Final Days of Sir Walter Raleigh

Summary

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal Episode: Final Days of Sir Walter Raleigh Release Date: June 9, 2025

Hosts: Anthony Delaney & Maddy Pelling
Podcast Description: After Dark explores the darkest and most enigmatic corners of history, unraveling myths and uncovering the sinister stories that have shaped our past.

---

Introduction to Sir Walter Raleigh

In the episode titled "Final Days of Sir Walter Raleigh," hosts Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling delve into the multifaceted life of one of Tudor and Stuart England's most iconic figures: Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh's legacy is a tapestry of heroism, diplomacy, exploration, and controversy, making him a subject ripe for historical scrutiny and myth-making.

Raleigh's Early Life and Career

Sir Walter Raleigh was born around 1553 during the reign of Mary I and lived until 1618 under James I and VI, navigating the tumultuous periods between these monarchs. Raleigh's early years were marked by military involvement; as a teenager, he fought alongside the Huguenots in France against Catholic forces. By his early twenties, Raleigh had become a prominent figure in Elizabeth I's court, notably contributing to the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and engaging in various naval battles throughout the 1590s.

Maddy Pelling provides context on the era:

"We have events like the Spanish Armada, the Elizabethan golden age of theatre with Shakespeare, the beginnings of colonialism, and the transatlantic slave trade—all of which shaped Raleigh's world."
[07:00]

Raleigh's Relationship with Queen Elizabeth I

Raleigh was not just a military man; he was also a skilled courtier and a poet who crafted a charming persona to gain favor with Queen Elizabeth I. Introduced to the Queen by his great-aunt, Cat Ashley, Raleigh became a favorite of the monarch, engaging in courtly love and even suggesting romantic undertones in his interactions.

A notable quote illustrating Raleigh's performative nature:

"He is very much kind of performing all of the time."
— Maddy Pelling
[11:02]

Raleigh's Expeditions and the Quest for El Dorado

Raleigh's ambition to discover the mythical city of gold, El Dorado, defined much of his later career. He embarked on expeditions to South America, particularly Venezuela, in search of this fabled city. Although these quests were unsuccessful, Raleigh's tales of exotic lands and fantastical creatures, such as sea serpents and parrots, fueled the imagination of his contemporaries and cemented his reputation as an explorer.

Anthony Delaney humorously reflects on Raleigh's adventurous spirit:

"He goes, you do not find El Dorado, pick a fight with the Spanish, and now he's back to face consequences."
[25:26]

Raleigh's Imprisonment in the Tower of London

Raleigh's tumultuous relationship with the crown took a downturn in 1591 when he secretly married Bess Throckmorton, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, without royal permission. This act of defiance led to both Raleigh and Bess being imprisoned in the Tower of London. During his 13-year confinement, Raleigh maintained a relatively comfortable living arrangement, which included servants and his family. Despite his imprisonment, Raleigh remained active, authoring works like "The History of the World" and even inventing remedies such as the "Great Cordial."

A poignant moment during his incarceration:

"He forgives the world this, and he points to the axe as a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases."
— Maddy Pelling
[26:17]

Raleigh's Execution

Under the reign of James I, Raleigh's fortunes declined further. Implicated in the Main Plot—a scheme backed by Spain to dethrone James—I Raleigh was sentenced to death. On October 29, 1618, Raleigh was executed in Old Palace Yard, Westminster. His final moments were dramatic, reflecting his complex personality and unyielding spirit.

Notable final words:

"I thank God of his infinite goodness that he hath vouchsafed me to die in the light and not in darkness... It is a sharp medicine."
— Sir Walter Raleigh
[26:22]

Raleigh's Legacy: Myth vs. Reality

Raleigh's life embodies the contradictions of his time—heroic yet controversial, cultivated yet rebellious. His orchestration of his own image contributed to the myths that surround him today, such as the story of him using his cloak to shield Queen Elizabeth from rain, a tale likely embellished to fit his charming persona.

Maddy Pelling highlights Raleigh's enduring fascination:

"He's such an interesting figure and there are so many layers of myth and reality."
[28:57]

Conclusion

Sir Walter Raleigh's final days encapsulate the precariousness of favor in the English court and the perilous nature of ambition during a time of great exploration and political intrigue. His execution marked the end of a storied career that had significant impacts on English colonial endeavors and cultural developments. Raleigh remains a symbol of the era's complexities, embodying both the grandeur and the dangers of serving under a changing crown.

---

Key Takeaways:

• Sir Walter Raleigh was a prominent figure in Elizabethan England, known for his military exploits, courtly charm, and exploratory ambitions.
• His secret marriage to Bess Throckmorton led to his imprisonment, highlighting the precariousness of courtly favor.
• Raleigh's quest for El Dorado, though unsuccessful, solidified his legacy as an enduring explorer.
• His dramatic execution under James I reflected the shifting political landscapes and the dangers of courtly intrigue.
• Raleigh's life remains a blend of historical fact and myth, illustrating the complexities of his character and the era he lived in.

Notable Quotes:

"He is very much kind of performing all of the time."
— Maddy Pelling (11:02)

"He forgives the world this, and he points to the axe as a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases."
— Maddy Pelling (26:17)

"He's such an interesting figure and there are so many layers of myth and reality."
— Maddy Pelling (28:57)

---

For those fascinated by the enigmatic lives of historical figures, this episode offers a comprehensive look into the final chapters of Sir Walter Raleigh's life, blending factual history with the enduring legends that continue to captivate audiences today.

Transcript

[Anthony Delaney]

Hi, we're your hosts Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling and if you would like After Dark, Myths, Misdeeds and the Paranormal ad free and get early access.

[Maddy Pelling]

Sign up to History Hit with a History Hit subscription. You can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries with top history presenters and enjoy a new release every week.

[Anthony Delaney]

Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com subscribe.

[Grainger Ad]

If you're alignment in charge of keeping the lights on. Grainger understands that you go to great lengths and sometimes heights to ensure the power is always flowing. Which is why you can count on Grainger for professional grade products and next day delivery. So you have everything you need to get the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by Ranger for the ones who get it done.

[Monday.com Ad]

You know that feeling when you clear your inbox or end a meeting early or finally check your pipeline and everything's actually under control. That's what Monday CRM feels like. It's fast, easy to use, and with built in AI, it helps you move faster without the busy work. Try it [e-mail] CRM because sales should feel this good.

[Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Ad]

Nearly 90% of kids who vape say flavors are why they do it.

[Maddy Pelling]

A lot of the flavors flavors that I've heard are like peach, mango, watermelon. It makes it seem like more childlike and innocent. Oh, I tried this once. It won't be that much of a problem. But then eventually it becomes a problem.

[Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Ad]

It's time to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products in Oregon and protect our kids from nicotine addiction. Urge lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 702A. Take action at flavorshookoreegoids.org paper by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Action Fund.

[Anthony Delaney]

Hello and welcome to After Dark. I'm Anthony.

[Maddy Pelling]

And I'm Maddie.

[Anthony Delaney]

And today we are talking about one of the icons of Tudor and then Stuart England. And he's somebody who is a lot of things to a lot of different people. Is he a spymaster? Is he the lover of a queen? Is he the man who invented potatoes and did some weird cloak thing to attract the attention of Elizabeth I. In this episode we are of course talking about Sir Walter Raleigh and more to the point, how he met his enem.

[Maddy Pelling]

We begin many years after the end has been and gone after the axe had fallen. Bess Raleigh Neigh Throckmorton is in her 60s now. She's asleep in her grand bedchamber, dreaming of him again. They're sailing up the river through a wild jungle in search of a Golden city with him reeling off poems as he goes, that twinkle in his eye. Then comes the pain of waking, remembering time to get ready for the day. But before she calls her attendants, she goes to the cupboard beside her bed where she keeps her most precious things. She pulls out a large red bag. She feels its familiar weight and opens it. This part is hard to understand, but it is true. Inside is the embalmed head of her late husband, Sir Walter Raleigh. It's a wizened thing now, but for Bess, it still resembles her life's love. This is the story of that head in a bag. How it was separated from the shoulders that carried it. How its lips spoke poetry. How its eyes looked on queens. How its ears heard the sounds of Venezuelan jungles. How its nostrils billowed out tobacco smoke. How its ears lent themselves so fatefully to a treasonous plot against the king. Welcome to After Dark. This is the final days of Ser Walter Raleigh.

[Anthony Delaney]

Hello and welcome to After Dark. I'm Anthony.

[Maddy Pelling]

And I am Maddie.

[Anthony Delaney]

And we are in Final days territory once more. We have had a lot of final days now. We've had.

[Maddy Pelling]

I love this series.

[Anthony Delaney]

I do. Yeah, I like it. Who have we had? We had George iii, one of my faves. We've had Lady Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell.

[Maddy Pelling]

We've done them all.

[Anthony Delaney]

We've done Queen Victoria.

[Maddy Pelling]

We did her funeral. Have we done the Final Days? Does that count?

[Anthony Delaney]

Sure.

[Maddy Pelling]

Unclear. I mean, there's still so many to go. And I will say everybody died. So everybody in history is dead. Funnily enough, if you have suggestions for the Final days series, do write in, because we do love to hear the people in history that you are obsessed with, that you want to know more about whose deaths are particularly interesting, unusual, or that you just want to know a bit more information about them. We love to hear from you. So do write in at After Dark at Historyhit. No. What is it?

[Anthony Delaney]

After [e-mail] it is.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yes. Yeah.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah.

[Maddy Pelling]

I'm extremely tired in the final days of writing a book and the brain's not braining.

[Anthony Delaney]

We'll talk about the final days of Ser Walter Raleigh then, because we have somebody who I'm just gonna, like, pick out some of the things that I think I know of him. So we have diplomat, we have court. We have potential love interest. I think there's some rumors, I'm sure probably not true, around that of Queen Elizabeth I, potato bringer to Europe, something with tobacco, I guess, bringer of tobacco as well. That cloak Thing.

[Maddy Pelling]

Mother of dragons.

[Anthony Delaney]

Spy Spice girl. Spy Spice is what he is because he was supposedly a potential spy as well. Right. He's a bit of bloody everything and I just wonder how much. And then you're talking about this incredible imagery that you're just talking about there, about this wizened head in a bag. And so we're getting. I know we're into myth making territory here because there's a head in a goddamn bag. So, like, before we go to Raleigh himself, let's do the usual thing where we set up the time period. So give us an idea of the time into which Raleigh is born into this is his world.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah. So he has a really interesting life that spans a lot of English history. So he's born around about 1553, we aren't exactly sure, but that's under the reign of Mary I. And he dies age 65 in 1618, under the reign of James I and VI. So quite a life. And obviously there's Elizabeth in between that. Events, themes, big things happening during his lifetime. 1588, we've got the Spanish Armada defeated. He is very much present and involved for that. We've got the Elizabethan golden age of theatre, we've got Shakespeare, we've got Kit Marlow, we've got Johnson, we've got the playhouses absolutely ruling the roost in terms of the London landscape, entertainment, politics, all of that going on. We've got Sir Francis Drake who circumnavigates the globe. So there's lots of global travel with that. We've got colonialism, we've got the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade, which is expanded first in Africa and then enslaved human beings are brought to the Americas to aid European, not just English, but European exploits there as well. Across Europe we've got the Renaissance in full swing. We've got art, we've got poetry, we've got music. This is a time of huge change. And within that, Sir Walter Raleigh, like you say, he is a different thing to different people. He is a villain, he's a hero, he's a character as well as a natural person. For some, he's a head in a bag. Let's get into it. I want you to describe him, please have a painting in front of me. And let's just start with the physical presence, the man himself. And then we can expand into some of the storytelling and the myth that surrounds him.

[Anthony Delaney]

Okay, so if you imagine what you imagine Shakespeare to be in your head, that's very much what we are working with here.

[Maddy Pelling]

We have he's like a fancy Shakespeare.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, he is. He's like a fancy Shakespeare.

[Maddy Pelling]

Glittery.

[Anthony Delaney]

He's got a lovely pointy beard. He's got a slightly receding hairline in this image. He's young in this. I would say he's in his 20s or 30s. And he's got a lovely pearl earring in one of his ears. He's looking directly at us.

[Maddy Pelling]

Looks like he's really handsome.

[Anthony Delaney]

Lovely white silk clothing and then a cape to go with that, which is quite detailed and has some fur on there too. So this is showing his wealth, his status, his influence. He is a striking person. He's got the delicate hands of a courtier in there as well.

[Maddy Pelling]

So we're showing a hint under his cloak as well, of the hilt of a dagger or a sword. You know, very much the mark of an elite gentleman to carry such a weapon.

[Anthony Delaney]

So he is quite a striking figure. He is somebody who you would take notice of, I think.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah, definitely. And, you know, this is a painting, not a photograph, so it comes with its own mythologies and meanings applied over the top of the man himself. But I think it gives us a good impression of who. Who he was, as you mentioned, a courtier. He's very important. He's quite glitzy and glamorous. He had a bit of a polymath career, so he started as a soldier. As a teenager, he fought with the Huguenots in France against Catholic oppression there. By his early 20s, he's working for Elizabeth I, and he helps defend against the Spanish in 1588 with the Armada. And he continues to fight the Spanish at sea throughout the 1590s. And he rises up in her reign and she takes a lot of notice of him. She becomes potentially romantically interested in him. What I think is really interesting is that he is a very sort of self aware, performative person. He knows how to craft his own image and how to garner favor. And at the court of Elizabeth, he performs courtly love. He writes her poetry. He is seen as being quite close to her. So he's introduced to her by his great aunt called Cat Ashley. Sounds like a very modern name, Auntie Cat, who is Elizabeth's governess and a very close companion in her own right. And so he gets to be close to the Queen, the personage of the Queen, which of course, is a very sort of privileged thing. He compares her, in writing, to the goddess Diana. When the colony of Virginia is founded, he of course names it after the Queen herself, the Virgin Queen. He is keen to be noticed by her, to rise up, to put himself in her path, Literally, in some cases. And is this true or not? Of course, one of the big stories that we have about him is that he takes his cloak off on a rainy day and he puts it over a puddle so that the queen doesn't have to tread in the water. First of all, how would that work? Because surely the puddle would just be absorbed by the cloak. It would have to be a very thick cloak. There is no contemporary evidence to suggest this is true.

[Anthony Delaney]

Of course there's not.

[Maddy Pelling]

But one of his biographers, Anna Beer, does say that it really fits with his sort of flamboyant, self conscious image that he's very much kind of performing all of the time. So I don't think he didn't do it, but.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, I know what you mean. It fits the picture that we want to communicate, basically, whether he did or he didn't.

[Maddy Pelling]

Exactly. So that's one side of him. The other side is Sir Walter Raleigh, the colonist.

[Anthony Delaney]

This is how I would know him best, I think.

[Maddy Pelling]

Okay, so whilst he never sets foot in North America himself, he spends a lot of time in South America. We're gonna hear more about his exploits there. He spends a lot of time in Ireland as well. Puts down the Desmond Rebellions. That's a rebellion of Irish nobles helped by the Italians and Spanish, including, by the way, sanctioning the execution of 600 of those people.

[Anthony Delaney]

So, yeah, he's not well Iked in Ireland.

[Maddy Pelling]

No, he's really not. And he is gifted land there and is a landlord for, I think about 20 years. A bit of land called the Munster Plantation. So he's a very different thing to the people living under his rule and the consequences of his actions there. He is often credited with bringing the potato to Ireland, although it's Thorhart. More likely, it's Ireland's trade with Spain that introduces them. But that's one of the things that he is most associated with. Quick Fire Quiz.

[Anthony Delaney]

Oh, God.

[Maddy Pelling]

What is the other product that he's most. Okay.

[Anthony Delaney]

Tobacco.

[Maddy Pelling]

Tobacco, yes. So it is thought that he brings tobacco back during his time in South America. Love this story. And story absolutely underlined here. Again, is this true or is this not true that at one point, one of his servants sees him lighting up the tobacco pipe and the servant thinks that Silwartorelli is setting fire to himself and he throws water over him, which I just love. But he brings it back to the Elizabethan court and it becomes this incredibly popular site.

[Anthony Delaney]

So he does do that. So he does Bring tobacco back.

[Maddy Pelling]

So maybe didn't bring potatoes to Ireland, but he does bring tobacco to England. The other thing, and the thing that's important for our story here, is that he goes after the lost city of gold, El Dorado. Did you ever see that film?

[Anthony Delaney]

No, I only know El Dorado. No.

[Maddy Pelling]

Is it El Dorado? It was like a. Was it a Disney? It was a cartoon. It was so good. Lots of inappropriately sexy characters in that. Like, take a look at yourself, whoever made that. But great.

[Anthony Delaney]

This has gone on a tangent.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah, it was one of my favorite films growing up. It was great. It's like an adventure. Two Spanish men go searching for gold and come a cropper and learn the moral of life along the way. Of course.

[Anthony Delaney]

Anyway, that's what happened to Walter. Ally.

[Maddy Pelling]

Sadly, not so much. It would not work out like that for him. He leaves expedition set in 1595. And then again under James, importantly, spoiler alert, he does not find the city of Gold either of those two times.

[Anthony Delaney]

Funny that.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah, funny. But it will prove part of his downfall. So he has this extraordinary career. He has these big highs, these moments of climbing to the top, being close to the queen, being potentially romantically involved with her, at least on a performative level, if not a physical level. But he is eventually sent to the tower, first of all under Elizabeth, and then again later under James. So I wanna talk about both of these times. The first time he makes a wrong move. So he's got all this strategizing and this very sort of PR conscious.

[Anthony Delaney]

And this is in Elizabeth's reign for.

[Maddy Pelling]

A story, it is. But he makes a catastrophic error that really rocks that relationship with the qu. And that is that in 1591, he gets secretly married to Bess, who we heard about at the beginning. This is Bess Throckmorton, who is a lady in waiting to the Queen. And of course, anyone in the royal court needs the Queen's permission to marry, especially a lady in waiting. And, yeah, it's not good. The Queen's kind of pissed off about it. Both Sir Walter and Bess are sent to the tower, tragically. So they have a newborn son at this point.

[Anthony Delaney]

So boring. I mean, I don't mean what you're saying. What you're saying is interesting. Sorry, Jo. It's just so boring of Elizabeth. I'm just like, cop onto you. You have so much to be getting on with. Don't.

[Maddy Pelling]

And it suggests as well that she was kind of romantically involved with him. Right. That she does Betrayed. Yeah. I mean, hell hath no fury, as Shakespeare said, like a woman scorned. And the consequences are that. So they've just had a newborn baby when they go to the tower and the baby dies of plague. So I hope Elizabeth felt bad about that.

[Anthony Delaney]

I bet she didn't.

[Maddy Pelling]

I bet she didn't care. Well, she did, potentially, because they were released after the baby died. And then she's like, right, you can go, but prime the city of gold. So this is the first expedition and he goes to what is now Venezuela and this is where the mythology really starts to build on him. And it's very much his own work, the mythology at the beginning. So he goes, of course he does not find the city of gold. It's a failure. He's like, that's. This has not gone well. I want to show you a picture, though, of this is an engraving, an illustration from a book that Sir Walter Raleigh penned himself about this first expedition to El Dorado. And I think it's fair to say in this version of the story, it wasn't a failure. So please describe what is going on in what is a completely wild. The glasses are coming out.

[Anthony Delaney]

My eyesight's absolutely abysmal. More to the point, right, so in the bottom left hand corner of the image we have who I presume up front is Raleigh with a troop of men behind him and they are in a kind of a river. And by kind of a river, I mean literally a river. And just in front of them, a sea serpent type thing, quite a large beast of a thing is eating a naked man. There's an arse out of the water there and then there are other sea beasts all within that water. There's another. Oh, there's loads of like, people in little boats following them down as well. I see some monkeys on the, like. It's very much. We're in a foreign land. The sun is shining. Actually, that sun isn't like blazing up there in the sky.

[Maddy Pelling]

Presumably that's like the route to El Dorado.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so much warmer here than it is in England, but either way, the sun is blazing up there. It's actually quite an interesting image. There's a lot going on, hence the need for glasses.

[Maddy Pelling]

There's sea serpents or river serpents, I suppose. Yeah, there's parrots, deer, there's a stag. What is that behind? Is that a dodo or something? Like a turkey or a peacock or something? A dodo, yeah. It's completely wild. This is a depiction of like a far off, mystical land that only he has been to and look at all the wonders he did discover. Don't look over there at the fact that I didn't find the city of Gold. Look over here at the sea serpents. Obsessed.

[Grainger Ad]

If you're alignment in charge of keeping the lights on. Granger understands that you go to great lengths and sometimes heights to ensure the power is always flowing. Which is why you can count on Grainger for professional grade products and next day delivery so you have everything you need to get the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[SoFi Ad]

Breaking up is never easy, but saying goodbye to your old clunky work tools, well, that's easy. Just repeat after me. It's not me, it's definitely you, you rigid, unfriendly software. It's time to freshen things up with Monday.com the first work platform you'll love to use with stunning dashboards, customizable templates, and built in AI that actually works. Switching to a new work platform has never felt this good. So move on to Monday.com today we'll.

[Navy Medicine Ad]

Attempt a feat once thought impossible, overcoming high interest credit card debt. It requires merely one thing, a SoFi personal loan. With it, you could save big on interest charges by consolidating into one low fixed rate monthly payment. Defy high interest debt with a SOFI personal loan. Visit sofi.com stuck to learn more. Loans originated by SoFi Bank NA member FDIC terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891 when you're in Navy medicine.

[Grainger Ad]

You see more than numbers on a chart. Behind every checkup, every set of vitals is a service member who needs you, a pilot preparing for takeoff, a submariner diving beneath the waves. Here, medicine makes the mission. Navy medicine lets you focus on patients who protect us all while we focus on administrative hassles and even reimburse your medical school loans. Start your [e-mail] Medicine America's Navy forged by the sea.

[Anthony Delaney]

But Kamir is the fact that he was put in the tower for, well, getting married essentially. And then El Dorado. Did she punish him when he came back and hadn't found it or no?

[Maddy Pelling]

No. So he writes her a poem called Cynthia and this is, you know, a sort of love letter to her. I suppose it's a way of trying to regain favor and be like, oh mighty queen, you know, I'm a big fan. And she sort of lets him off, but their relationship is irrevocably damaged. There's not really a way back from that, but he's escaped the Tower, he's been to El Dorado, he tried his best and he gets to live the rest of his life. For now, however, Elizabeth dies James VI and first comes to the throne in 1603. And Raleigh's not a fan. He's not a fan. And also James is not a fan of him. So James already has his favourites. He has his court that he brings down to London with him and Rally's not invited to be part of that. There is a plot called the main plot.

[Anthony Delaney]

Main.

[Maddy Pelling]

The main. Yeah, as in side plot. Main plot in 1603, when James comes to the throne, which is intended to remove James and to put someone called Arabella Stewart on the throne, which I know very little about her. I want to know more. That's another episode. Let's do that. This is a plot that's backed by Spain to get rid of the King. So Raleigh is implicated, he is sent to the Tower, but it's not clear if he's guilty or not. A death sentence is passed on him, but then it's reduced to imprisonment. So it's kind of. The Tower becomes almost like a holding pen for James. He's like, just stick that guy in there until I can work out if he's safe or not, if he was actually involved. They did peak too soon, though, calling the main plot the main plot, because two years later, the Gunpowder Plot happened.

[Anthony Delaney]

There's an actual blast.

[Maddy Pelling]

There was what is now possibly considered the main plot. And what's amazing is that while Raleigh is in the Tower, he, very likely, based on the geography of that site, saw Guy Fawkes being brought in for torture to the Tower, which just feels like an amazing crossover moment because I associate Raleigh with Elizabeth I and that slightly earlier period. And yet here are two men, very different ages, you know, in this same crossing over, dramatic moment of history. Yeah, I feel like we need. That'd be like such a great opening to a TV show, wouldn't it? That moment.

[Anthony Delaney]

And then you don't see Raleigh ever again. It's just that one scene he gets. But tell me this, how long is he in there for? Cause he doesn't die until later into the 17th century.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah. So he's in the Tower because James can't work out what to do with him. He's in the tower for 13 years.

[Anthony Delaney]

Oh, my.

[Maddy Pelling]

During which time, obviously, Guy Fawkes is long.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Maddy Pelling]

It's not quite what you'd expect, though. He's not in a cell with straw on the floor, shackled to the wall. He gets to live a reasonably comfortable life by the standard of being imprisoned in the Tower of London. It's not unusual, so by the way, he has to pay for living there as well. So it's not great. But he gets two floors of the Garden Tower there and he has allowed three servants with him. He's also allowed his wife Bess, who I'm sure was not thrilled about having to go and live in the Tower of London. He gets up to all kinds of activities when he's there, not least of which is procreating. They have another son called Karoo. So that happens. So you know, life is going on.

[Anthony Delaney]

Basically in some aspects.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah, exactly. The other thing that he does. Oh, so two things which so speak to his personality. One is that he comes up with something called the Great Cordial, which is a cure all remedy which has 40 ingredients in and he says it's from his time in South America and is it questionable? And he just announces that he's made this cordial.

[Anthony Delaney]

Now he's a quack doctor all of a sudden now I guess he's got.

[Maddy Pelling]

Lots of time in his hands. Lockdown activities, aren't they? It was either that or sourdough. He was like, oh, I need to find something to do. The other thing he does, and I love this, is he writes a text called the History of the World and it's really anti monarchist and James obviously gets angry about it. Now this is just a little sidebar, but in the 17th century, well we're into the 17th century now, but in the later 17th century, Oliver Cromwell gives Raleigh's History of the World to his son to read.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, we don't like him either. Cromwell Amin.

[Maddy Pelling]

So that makes sense. Yeah. Not a great track record in Ireland, but fascinating.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, yeah, there's a legacy.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah, yeah. So he's in the tower for 13 years, but he is gonna get executed. So why is he executed is the question. Why can't he go on happily living with his wife, his little son and his three servants in the Garden Tower. He's not causing any problems to anyone apart from proclaiming that he's made medical advancements and writings.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, he needs an income, right? So like he has to pay for his upkeep in the Tower, so he's gonna need some form of income.

[Maddy Pelling]

Write a book.

[Anthony Delaney]

Fine.

[Maddy Pelling]

So James finally decides what to do with him. And I think this is a really canny move by James because I think really he wants to get rid of him. And so he says, you can go out of the tower, but once again, you have to go and find El Dorado. Stop going on about El Dorado.

[Anthony Delaney]

Why doesn't he just go away and not come back? Then?

[Maddy Pelling]

Why does he come back? Oh, my God. Idiot. He is not pardoned from being involved in the main plot that turned out not to be the main plot, but he does. He goes again. And of course, does he find El Dorado? No, he doesn't. But not only this, when James is saying, you've got to go, James is like, but when you go, do not pick a fight with the Spanish who are there. It's very important to me that we maintain peace with the Spanish.

[Anthony Delaney]

You will not aggravate a fight with the Spanish. That feels loaded.

[Maddy Pelling]

Rally's like, guys on the ship over. He's like, gather him. We are not picking a fight with the Spanish. Okay, cut to. They get there, his men, against his orders, pick a fight with the Spanish. So he has to come back to Britain, to England.

[Anthony Delaney]

So I wouldn't come back. That'd be me down there. I'd be like, absolutely.

[Maddy Pelling]

Why doesn't he just sail somewhere else? Yeah, yeah, just live a nice life in Venezuela. No, but he comes back, he's like, didn't find the city, picked a fight with Spanish. And James is like, there's only one thing to do here.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, getting evicted.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah, you're getting evicted and your head is getting severed from your body. So that's that. He is executed on 29th October, 1618, in Old Palace Yard in the palace of Westminster. Do you know anything about his execution? Because there's a famous line that he supposedly said.

[Anthony Delaney]

Do I know anything? Something about like. Oh, like strike quick man, or something like that.

[Maddy Pelling]

Right, yeah. So he's supposed to have shouted, strike, man, strike. To the executioner holding an axe. We actually have some of it, his execution speech. And I'm going to read it to you because I think. And again, we're taking this with a giant pinch of Venezuelan salt. But I think this tells us so much about who he was perceived to be and who he tried to project to the world. So this is what he's supposed to have said. I thank God of his infinite goodness that he hath vouchsafed me. Vouchsafed, love it. To die in the light and not in darkness. One thing I desire to be resolved of. Let my accuser come face to face and be deposed. Were these but true laws, they would be satisfied. But this is the law. The King will Have it so. And the law is not to dispute with the king. I forgive all men of the world who have wronged me, even my greatest enemies. I desire you to pray for me. And I forgive the world this. And he points to the axe is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases. He asks to see the axe and he runs his finger along the edge and supposedly smiles and says, it is a sharp medicine. Then kneels down to the block, puts his head on it, raises his head slightly to turn to the executioner and supposedly says, strike, man. Strike.

[Anthony Delaney]

Janie Mac is a drama queen.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah, absolute drama queen.

[Anthony Delaney]

But then you did say he always had that sense of self fashioning and whatever else. But you know what's striking about that? Usually when people come to their final. We've heard so many in these Final Days episodes or whatever.

[Maddy Pelling]

I'm always haunted by Anne Boleyn looking up to see at the last minute if Henry's gonna grant her a reprieve. And the desperation of that. And really believing to your very last that it's okay, he'll save me, it's gonna be fine. And he doesn't.

[Anthony Delaney]

No, he doesn't. But there's also this thing of usually they're going, oh, and the king is very good. And the king's a great fellow altogether. And the king, the king, the king gives some shade. What the hell is this? Like, okay, it's the law, but the law's wrong, essentially, is what he's kind of going, this is.

[Maddy Pelling]

I think also there's a line in here for me when he says he's thanking God. And he says, God has vouchsafed me to die in the light and not in the darkness. And I think that tells us something about why he's come back to England, actually, that it's perceived as this Christian place. It's where he belongs, it's where he's made his fame and he wants to come back and to live out his fate, whatever it is. He doesn't want to die far from home in a land that's considered lesser than England itself. Even if he's found the City of Gold, which of course he doesn't. So is absolutely fascinating. But I think he's such an interesting figure and there are so many layers of myth and reality. Has it changed your perception of him to hear this?

[Anthony Delaney]

No. Cause I'm Irish. But what it has done, it's focused in on a very unusual, you know, this is the Final Days series. And what it's done is it's highlighted a very unusual pattern in one's final days. Even for the Stuart period. As we are in now where we are at once in Venezuela and we're exploring the world and we are, you know, part of this expansion of empire or the attempt at expanding empire. And just having come from the tower and then on the scaffold, it's a very unusual sequence of events because usually what we get is there's a crime being committed, that person's being held for X amount of time and then they're executed. Or this person has a great life, they start to fall ill, they're ill for quite some time and then they die. And it could be quite remarkable the ways in which they die, like gruesome or whatever. Firstly, there was a way out. Like we keep saying, he didn't have to come back. Although that's a really good point I think that you made about, ah yes, this is God's land.

[Maddy Pelling]

It gives us such an insight into that mindset of the late 16th and early 17th century and how Raleigh saw his place in the world, that he's so full of his sense of self importance and the role that he's played in England's history in expanding its empire, in putting down its enemies, that of course he goes back to the centre of things. He's not gonna live out his days on a little desert island somewhere next to the other.

[Anthony Delaney]

The other thing that's really interesting, I think is that he voices these ideas of a lack of trust and support and dedication and loyalty to the new Stuart monarch. And that is something that never really leaves, despite the fact that we, you know, obviously then we go into Charles I who loses his head. We have the restoration. Okay, things are not so bad. But then we come to James again like this is a tumultuous house, royal house that comes into being after.

[Maddy Pelling]

And there are so many plots to try and kill James. Not just the gunpowder plot and the quote unquote main plot. You know, there are so many attempts and yeah, I think rally for me is that fascinating thing of someone who lives over these multiple reigns, these different eras, and he feels almost anachronistic coming within the same space as Guy Fawkes, but his life really, if you zoom out and look at it in its entirety, it tells you so much about the changing attitudes to the empire, what the ambitions were, how the court operated and didn't operate, how you could garner enormous favor but you could equally self sabotage or you could just fall out of favor, you could make a mistake. And the kind of the strategizing and the careful manipulation of that and how it works so well with one monarch because of the dynamic between the two of them. Right. Because there's this potential romantic spark or some affection or attraction or something. And then that doesn't work with James, even though we know that James has male lovers.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Maddy Pelling]

So that's, you know. But there's not a meeting of minds or personalities there. There's nothing. James is like, I don't need you. I'm not interested. You represent the old world that I'm trying to get rid of. You know, Raleigh for James kind of is Elizabeth. He's Elizabeth's reign, Elizabeth's right hand, the guy who battered away the Spanish Armada, etc. And so he wants to get rid of him. And so Raleigh weathers all of these storms and becomes these different things to different people. And in some ways, he's kind of an empty vessel. He's just someone who puts on lots of different masks himself. But equally, people dress him up in their own minds as different things.

[Anthony Delaney]

And here's the thing. I've thought before, when we're talking about Thomas Cromwell, for instance, that the Tudor period, unlike, say, from the Georgian period onwards, so the Tudor and Stuart period gives people an opportunity, often to rise socially that is not necessarily available after the 1750s, let's say, but it also gives people the chance to fall dramatically. If it's going to happen at one side, it can happen at the other side. And this, if Cromwell is a good example of, okay, Cromwell falls too, but if Cromwell's a good example of how the rise can happen, this is the fall. This is a really good example of that fall.

[Maddy Pelling]

Yeah. And the fact that the people living in this moment, operating within it, they understand that. They know that there is a fall that follows the rise, most likely, and that it can happen like that. That's the world they live in.

[Anthony Delaney]

Well, if you've enjoyed this episode, you can go back and watch or listen to other final days. As we say, we've got George III on there, we've got Anne Boleyn, we've got Thomas Cromwell.

[Maddy Pelling]

We might have Queen Victoria.

[Anthony Delaney]

So if you've enjoyed, do follow us wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe if you're watching on YouTube and leave us a review that will bring other people to the After Dark family, because we very much enjoy doing this for you guys and we know that you guys love it too. So thank you so much for bearing with us all of these episodes that we've done this. But we must be heading for 200. Maddie.

[Maddy Pelling]

Right. Bearing with us. Is it a chore to listen?

[Anthony Delaney]

Not a chore, but, you know, contributing.

[Maddy Pelling]

Thank you for coming on the journey is what Anthony means.

[Anthony Delaney]

That's what I mean. Until next time.

[Maddy Pelling]

Time.

[Anthony Delaney]

Happy listening.

[Hotels.com Ad]

If you work as a manufacturing facilities engineer, installing a new piece of equipment can be as complex as the machinery itself. From prep work to alignment and testing, it's your team's job to put it all together. That's why it's good to have Grainger on your side. With industrial grade products and next day delivery, Grainger helps ensure you have everything you need close at hand through every step of the installation. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Monday.com Ad]

Wait, you're not a Hotels.com member so.

[Maddy Pelling]

You'Re choosing to pay full price?

[Monday.com Ad]

Did you not hear the song?

[Maddy Pelling]

How could you not be a member and save up to 20%? That's less than 50%. But it's more than zero percent.

[Navy Medicine Ad]

You're welcome.

[Maddy Pelling]

See, the math is mathing. Save up to 20% on hundreds of thousands of hotels. With hotels dot com.