by Lee Miller
Spring 1585. Grenville commands the second Roanoke voyage, the military. It is partly subsidized by the Queen through Raleigh’s privileges and the right to impress men and provisions. Six hundred soldiers are transported to Roanoke Island, their departure almost coinciding with Philip’s seizure of English shipping. They are a step closer to open war.
While Ralph Lane’s soldiers are constructing the fort on Roanoke Island, Raleigh sends a squadron to knock out Spanish fishing fleets in Newfoundland, and Drake is dispatched to raid the West Indies. Spanish reports fling back the news in horror. Drake has sacked Santo Domingo. Cartagena is demolished. His men have sunk or taken all the warships in the Caribbean. All artillery and weapons. In Newfoundland, Raleigh’s squadron attacks and captures seventeen vessels.83 December 1585. Rumors of a planned Spanish invasion of England filter into London. The Armada is preparing.84
At Richmond Palace, Elizabeth’s Court erupts in wild rejoicing at Drake’s return and his bringing Lane’s troops safely home. He is, Elizabeth says, her pirate. He regales them with stories of the fall of Santo Domingo, a city far larger than London. In half a year, he boasts, he has destroyed what Philip cannot rebuild in twenty, even with all his millions in gold.85
Lane, incredibly, also puffs himself up as the returning hero, notwithstanding the devastation and misery he has wrought on Roanoke. Grenville is slandered and Raleigh defends him, creating drama within the drama. Lane busily composes letters to friends, confirming the presence of precious metals in Virginia and expressing his intention to return again as soon as possible.86 To Raleigh’s credit, he never does.
Mobilization
1586. The country is preparing. English militia musters have been raised and warning beacons installed along the coast. Towns are fortifying, amassing supplies. The vulnerable counties of Devon and Cornwall are considered the most likely to face invasion. Their defense falls upon Raleigh’s shoulders as Vice-Admiral of the West Country. A jingle forms on frightened lips: When hemp is spun, England’s done. A dire prophecy, explains Bacon, whereby it was generally conceived that after the Princes had reigned which had the principal letters of that word hempe (which were Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth), England should come to utter confusion87
These are intense times, with intense pressures. The imminent threat of Spanish invasion exacerbates the many personal and political conflicts already existing within the Court. Given Raleigh’s high favor with the Queen, his unprecedented rise to power, and the numerous coveted privileges heaped upon him, we might assume envy to be the primary motive. Perhaps it was. But was Raleigh merely a victim of Court jealousy? Or was he a threat to a more serious political agenda? Raleigh and Roanoke were loose cannon. Unrestrained by Parliament or Privy Council, his actions received approbation directly from the Queen. War was brewing. In whose way had he stepped?
We must now discover who among Raleigh’s enemies intended to destroy him. Any one of the key players in Elizabeth’s Court might have had the power. Leicester: a Privy Councillor, long the Queen’s favorite, might have felt displaced by Raleigh. Hatton: also a Privy Councillor, was rumored to harbor Catholic sympathies. Also a favorite, now in Raleigh’s shadow. Burghley and Walsingham: Elizabeth’s most powerful ministers. Both easily wield enough authority to ruin him, though neither possesses clear motive. The petulant Earl of Essex: Raleigh’s sworn rival, introduced to Court in 1587. Too late to destroy the Lost Colony, but perhaps not completely innocent of the crime. These are our chief suspects. They alone have the power to bring Raleigh down.
16 THE PLAYERS
For such is the malice of wicked men, the Devil’s instruments in this our age, that they cannot suffer anything (or at least few) to proceed and prosper. …
Sir Anthony Parkhurst1
The Earl of Leicester
It could have been any of them. Leicester, Hatton, Burghley, Walsingham. If we assume that one of these four — possibly aided by the Earl of Essex — is guilty, we must learn enough about each of them to eliminate suspects. The question is, who stood to gain the most from Raleigh’s removal? Or, conversely, who among them suffered the most by Raleigh’s presence?
The handsome and gracious Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, of noble birth, has been Elizabeth’s longtime favorite.2 A Privy Councillor within the Queen’s innermost policy-making circle, his power is so great that he is referred to by his detractors as the Prince, and England as Leicester’s Commonwealth.3 Driven by ambition, he is a respecter of his own advantages. A man, said Camden, who preferred power and greatness… before solid virtue.4 Unprincipled and unscrupulous. He is the heart and head of the realm, and it is said that the Queen, in her youth, was very much in love with him.5 But Leicester is aging. He can no longer compare with the dashing figure of Raleigh, who has risen so quickly to favor.
Is the enemy Leicester? He certainly had the means, by virtue of his power, to subvert Roanoke and, indeed, has stood accused of far worse crimes. However, Leicester infuriated his enemies precisely because of his boldness. The acts of murder, bribery, and coercion with which they credit him are reckless, with little attempt at secrecy, relying for protection on his position at Court. To destroy Raleigh by subtly doing away with White’s colony hardly sounds like his style. It was a crime requiring a meticulous calculation of cause and effect, patience to design and execute, and a long wait for uncertain results. Whoever secured Fernandez’s betrayal had to be sure that someone else might not call at Roanoke and effect a rescue. Leicester could not guarantee this. There would need to be a contingency plan to ensure that Raleigh’s colony would be unsuccessful. Leicester’s method is direct.6 If his detractors are believed, had he wished to eliminate Raleigh, Leicester would simply have poisoned him.
Nor does there seem to be any real animosity in Leicester’s rivalry with Raleigh. After all, good looks are hardly a motive for murder. 1582: Raleigh accompanied Leicester on a diplomatic mission to Antwerp as part of his suite. 1583: they were so far from being enemies that Maurice Browne informed his friend John Thynne that Leicester alone could influence Raleigh and that they supported one another.7
The truth is Leicester may have been wearying of the courtier game. By 1587 he has been playing for twenty-eight years. His staying power is time-tested. He endured Hatton’s rise to favor and found his own position unmarred. Nor was it affected by Raleigh. Indeed, it has been suggested that Raleigh was introduced to Court by Leicester as his protege, a handsome replacement with assured loyalty.8 In 1578, at the age of forty-six and having relinquished the idea of becoming King consort, Leicester married Lettice Knollys and incurred the Queen’s wrath. Yet even this storm blew over. Very little can shake his influence with Elizabeth. In fact, Leicester has climbed as high at Court as one can go. And knows it.
Leicester’s later life has been devoted to the steady accumulation of honors and preferments. Leicester has money. It is rumored that he is the richest man in the country and that the Queen herself would have money enough if Leicester would only share his bank account. The Earl’s own friends admit that he has the whole realm … at his own disposition.9 Lands, possessions, seignories, lucrative office. Raleigh has nothing over Leicester.
In 1585, when Leicester allowed the Netherlands to dub him Governor and Captain-General of Holland, Zealand, and the United and Confederate Provinces, without the Queen’s knowledge, conferring upon him absolute authority, she was furious. Rumors flew that her anger was fueled by Raleigh. Elizabeth immediately denied this, ordering Walsingham to assure Leicester of Raleigh’s continued benevolence and loyalty. Walsingham obeyed, carefully noting that this / write by Her Majesty’s command.10 Not his own. In the end, it was Raleigh who smoothed things over, disclaiming the pestilent reports that accused him of being rather a drawer back, than a fartherer of the action where you govern.11
1585: they are conciliatory. 1586: Leicester receives repeated confirmation of Raleigh’s good will. At Leicester’s request, Raleigh convinces the Queen to send Engl
ish personnel to work the mines in the Low Countries. At his request, Raleigh puts in a good word for one Jukes for the office of the backhouse, with favorable results.12 Clearly, by the time of John White’s departure, Raleigh’s usefulness to Leicester has not run dry.
There is no motive. Raleigh’s rise to fame has never hurt Leicester. Leicester is an aristocrat; Raleigh is not. Leicester has wealth, preferments, and power; Raleigh has less, and none have diminished Leicester. Leicester is the Queen’s “Sweet Robin”; Raleigh has not displaced these affections. As we have seen, Leicester is able to use Raleigh to advantage. For what it is worth, they share a common political position toward Spain. Curiously, Leicester is a sworn enemy of Ralph Lane and was charged, in 1584, with reducing him to disgrace and financial ruin.13 Little wonder Lane grabbed at Roanoke. If Raleigh’s opinion of him plummeted after the 1586 Roanoke fiasco, then Raleigh and Leicester share this sentiment as well. There is evidence that the two are, in fact, on very good terms. We will eliminate Leicester.
Sir Christopher Hatton
Hatton, like Raleigh, is not of noble birth.14 He caught the Queen’s eye as a result of his good looks and dancing ability as a theater performer while a student at the Middle Temple in 1564. He was admitted to Court, touted as the royal favorite, appointed Captain of the Queen’s Guard and later Lord Chancellor. His preferments are many; he is wealthy, holding the highest salaried royal office. By his contemporaries, Hatton is described as an honest man of mild disposition. Reserved, discreet, and even wary.15 Fair in his conduct of office. Rich in friends, a generous patron.
Hatton’s passionate devotion to Elizabeth is legendary. If he has a fault, it is this. Fiercely loyal to his mistress, he never marries. His friend Edward Dyer cautions him to be a trifle less ardent.16 Lovesick and unwise, Hatton is not above pouring forth petulant invective whenever he feels neglected. Such a man might well regard Raleigh with mortal aversion, for Raleigh can outdance Hatton, just as his handsome looks outshine him. Indeed, his introduction to Court was so alarming that Hatton sent the Queen a miniature gold bucket as a symbol of his fear of being displaced by “Water.” The Queen returned an olive branch and a dove, assurance that he would not be destroyed by the flood. Still deeply depressed two months later, Hatton presented Elizabeth with a jewel cut like a fish prison, the Queen replying that he pleased her more than any waterish creatures.17
Yet Hatton’s star had already begun to set. Edward de Veré, the Earl of Oxford, enjoyed great popularity at Court, briefly eclipsing Hatton’s fame, even on the dance floor. Rumors swirled that Hatton secretly harbored Catholic sympathies and that he was not averse to eliminating a political rival. Raleigh, and indeed most of England, believed that he had done away with the Earl of Northumberland, found shot to death in his cell in the Tower in 1585. The incident was ruled a suicide, although a national inquest had to be conducted to clear the name of one Thomas Bailiff, Hatton’s servant, to satisfy the multitude.19 If Hatton is guilty, his technique is as direct as Leicester’s, hardly in keeping with the subtlety required for Roanoke.
Hatton possessed opportunity and means, but the method was certainly not his. What about motive? Though initially jealous of Raleigh, did Hatton have continued reason to resent him? The answer is no. When Raleigh was admitted to Court, Hatton’s promotions did not end. As one rose, so did the other. Raleigh was not usurping Hatton, but following his trajectory.
In 1587, moreover, Hatton was not strong enough to scuttle Raleigh’s mission. While someone was busily planning the Roanoke sabotage, Hatton had his hands full maintaining his own footing — not at Elizabeth’s Court — but at the bar. His appointment as Lord Chancellor in April upset the great London lawyers, who organized a boycott of him.19 Their animosity stemmed from the fact that the office was traditionally filled by churchmen and nobility, not common courtiers. Hatton, said Cam-den, was advanced to it by the cunning Court-arts of some, that by his absence from Court, and the troublesome discharge of so great a place, which they thought him not to be able to undergo, his favour with the Queen might slag and grow less.20
Neither means, motive, method, nor opportunity fit Hatton to the Roanoke crime. Nor is his character or temperament up to the task. Mild when challenged, his responses — to Raleigh’s entry at Court and his reception at the bar — are those of a depressive. He performs his official functions well and has come to share the highest affairs of state with Burghley, Walsingham, and Leicester. Even so, he does not wield much personal power, nor is his political following strong. In fact, Hatton is more a follower than a leader. He was a gentleman, confessed Sir Robert Naunton, … that could soon learn the discipline and garb both of the times and court. The truth is, he had a large proportion of gifts and endowments, but too much of the season of envy, and he was a mere vegetable of the court, that sprung up at night, and sunk again at his noon.21 Hatton is the least likely of the four to be able to pull Raleigh down.
Lord Burghley
Our suspects are reduced to two. Burghley, born William Cecil, elevated to the peerage and created Baron Burghley of Stamford Burghley in 1571.22 Trained in law, a Knight of the Garter, he became Elizabeth’s first appointment upon ascending the throne. 1572: relinquished his position as Principal Secretary to Walsingham to become Elizabeth’s Lord Treasurer. Sober, formidable, and immensely talented, he serves as her chief and lifelong adviser. Of all men of genius, said Camden, he was the most a drudge; of all men of business, the most a genius.23
Burghley’s management of the state is single-minded and relentless. His goals well-defined: to strengthen the Queen’s power, to rejuvenate the economy, to promote the Reformation. Meticulous in his conduct, Spanish ambassadors denounce him for directing the country with an iron fist, so much so that agent de Guaras referred to him as the King of England.24 In the 1569 Northern Rebellion, nobles lashed out in open revolt — supported by Leicester — to remove the Queen from his influence. It failed, and Cecil — now Lord Burghley — enjoys the Queen’s confidence more than ever.
Burghley favors diplomacy, not war. Ever cautious, he decries its expense as disastrous to England’s economy. In the Privy Council he presides over a faction adamantly opposed to the war party offensive of Leicester and Walsingham. National defense is Burghley’s consuming interest. Along the exposed West Country coast, in particular, he relies heavily on Raleigh and his cousin Sir Richard Grenville for reinforcement. To protect the realm, Burghley operates a defensive spy network, laboring tirelessly to ferret out plots against the Queen. As a young man, Walsingham first entered government service under him; through Burghley he learned the intelligence trade.
Considered one of the two most powerful men in government, Burghley, by virtue of his position and elaborate surveillance network, has both means and opportunity to destroy Roanoke. But did he? His career has been noteworthy for his reputation as a faithful and incorruptible minister.25 Elizabeth openly admires him for these traits and for his sound judgment.
Burghley is a professional; he operates by the rules. Although he is known to entrap spies and force confessions under threat of the rack, none of this is illegal in the Elizabethan age. When an aristocrat named Anthony Babington was condemned to death for conspiracy and the Queen called for torture beyond the prescribed sentence, it was Burghley who convinced her to respect the law. In 1585, having refused a bribe, Burghley could marvel that anyone could think him capable of abusing his office. Let them make use, he countered, of any one proof wherewith to prove me guilty of falsehood, injustice, bribery; of dissimulation, of double dealing in advice, in council either with her Majesty or with the Councillors.26
Though contemptuous of enemies, Burghley is not always willing to press his advantage. Once when Elizabeth was upset with Leicester, Burghley vowed not to inflame the Queen’s anger against him further.27 In fact, probably the worst act he ever committed against Leicester was in 1585 — after more than twenty-five years of enmity between them — when Burghley confiscated copies of the scandal
ous book Leycesters Common-Wealth under direct order of the Queen — only to redistribute them to his friends at Court, including Elizabeth herself!28 The taciturn minister was not entirely humorless.
Although Burghley possessed the means and opportunity to sabotage White’s colony, his method was inappropriately direct. Nor is there obvious motive. Clearly, it was not financial: Burghley is wealthy. His salary as Lord Treasurer is the highest-paid royal office next to that of Lord Chancellor.29 This is augmented by a substantial income from revenues and perquisites.
In addition to a mansion in Covent Garden, Burghley maintains two palatial estates: Stamford Baron in Northamptonshire and the famous Theobalds, north of London, with its elaborate murals, art galleries, Italianate courtyards, and gardens. Considered one of the most exquisite homes in England, Theobalds is a retreat for foreign dignitaries and princes and a favorite of Elizabeth herself.30 It is said that no king need be ashamed to dwell there. The garden is close adjoining and of immense extent, raved the Duke of Wirtemberg’s secretary, and as the palace is really most magnificent, so likewise… is no expense spared on the garden?1 Spanning two full miles, it is a magnificent riot of flowering roses, lilacs, cherry and plum, columbine and gillyflower, tended by John White’s friend, botanist John Gerard.32
Burghley’s motive was not financial — nor was it personal. His position at Court was influential and secure. Burghley was an indispensable elder statesman, not a courtier vying for rank. His relationship to Raleigh was cordial, respectful… perhaps even friendly.33 At the time of the Roanoke crime, in 1587, Burghley’s interests lay in paving the way at Court for his son, Robert Cecil, who was to be appointed to the Privy Council in 1591. For the duration of his father’s lifetime, Robert Cecil counted Raleigh as a close friend.34