Sir Walter Raleigh

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Arts & Culture

Sir Walter Raleigh

English explorer

Also known as: Sir Walter Ralegh

Written by Agnes M.C. Latham

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 3, 2024 • Article History

Sir Walter Raleigh

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Category: Arts & Culture

Raleigh also spelled:: Ralegh

Born:: 1554?, Hayes Barton, near Budleigh Salterton, Devon, England

Died:: October 29, 1618, London

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Sir Walter Raleigh (born 1554?, Hayes Barton, near Budleigh Salterton, Devon, England—died October 29, 1618, London) was an English adventurer and writer, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, who knighted him in 1585. Accused of treason by Elizabeth’s successor, James I, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and eventually put to death. Raleigh was a younger son of Walter Raleigh (d. 1581) of Fardell in Devon, by his third wife, Katherine Gilbert (née Champernowne). In 1569 he fought on the Huguenot (French Protestant) side in the Wars of Religion in France, and he is known later to have ...(100 of 1047 words)

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