The Educational Stage

Abstract

Sir Walter Ralegh wrote The History of the World (1614) during his long imprisonment in the Tower of London. He was confined there on 16 December 1603 after being tried at Winchester for high treason. London was not felt to be the appropriate location for the trial because of the heat of the plague. Although he was found guilty of conspiring with Spain, his sentence was commuted to imprisonment at almost the last moment. He remained a prisoner until he was publicly executed on 29 October 1618. The only break in this regime came in 1616, when he was released to lead a second expedition to Guiana to try to discover gold. It can be argued, however, that he also released himself from close confinement by writing The History of the World. The grand gesture of attempting to record world history became a way of transcending physical restrictions, at the same time as drawing attention to them. King James I decreed a little room, but he could not stop Ralegh using it for great reckonings.