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Walter Ralegh

A portrait of Sir Walter Ralegh

Q&A Did Sir Walter Ralegh really lay down his cloak for Elizabeth I?

Sir Walter Raleigh bids goodbye to his wife, Elizabeth Throckmorton

Q&A Why was Sir Walter Ralegh executed?

A portrait of Sir Walter Ralegh, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, c1588. (Photo by ACTIVE MUSEUM / Alamy Stock Photo)

“The rankest traitor in all England?” Walter Ralegh on trial

Sir Walter Raleigh, 1552–1618 (Photo by Getty Images)

Walter Ralegh: enemy of the state

Sir Walter Ralegh (c1554–1618, shown here in a painting attributed to William Segar) is often remembered as a favourite of Elizabeth I and an adventurer, yet he was also one of the most influential political philosophers of his era. (Photo by Alamy)

Walter Ralegh: the traitor who inspired Cromwell

An illustration showing the last moments of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the explorer, soldier and half-brother of Sir Walter Ralegh. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The Library The Tudor guide to colonising the world

The arrival of Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), in Virginia, leading to the settlement established on Roanoke Island under John White (c.1540-93 (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?

A 16th-century illustration of the 'Golden Hind'

The Library The Tudors in 50 moments: part 2

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Top 10 Plantagenet podcasts – from the Black Death to Richard III

A painting depicting a 16th century wedding feast. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The other Elizabethan England

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Painting ‘reveals Walter Ralegh’s secret desire for Elizabeth I’

The replica of 'The Matthew' arriving at Douarnenez, France in 1998. It was on the original 15th-century vessel that John Cabot travelled to North America. (Getty Images)

Where history happened: Tudor smuggling

Elizabethan adventurer, courtier, navigator and historian Sir Walter Ralegh – "a gorgeous, larger than life figure". Unfortunately, many of his peers weren't impressed by his good looks, and saw instead an arrogant man, blind to his own weaknesses. (Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

The Library Walter Ralegh: the heroic traitor

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The plague, Sir Walter Ralegh and Jerusalem