Patriot or Traitor by Anna Beer

Author:Anna Beer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History;Biography;Britain;British;Ralegh;Walter Ralegh;Elizabeth I;Elizabethan;Queen;King;Prince;Tudor;Stuart;Explorer;New World;Renaissance;Early modern;Betrayal;Treason;Hero;America
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Published: 2018-08-22T11:08:57+00:00

Quite apart from the fact that Ralegh appears unaware that presenting himself as the ideal father figure (and the boy did indeed admire Sir Walter) might alienate rather than flatter Will’s actual father, a postscript in another letter from this time reveals the fault lines in this most slippery of political relationships, one that that had never been robust but had always ticked over. Ralegh admits that he is uncertain of Cobham’s loyalty and friendship (‘I never received one word from my Lord Cobham, neither of his suit nor of his coming or other matter this 3 weeks’) but he’s just as concerned about Cecil as an ally: ‘You have many letters of mine: I pray return some answer. Candlemas Day’. Ralegh is uncomfortable with being ignored; no wonder, in this volatile political situation.

Uncertain of Cecil, Ralegh nevertheless had a clear political target: the Earl of Essex was in trouble again. Another doomed Irish campaign and Sir Walter does not hold back. Essex is a ‘tyrant’ whose ‘malice is fixed’. Cecil should not show mercy, because the tyranny and malice of the Earl:

Will not evaporate by any your mild courses, for he will ascribe the alteration to her Majesty’s pusillanimity and not to your good nature, knowing that you work but upon her humour, and not out of any love towards him. The less you make him, the less he shall be able to harm you and yours, and if her Majesty’s favour fail him, he will again decline to a common person.

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