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English courtier (a favorite of Elizabeth I) who tried to colonize Virginia; introduced potatoes and tobacco to England (1552-1618)

Walter Raleigh [Walter Raleigh] (also Ralegh)

(c. 1552–1618) an English ↑explorer, politician and soldier. He began his career fighting the Spanish and the Irish, and was made a ↑knight in 1584 by Queen ↑Elizabeth I. With her support he made several journeys to North America (1584–9) and South America (1595), bringing back tobacco and the potato, but failed to establish a permanent base there. After the death of Elizabeth he was put in prison for ↑treason for 13 years, during which he wrote his History of the World (1614). In 1616 he was released by King ↑James I to look for gold in South America. He was not successful in this, and when he returned he was punished by having his head cut off. One of the most popular stories about Raleigh describes how he spread his coat over a piece of wet ground so that Queen Elizabeth could walk over it.