Sir Walter Raleigh: “King of the Indians”

My new book – Sir Walter Raleigh: A New History – is coming out later this spring. Having spent a good portion of two years researching and writing it, I’m really looking forward to seeing it in print and in my hand. As with any book writing process, there was so much that I simply couldn’t include due to lack of time and lack of space, which has made me think that this blog is a great format to put out some of the things – bigger and smaller – that I stumbled across during research.

One particular thing that took my fancy were the words of Raleigh after his failed second expedition to South America in his doomed attempt to find El Dorado. The whole endeavour was a complete failure, with Raleigh failing to find the much talked about gold, whilst also angering the Spanish which led to the death of his son, Wat. On returning to England he was imprisoned, once again, in the Tower of London, and in 1618 his head was chopped off on the orders of King James I.

However, it is possible to speculate on a “what if” of history on reading Raleigh’s written words to his wife Bess (cited in Alden T. Vaughan’s 2002 article ‘Sir Walter Ralegh’s Indian Interpreters, 1584-1618’):

‘To tell you that I might be here King of the Indians…were a vanitie; but my name hath still lived among them. Here they feed me with fresh meat, and all that the countrey yields; all offer to obey me.’

These words suggest, in part, that Raleigh may have toyed with the notion of remaining in South America amongst his new friends. As Vaughan suggests, if Raleigh was aware of the terrible fate that was to spell his end, he ‘might have chosen to stay’. All of which provides us with some perfect blog fodder to consider this alternative history in which Raleigh never returned to England.

What are the probable outcomes of such a decision? If he remained in the region, we need to consider his initial location. Due to his ill-health and advancing years, Raleigh did not personally lead the second expedition to find El Dorado in 1617; this task fell upon his friend Lawrence Keymis. Such was Keymis’ shame at the failure of his mission, he decided that the only way forward was to commit suicide. Instead, Raleigh remained off-shore from the island of Trinidad, awaiting news. So, if based in Trinidad, where would Raleigh go next?

Of course, he could have remained in Trinidad, where he had attempted to establish good contacts two decades earlier when ejecting the Spanish from the island. Was it these good hosts to which Raleigh was referring in his letter? If Raleigh remained he could have rejoiced in being provided ‘fresh meat, and all that the countrey yields’, but it is debatable as to how long this hospitality would have endured. Raleigh boasted to his wife that these ‘Indians’ offered to ‘obey’ him, but it is unlikely that Raleigh would have been able to command respect in the years ahead if he had little means on which to support his position.

If he moved from Trinidad to the other areas of the region, he could have sailed onto islands in the Caribbean, or found a home in Central America. But it is unlikely to consider a future of Raleigh living undisturbed from Spanish eyes. Despite the long-enduring Elizabethan Anglo-Spanish War having ended in 1604, in this period the Spanish threat remained incredibly strong in the region, and it would be decades before the English could start challenging this Spanish hegemony. Raleigh may have considered that his new ‘Indian’ friends and allies would help him against the might of the Spanish, but it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which he comes out on top.

Furthermore, after the incident in 1617 in which a Spanish settlement was attacked, Raleigh would have been on the run from both the Spanish authorities, as well as the English (due to his decision to disrespect King James by not returning to England). As such, it is unlikely that Raleigh could have evaded capture, particularly if we consider his ill health and older age. This wasn’t the younger man who fought in Ireland or at Cadiz; this Raleigh was in the final phase of life.

So, how many years did Raleigh actually have remaining, if he happened to escape his eventual beheading? It is probable that he was born in the early 1550s (with historians disputing dates between 1552 and 1554), and this would place him in his late sixties by 1618. Although some men lived very long lives during this age, many found life a struggle from 70 onward. If Raleigh did rule as ‘King of the Indians’, it is not likely that his reign would have lasted beyond a handful of years.

What of the impact on those left in England, such as Raleigh’s loved ones? His abscondment would have hit his wife Bess – and their remaining son Carew – incredibly hard. Although in the actual timeline they ended up losing the family home of Sherborne, Carew was able to regain a significant position in society. But if Raleigh was to remain in South America, it is difficult to see the Raleighs regaining anything of substance, with their family name besmirched and shamed. Bess herself would been left not knowing what came of her husband, the very man who had tested their marriage and her patience time and again. As such, it is far more suitable for Raleigh’s story that he took accountability of the expedition’s failure, at the very least in terms of meeting his wife again before his execution.

In conclusion, the phrase ‘King of the Indians’ is very fanciful. But it is also very fitting of Raleigh, a man who enjoyed boasting and showing-off. He was correct in re-framing his own claim in his letter, suggesting it ‘were a vanitie’. Maybe a younger Raleigh would have had the energy to see such an endeavour through. But the Raleigh of 1618 was one close to the end.