ca. 1552 - Walter Raleigh is born at Hayes Barton in East Budleigh, Devon, England, the son of Walter Raleigh and Katherine Champernowne.

March 13, 1569 - Walter Raleigh possibly participates in the Battle of Jarnac during the French Wars of Religion, fighting with an English force commanded by his relative, Henry Champernowne, in aid of French Huguenots. The Catholics win the battle.

September 1569 - Walter Raleigh joins a troop of 100 cavalrymen to fight in France, in the French Wars of Religion, on behalf of the Huguenots.

October 3, 1569 - Walter Raleigh likely participates in the Battle of Moncontour during the French Wars of Religion, fighting with English forces in aid of French Huguenots. The Catholics win the battle.

1572 - Walter Raleigh appears in the register of Oriel College, University of Oxford. He does not take a degree.

February 27, 1575 - Walter Raleigh's name appears on the register of the Middle Temple, one of London's Inns of Court.

1576 - Walter Raleigh publishes a commendatory poem at the beginning of The Steele Glas, a satire in verse by George Gascoigne. He signs himself as "Walter Rawely of the Middle Temple."

June 11, 1578 - Queen Elizabeth grants Sir Humphrey Gilbert the right to explore North America and to plant colonies in those places not already claimed by other European powers. The grant expires in six years.

September 1578 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert, commanding eleven ships and 500 men, departs from Dartmouth, England, bound for North America. Three ships desert the mission even before weighing anchor, and Gilbert makes it only as far as the African coast. Walter Raleigh, in a ship piloted by the Azorean-born pirate Simon Fernandes, also turns back.

1580 - Walter Raleigh wins his first position in the court of Queen Elizabeth, as an Esquire of the Body Extraordinary.

February 1580 - Walter Raleigh fights a duel with Sir Thomas Perrot, another courtier. Both men spend six days in the Fleet prison. A month later, after another fight, Raleigh is sent to Marshalsea prison.

July 11, 1580 - The Acts of the Privy Council record that "Walter Raleigh, gentleman, by the appointment of the Lord Grey is to have charge of one hundred of those men presently levied within the City of London to be transported for her Majesty's service into Ireland."

September 10, 1580 - About 600 Spanish and Italian troops, commanded by Sebastiano di San Giuseppe and under the auspices of Pope Gregory XIII, land at Smerwick, County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland, in support of Catholic rebels against English rule.

November 7, 1580 - The English bombardment of the Catholic fort at Smerwick, County Kerry, Ireland, begins.

November 10, 1580 - Catholic troops unconditionally surrender to English forces at Smerwick, County Kerry, Ireland, after a three-day siege. The fort's women are hanged, its priests are gruesomely executed, and the soldiers are put to the sword, much of the work being done by men under the command of Walter Raleigh.

December 1581 - Walter Raleigh returns to England from the fighting in Ireland.

February 1, 1582 - The Privy Council authorizes £200 in back pay to Walter Raleigh for his service in Ireland.

April 1582 - Queen Elizabeth names Walter Raleigh commander of a company of footmen in Ireland but orders a lieutenant to serve in his place. This allows Raleigh to retain his rank and salary without leaving court.

October 25, 1582 - A discussion of his time in Ireland, intended for Queen Elizabeth and titled The Opinion of Mr. Rawley, upon motions made to hym for the meanes of subduing the Rebellion in Monster, is co-written by Raleigh and William Cecil, first baron Burghley.

1583 - Early in the year, Queen Elizabeth grants her court favorite, Walter Raleigh, use of Durham House on the Thames River. He uses the palatial mansion to gather experts to help him plan his colonizing ventures.

May 4, 1583 - Queen Elizabeth grants Walter Raleigh the "Farm of Wines," allowing him to reap £1 per year from every vintner in England for the privilege of retailing wine.

August 20, 1583 - In the midst of his colonizing venture, Sir Humphrey Gilbert leaves Saint John's, Newfoundland, for Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. When his flagship sinks, Gilbert sails for England but is lost at sea.

1584–1587 - Under the aegis of Walter Raleigh, three voyages are made to Roanoke Island in the present-day Outer Banks of North Carolina to explore the area and attempt to establish an English colony. The attempts are unsuccessful, leading to the disappearance of the so-called Lost Colony.

March 24, 1584 - Queen Elizabeth grants Walter Raleigh, her "well beloved servant," a patent to explore and settle the coast of North America. She also grants him the privilege of exporting undyed woolen broadcloths, netting him £3,500 in the first year alone.

December 1584 - Walter Raleigh introduces a bill in Parliament to confirm his royal patent for colonizing North America. Capitalizing on the enthusiastic report by Arthur Barlowe of the summer's voyage to America, Raleigh wins support from Sir Francis Drake and Sir Richard Grenville, even as the bill fails in the House of Lords.

January 6, 1585 - On the Twelfth Night of the Christmas holiday, Walter Raleigh is knighted at Greenwich, England. Shortly thereafter he assumes the title Lord and Governor of Virginia.

July 1585 - Upon the death of the earl of Bedford, Sir Walter Raleigh is appointed Lord Warden of the Stannaries. As such, he exercises judicial and military authority for Cornwall and Devon, including the power to convene the Stannary Parliament, which serves the interests of local tin miners.

September 1585 - Sir Walter Raleigh is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall. He is the first commoner to hold that position.

1585 - Sir Walter Raleigh is appointed vice admiral of Cornwall and Devon. Sir John Gilbert, Raleigh's half brother, is appointed vice admiral of Devon, serving as Raleigh's deputy.

January 1587 - A warship commissioned by Sir Walter Raleigh, the 1,100-ton Ark Raleigh, is sold to Queen Elizabeth, who does not pay money for it but later forgives a portion of Raleigh's debts. The ship's name changes to Ark Royal.

January 12, 1587 - The warship Ark Royal, originally commissioned by Sir Walter Raleigh and now owned by Queen Elizabeth, launches.

April 1587 - Sir Walter Raleigh is appointed Captain of the Guard, responsible for Queen Elizabeth's personal safety.

November 1587 - In anticipation of Spanish attack, Sir Walter Raleigh is appointed to Queen Elizabeth's eleven-man Council of War. He joins Sir Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane.

January 1588 - The Stannary Parliament convenes at Lostwithiel with Sir Walter Raleigh likely presiding. The Parliament promises 5,560 Cornishmen as well as munitions, weapons, and horses for the defense of England against an impending Spanish attack.

August 1588 - Having briefly fallen out with Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh goes to live on his estates in Ireland, primarily at Myrtle Grove in the walled town of Youghal, in the southeast of Ireland.

August 1588 - The English navy defeats the Spanish Armada in the English Channel.

September 14, 1588 - Queen Elizabeth orders Sir Richard Grenville to transfer 700 men to Ireland, with the assistance of Sir Walter Raleigh, in anticipation of a possible Spanish attack there.

September 1589 - Sir Walter Raleigh visits the poet Edmund Spenser, who lives at or near Kilcolman Castle in County Cork, Ireland. There he reads The Faerie Queene, in which he is the model for the character Timias, a squire who woos the "heavenly born" Belphoebe.

December 1589 - Twenty-one-year-old Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex, challenges Sir Walter Raleigh, his rival in Queen Elizabeth's court, to a duel. The Crown does not allow it to go forward.

January 1591 - Queen Elizabeth appoints Sir Walter Raleigh vice admiral of a naval expedition to the Azores but does not allow him to go. Sir Richard Grenville takes his place and is killed by the Spanish. Later in the year, Raleigh publishes Report of the Truth of the Fight about the Isles of the Azores.

November 19, 1591 - Sir Walter Raleigh secretly marries Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton, an attendant in the court of Queen Elizabeth. She is several months pregnant with the couple's first child.

January 1592 - Queen Elizabeth names Sir Walter Raleigh admiral of a fleet assigned to attack Spanish shipping at Panama. She also grants him a ninety-nine-year lease of Sherborne Castle in Dorset, England.

March 29, 1592 - Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton, wife of Sir Walter Raleigh, gives birth to a son, Damerei, who dies in infancy.

May 6, 1592 - Sir Walter Raleigh sets sail with a fleet for Panama and, after a day or two, relinquishes command to Martin Frobisher. This likely was prearranged by Queen Elizabeth in order to keep Raleigh close to court.

August 7, 1592 - Sir Walter Raleigh and his wife, Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton, are imprisoned in the Tower of London for marrying without Queen Elizabeth's knowledge or consent.

September 14, 1592 - Queen Elizabeth agrees to release Sir Walter Raleigh from imprisonment in the Tower to help divide the spoils of the captured Spanish warship Madre de Dios, whose cargo is worth an estimated £500,000.

December 22, 1592 - Queen Elizabeth releases Sir Walter Raleigh's wife, Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton, from the Tower of London.

February 19, 1593 - Parliament convenes, with Sir Walter Raleigh representing the borough of Mitchell in northern Cornwall. The House of Commons remains in session until April 10.

Spring 1593 - Sir Walter Raleigh attends a supper party hosted by Sir George Trenchard, deputy lieutenant of Dorset, in which discussion of religious matters eventually leads to charges of atheism against Raleigh. The poet Christopher Marlowe is murdered in the aftermath, on May 30.

October 1593 - Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton, wife of Sir Walter Raleigh, gives birth to a second son, Walter.

February 1595 - Sir Walter Raleigh sails on his first voyage to Guiana with letters patent from Queen Elizabeth to explore the area on the north coast of present-day South America.

September 5, 1595 - About this day Sir Walter Raleigh returns to Plymouth from his first exploration of Guiana in present-day South America.

1596 - Early in the year Sir Walter Raleigh's account of his first voyage to Guiana, The Discoverie of the large and bewtiful Empire of Guiana, is published.

June 1596 - An English fleet under the command of Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex; Charles Howard, baron of Effingham and England's Lord High Admiral; and Sir Walter Raleigh sacks the Spanish port city of Cádiz.

September–October 1597 - An English fleet led by Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh unsuccessfully attacks the Portuguese-held Azores in what comes to be known as the Islands Voyage.

December 1597 - Sir Walter Raleigh attends the session of Parliament, representing Dorset.

March 27, 1599 - Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex, leads English troops to Ireland to quell a rebellion there. His campaign is a failure and contributes to his eventual imprisonment by Queen Elizabeth.

August 1600 - Queen Elizabeth appoints Sir Walter Raleigh governor of Jersey, a small island off the coast of Normandy.

September 20, 1600 - Sir Walter Raleigh takes the oath of office as governor of Jersey, a small island off the coast of Normandy.

February 25, 1601 - Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex, is beheaded for leading a failed rebellion against Queen Elizabeth in London.

October 27, 1601 - Sir Walter Raleigh attends the opening of the new session of Parliament, representing Cornwall.

December 7, 1602 - Sir Walter Raleigh sells his land in Ireland to Richard Boyle for £1,500.

March 24, 1603 - Queen Elizabeth I dies at Richmond Palace and is succeeded by James VI of Scotland, who unites the thrones of England and Scotland, ruling the former as James I.

July 20, 1603 - By this day, Sir Walter Raleigh is imprisoned in the Tower of London by order of King James I.

July 27, 1603 - Sir Walter Raleigh attempts suicide while imprisoned in the Tower of London. He stabs himself in the chest with a table knife.

September 21, 1603 - Sir Walter Raleigh is indicted on charges that "he did conspire, and go about to deprive the King of his Government." He is further charged with sedition and attempting to secure the aid of the Spanish.

November 17, 1603 - Sir Walter Raleigh is tried and convicted of conspiring against King James I. He is sentenced to be hanged, drawn, quartered, and beheaded.

December 13, 1603 - On the day of his execution, Sir Walter Raleigh receives a reprieve from King James I and is returned to the Tower of London three days later.

February 15, 1604 - Carew Raleigh, third son of Sir Walter Raleigh and Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton, is baptized at the Tower of London, where his father is imprisoned.

November 6, 1612 - Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales and the eldest son of King James I, dies.

March 29, 1614 - The History of the World is published while its author, Sir Walter Raleigh, is confined in the Tower of London.

March 19, 1616 - Sir Walter Raleigh is released from the Tower of London.

August 19, 1617 - A fleet under the command of Sir Walter Raleigh sets sail for Guiana in present-day South America.

January 2, 1618 - In the early morning hours Englishmen skirmish with Spanish soldiers at Santo Tomé de Guyana on the Orinoco River in Guiana. Wat Raleigh, the son of Sir Walter Raleigh, is killed. The English eventually destroy the village.