Radical Ralegh
By Michael Downes
To mark 400 years since the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh, on 31 October 2018 the House of Lords Works of Art Panel hosted a talk by Dr Anna Beer. Its theme was the hidden and surprising truth about East Devon’s best known local hero - a swashbuckling soldier, sailor, courtier, poet and explorer who was also a political prisoner turned radical parliamentarian.
It’s quite a leap from the traditional ‘spuds and ciggies’ jokiness inspired by Sir Walter’s colourful life to consider him as a pioneer of the parliamentary democracy that we enjoy today. Yet for those radical thinkers who revolted against antiquated concepts such as the Divine Right of Kings, Ralegh became something of a hero in the centuries after his death.
By all accounts he was a conscientious MP for the Cornish borough of Mitchell. But it was during his time as one of the Tower of London’s longest-serving prisoners that Ralegh’s political reputation was established. Confined by order of King James I, he nonetheless enjoyed access to his extensive library. In 1614, his million-word History of the World was published.
It’s quite a leap from the traditional ‘spuds and ciggies’ jokiness inspired by Sir Walter’s colourful life to consider him as a pioneer of the parliamentary democracy that we enjoy today. Yet for those radical thinkers who revolted against antiquated concepts such as the Divine Right of Kings, Ralegh became something of a hero in the centuries after his death.
By all accounts he was a conscientious MP for the Cornish borough of Mitchell. But it was during his time as one of the Tower of London’s longest-serving prisoners that Ralegh’s political reputation was established. Confined by order of King James I, he nonetheless enjoyed access to his extensive library. In 1614, his million-word History of the World was published.
REF HEADER IMAGE 1: The point about Sir Walter Ralegh: historian Anna Beer with Millais’ celebrated 1870 painting at Fairlynch Museum. Dr Beer’s visit coincided with her talk about her book Patriot or Traitor: The Life and Death of Sir Walter Ralegh at Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival on 19 September 2018