Ralegh and the Throckmortons

by A.L. Rowse

Dr A.L. Rowse is convinced Ralegh has never been fully made out, the complex and contradictory personality of this man of genius properly understood. It is only after many years' study of Ralegh and his age that Dr Rowse feels he has come to grips with the essential nature of the man.

In this he has had the striking good fortune to bring to light the fullest of all Elizabethan diaries, that of Ralegh's brother-in-law Sir Arthur Throckmorton. This diary had only recently been discovered, and had never been studied. A find of exciting interest to all Elizabethan scholars, it yields valuable new information (in 1962), of the missing centerpiece in Ralegh's life- his secret marriage to Elizabeth Throckmorton, maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth I; the birth of a child not known to history, at whose baptism the Earl of Essex (later Ralegh's mortal enemy) stood sponsor; and Ralegh's disgrace and imprisonment in the Tower.

The book sets Ralegh's biography in the perspective of the important political family into which he married. Many famous figures appear in new and revealing light: Mary Stuart and Sir Nicholas Throckmorton; Leicester and Secretary Walsingham; members of Ralegh's family and all his following, like the scientist Hariot.

348 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1962

About the author

Alfred Leslie Rowse, CH FBA, known professionally as A. L. Rowse and to his friends and family as Leslie, was a prolific Cornish historian. He is perhaps best known for his poetry about Cornwall and his work on Elizabethan England. He was also a Shakespearean scholar and biographer. He developed a widespread reputation for irascibility and intellectual arrogance.

One of Rowse's great enthusiasms was collecting books, and he owned many first editions, many of them bearing his acerbic annotations. For example, his copy of the January 1924 edition of The Adelphi magazine edited by John Middleton Murry bears a pencilled note after Murry's poem In Memory of Katherine Mansfield: 'Sentimental gush on the part of JMM. And a bad poem. A.L.R.'

Upon his death in 1997 he bequeathed his book collection to the University of Exeter, and his personal archive of manuscripts, diaries, and correspondence. In 1998 the University Librarian selected about sixty books from Rowse’s own working library and a complete set of his published books. The Royal Institution of Cornwall selected some of the remaining books, and the rest were sold to dealers.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly strange book that basically pastes two separate biographies together: that of Sir Walter Ralegh and that of his brother-in-law, the diarist Arthur Throckmorton. Although I can see what Rowse was trying to do, I'm not sure it works: the result is, at the risk of going 'Little Britain', somewhat bitty. There is chopping and changing between the two, without much to join the narrative together and I think they both would have been served better by having discrete biographies.

In addition, although the writing itself is engaging, Rowse's arguments can be unconvincing. For example, he spends much of the text highlighting Ralegh's lack of political acumen, but then supports one theory by saying that Ralegh surely would have had more nouse than actually to conspire against James. I tend to agree that it's unlikely that Ralegh was directly involved in the Main Plot, and Rowse's theory that Ralegh was attempting to set a trap for the conspirators in order to worm his way into James's good graces is intriguing, but the arguments for it are flimsy and easily torn apart.

These issues aside, the book is pleasant enough and, although now aged, worth a read.