, banishment from the Court for nearly five years, although Elizabeth did permit him to lead an expedition to Guiana in 1595 to search for gold. It wasn’t until Raleigh’s worst enemy, Essex, had fallen substantially out of favor that Elizabeth allowed Raleigh back to Court, in June 1597; and he remained more or less in the Queen’s good graces up to her death March 24, 1603.

Third observation: a monarch’s will trumps justice. As Elizabeth’s death neared, Raleigh’s enemies filled the ears of their future king with incessant lies. Raleigh was selfish, disloyal, an atheist, dangerous. Everything about Raleigh, James I disliked. Raleigh fell instantly out of favor. The economic privileges that he had received from Elizabeth were withdrawn. Raleigh’s worst enemies were appointed to the Privy Council. James wanted above anything else a peace treaty with Spain. Because Spain hated Raleigh, he had to be eliminated. He was tried and conviction of treason before the end of 1603 for having consented to spy for Spain. He had been offered an annual pension of 1,500 pounds. (Unbeknownst to James at least two of his Privy Council advisors were receiving such pensions) Raleigh had refused the offer. The confederates of this treasonous act lied at Raleigh’s trial. It didn’t matter. He was sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered. James, fearing a public outcry, stayed the execution. He imprisoned Raleigh in the Tower, where he stayed for nearly 15 years.

Raleigh was released in 1617 on his promise to find and mine gold in Guiana. James, in serious debt, needed his treasury replenished. He warned Raleigh that he would execute him should Raleigh attack Spanish forces. (The desired peace treaty with Spain had been signed in 1604) Raleigh tried his best to avoid confrontation during his journey to Trinidad. An old man, he was too sick to journey up Guiana’s Orinoco River. That task fell to a subordinate, who lacked good judgment. Raleigh warned the subordinate not to engage the one Spanish village on the river. Attacked by a small Spanish reconnaissance party, he and his ill-disciplined men retaliated, took the village, and burned it. Various false accusations were made against Raleigh at his trial. None carried sufficient weight to convict him, Raleigh’s prosecutors concluded. But Raleigh had to be executed. The Spanish ambassador (James’s very close friend) and King Philip III demanded it. And James wanted it. He needed the 500,000 pound dowry that Philip had promised him should his son Charles marry Spanish royalty. Consequently, James lifted his stay of execution. For the trumped up verdict of Raleigh having committed treason by agreeing in 1603 to receive a pension from Spain for spying, Raleigh was beheaded October 29, 1618.

Although tedious at times due mostly to the book’s wealth of detail (which included many excerpts of Raleigh’s poetry), I found this biography well worth reading. ( )
  HaroldTitus | Jun 5, 2013 |
Tended to be tedious. Not enough context.
  jmcilree | Nov 9, 2008 |
Showing 4 of 4

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