Sir Walter Raleigh Trivia Quiz

Answer: Devon

Many Elizabethan seafarers were from Devon, and many were related by blood or marriage. The explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert was the son of Raleigh's mother by her first marriage, while the naval commander Sir Richard Grenville was a cousin. His father's first wife was a Drake. Raleigh was born at a farm called Hayes Barton, near Budleigh Salterton, in 1552 or thereabouts (the exact date is unknown).

The family's connection with the area is reflected in the names of villages like Colaton Raleigh and Withycombe Raleigh, and the family's coat of arms can still be seen on a pew in their old parish church of All Saints at East Budleigh.

Answer: True

As usual, there were family connections involved. The religious wars in France had broken out in 1562. One of Raleigh's cousins, Gawain Champernowne, had married the daughter of the Comte de Montgomery, a French Protestant nobleman and soldier, and had gone to France to fight alongside his father-in-law.

When things were going badly for the Huguenots, Gawain's brother raised reinforcements in Devon. About a hundred men, many of them related to the Champernownes and including the young Walter Raleigh, went to France to fight, despite the strong disapproval of Queen Elizabeth. Raleigh saw action at Jarnac and Moncontour in 1569.

It is not known how long he stayed in France: he was probably there for several years. He is certainly not known to have been in England again until the mid-1570s.

Answer: Humphrey Gilbert

On June 11, 1578 the Queen granted letters patent to Sir Humphrey Gilbert (Raleigh's half-brother) "to discover, search, find out and view such remote heathen and barbarous lands, countries and territories not actually possessed by any Christian prince or people." The true motive may have been not colonization but simply piracy or privateering on the high seas.

A fleet of ten (or possibly eleven) ships set sail on September 26, but they were twice beaten back into harbour by storms and the venture was called off. Raleigh commanded the "Falcon," a 100-ton vessel belonging to the Queen. Gilbert later led an expedition which established a colony at St John's in Newfoundland.

Answer: Ireland

Raleigh was in command of a company of men who were sent to Ireland to help put down a rebellion by the Earl of Desmond. He is principally remembered for his part in the killing of several hundred Italian and Spanish supporters of the Desmonds at a fort at Smerwick on the coast of Kerry, apparently after they had surrendered and laid down their arms.

Some of the circumstances of this incident are disputed, but it was one of many events in Anglo-Irish history which fuelled ill feeling for centuries.

Answer: North Carolina

Elizabethan Englishmen often referred to the whole of the Atlantic seaboard of North America as "Virginia," which can be confusing for modern readers. There are quizzes on Raleigh and the "lost" Roanoke colony by thejazzkickazz and corinthos9 in the U. S. Colonial History sub-category.

Answer: He secretly married one of the Queen's maids of honour

Elizabeth ("Bess") Throckmorton, the daughter of a diplomat, first came to court in 1584 at the age of nineteen. She probably met Sir Walter for the first time in 1590 or 1591. In the early summer of 1591 she became pregnant and she and Sir Walter were secretly married, although the marriage of a maid of honour needed the Queen's approval. Bess's first son was born in March 1592. Sir Walter and Bess were placed under house arrest towards the end of May, and sent to the Tower at the beginning of August.

They were released before Christmas but banished from the court. The marriage was a success, despite all the ups and downs of Sir Walter's career.

Answer: South America

The legend of the immensely rich city of Manoa or El Dorado, supposed to be situated somewhere between the Orinoco and the Amazon, attracted many adventurers to the area generally known at the time as Guiana. Raleigh secured letters patent to explore the area on the Queen's behalf. The expedition was unsuccessful, though some gold-bearing ore was found and brought back to England.

Answer: Cadiz

The Spaniards, it was believed, were planning to send powerful reinforcements to help the rebels in Ireland, and the Privy Council, advised by Raleigh, Essex and others, ordered an offensive against Cadiz. The city was sacked, but the English were unable to secure the rich merchant fleet, for King Philip ordered it to be scuttled. Raleigh's conspicuous part in the English victory led to his reinstatement in the Queen's favour.

Answer: Treason

Raleigh's friend Lord Cobham was certainly involved in a plot to remove James VI & I from the throne and replace him with Lady Arabella Stuart. Raleigh was tried on five charges relating to this conspiracy. The evidence against him was largely hearsay.

A letter from Cobham denouncing Raleigh as the true author of the plot was read to the court, but Cobham himself was not called as a witness. It is most unlikely that Raleigh was concerned in the plot: he had no obvious personal, political or religious motive to oppose the King.

However, he may well have had some knowledge of his friend Cobham's activities. Raleigh was convicted and sentenced to death. The sentence was suspended by the King's order, and Raleigh spent the next twelve and a half years as a prisoner in the Tower of London.

Answer: To lead a new expedition to South America

Belief in "El Dorado" was on the wane, but Raleigh maintained that there were one or more mines in Guiana which could be exploited. After several petitions, he was released "under peril of the law" from the Tower in March 1616 and his expedition set sail from Plymouth in June 1617.

It was a disaster. The departure from England was delayed by storms and Raleigh himself soon fell sick. No gold was found and, contrary to the King's command, Raleigh's men fought the Spaniards and destroyed the settlement of San Thomé (Raleigh's son was killed in the action). Since England had been at peace with Spain since 1604, and negotiations were in progress to marry the King's son Charles to the Infanta of Spain, the Spanish protested vigorously. Following a further trial, the sentence of death passed on Raleigh in 1603 was put into effect on October 29, 1618.