Sir Walter Raleigh (also Ralegh (с.

1552-1618)) an English explorer, Politician

and soldier. He began his career fighting the Spanish and the Irish. And was made
a knight in 1584 by Queen Elisabeth I. With her support the made several
journeys to North America (1584-9) and South America (1595), bringing back
tobacco and the potato, but failed to establish a permanent base there. After the
death of Elisabeth, he was put in prison for treason for 13 years, during which he
wrote his History of the World (1614). In 1616 he was released by King James I to
look for gold in South America. He was not successful in this, and when he
returned he was punished by having his head cut off. One of the most popular
stories about Raleigh describes how he once spread his coat over a piece of wet
ground so that Queen Elisabeth could walk over it.
Lady Jane Grey (1537-54) Queen of England for nine days in 1553. She was a
great-granddaughter of Henry VII and a Protestant. She was 15 years old when the
Duke of Northumberland persuaded her to marry his son, and persuaded the king,
Edward VI, to name her as the next queen instead of his Roman Catholic sister,
Mary I. Jane became queen when Edward died, but was soon put in prison by
supporters of Mary, and was later killed in the Tower of London.
Catherine Howard (c. 1521-42) the fifth wife of
King Henry VIII. He had her head cut off after they
had been married for two years, when he found that
she had had sexual relationship with other men.
The Princes in the Tower a name given to the two young sons of King

Edward IV, i.e. the boy king Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of

York (1472-83), who went to live in royal apartments (= private rooms)

in the Tower of London in 1483 after their farther died. They

disappeared, and some people believe they were murdered either by

Richard III, who had become king, or by Henry VII. The bones of young

children found in the Tower and tested in 1933 are believed to be theirs.
Anne Boleyn (1507-36) the second wife of King Henry VIII and the mother of
Queen Elisabeth I. Her Marriage to Henry against the wishes of the Pope led to
England`s break from the Roman Catholic Church and the start of the Church of
England. However, when she failed to produce a son, Henry lost interest in her.
She was accused of having affairs with other men, and her head was cut off.