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Sir Walter Raleigh (, , or ;〔Many alternative spellings of his surname exist, including ''Rawley'', ''Ralegh'', ''Ralagh'' and ''Rawleigh''. "Raleigh" appears most commonly today, though he, himself, used that spelling only once, as far as is known. His most consistent preference was for "Ralegh". His full name is , though, in practice, , or even , are the usual modern pronunciations in England.〕 ''circa'' 155429 October 1618) was an English landed gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy, and explorer. He was cousin to Sir Richard Grenville and younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England. Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne. Little is known of his early life, though he spent some time in Ireland, in Killua Castle, Clonmellon, County Westmeath, taking part in the suppression of rebellions and participating in the Siege of Smerwick. Later, he became a landlord of property confiscated from the native Irish. He rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. Instrumental in the English colonisation of North America, Raleigh was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, which paved the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen's permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London. After his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne, Dorset. In 1594, Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of "El Dorado". After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for being involved in the Main Plot against King James I, who was not favourably disposed toward him. In 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. This was unsuccessful, and men under his command ransacked a Spanish outpost. He returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, was arrested and executed in 1618. Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era. In 2002, he featured in the BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. ==Early life== Little is known about Raleigh's birth.〔''The Broadview Anthology of British Literature''. (2011) Broadview Press, Canada, 978-1-55481-048-2. p. 724〕 Some historians believe he was born on 22 January 1552, although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' currently favours a date of 1554.〔 He grew up in the house of Hayes Barton,〔(Hayes Barton, Woodbury Common. ) britishexplorers.com〕 a farmhouse near the village of East Budleigh, not far from Budleigh Salterton, in Devon. He was the youngest of five sons born to Catherine Champernowne in two successive marriages. His half-brothers, John Gilbert, Humphrey Gilbert, Adrian Gilbert and full brother Carew Raleigh were also prominent during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Catherine Champernowne was a niece of Kat Ashley, Elizabeth's governess, who introduced the young men at court.〔Ronald, Susan (2007) ''The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire'' Harper Collins Publishers, New York. ISBN 0-06-082066-7. p. 249.〕 Raleigh's family was highly Protestant in religious orientation and had a number of near escapes during the reign of the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I of England. In the most notable of these, his father had to hide in a tower to avoid execution. As a result, during his childhood, Raleigh developed a hatred of Roman Catholicism and proved himself quick to express it after the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. In matters of religion, Elizabeth was more moderate than her sister Mary. In 1569, Raleigh left for France to serve with the Huguenots in the French religious civil wars.〔 In 1572, Raleigh was registered as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford, but he left a year later without a degree. Raleigh proceeded to finish his education in the Inns of Court.〔 In 1575, he was registered at the Middle Temple. At his trial in 1603, he stated he had never studied law. His life between these two dates is uncertain, but in his ''History of the World'' he claimed to have been an eye witness at the Battle of Moncontour (3 October 1569) in France. In 1575 or 1576, Raleigh returned to England.〔Edwards, Edward (1868) ''The Life of Sir Walter Ralegh. Volume I''. London: Macmillan, pp. 26, 33.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Walter Raleigh」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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