Explorers in the New WorldChristopher ColumbusPedro CabralPortuguese ExplorationVicente Yß±ez Pinz≤nAmerigo VespucciOther European ExplorersThe Conquistadors
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Sir Walter Raleigh
At that time, England and Spain were enemies. Phillip II, the King of Spain, had once been married to Elizabeth's sister, Mary Tudor, when she was the Queen of England. Mary and Elizabeth were not good friends – in fact, Mary Tudor kept Elizabeth imprisoned for many years because Mary was catholic and Elizabeth was Protestant (in those days, the Protestant version of Christianity was still very new, and the leaders of the Catholic church did not like the different rules practiced by the Protestants – they even burned Protestants (and others) at the stake for being "heretics", a word that they used to describe people who they thought weren't proper Christians. Ironically, while living in England (for a year) while married to Mary Tudor, it was Phillip II who freed the future Queen Elizabeth from prison and (as a result) helped her become the next in line for the throne when Mary died.
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Sir
Walter Raleigh was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, and
Captain of her personal guard. Was a squire's son. Had no
wealthy background. Grew up in Portsmouth, surrounded by
sailors – and much of his family came from seafaring
backgrounds. He was even related (in a round-about sort
of way) to the other great English seafarer of the age,
Sir Francis Drake. By virtue of his own ambition,
exploits, and charm – he quickly rose to become one
of Queen Elizabeth's closest and most trusted friends. In
fact, it could even be said that Queen Elizabeth I (who
never married) was in love with Sir Walter Raleigh,
although she had other friends, too. Because the Queen
greatly valued his friendship, and the advice that he
gave to her, the Queen honoured Sir Walter Raleigh with
titles, estates, and many privileges – in fact she
gave him everything that he wanted – except one. Sir
Walter was a seafarer, and he really dreamed of sailing
to the New World to explore and to build new colonies.
Unfortunately for Sir Walter, the Queen always said that
she would miss him too much, so would not give him
permission to go. As such, Sir Walter was able to
organize several ventures but (for the early part of his
career) was not allowed to travel on them himself. Many
of the other members of court were very jealous of Sir
Walter's relationship with the Queen – and
especially the power that he seemed to have over her.
When she learned that Sir Walter had fallen in love with
one of the Queen's aids (a lady called Bess
Throckmorton), and even that Sir Walter and Beth had
secretly married, the Queen flew into a frightful rage.
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