2 PM ? First Court, St. John?s College, Cambridge. John?s was founded by Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII (and so Elizabeth?s great grandmother) on the site of the mediaeval hospital of St. John. The first court in John?s was largely built between 1511 and 1520 and so makes a perfect setting for one of the great fabled scenes from Elizabeth?s reign.<\/p>\n
\nThis is where the Queen and Raleigh first meet in the famous incident of the cloak. The legend has it that Raleigh first caught the Queen?s attention by taking off his cloak and placing it over a muddy puddle in the road for the Queen to walk on ? hence preventing the royal feet from getting dirty.
\nIs the story true? Well, it isn?t recorded in any contemporary document and the earliest reference to it I know is Thomas Fuller?s in 1663. But it certainly the sort of thing Raleigh might have done and just the sort of showmanship that the Queen liked. As such it helped to explain both in Fuller?s day and now, how a relatively obscure west country sailor began his meteoric rise to become Elizabeth?s favourite.
\nWe have decided to use the scene, partly because it is so iconic and partly because it still, all these centuries later, provides a wonderful way to first bring Raleigh and the Queen together. It also provides the setting for a more sinister move.
\nJustin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2 PM ? First Court, St. John?s College, Cambridge. John?s was founded by Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII (and so Elizabeth?s great grandmother) on the site of the mediaeval hospital of St. John. The first court in John?s was largely built between 1511 and 1520 and so makes a perfect setting for one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-golden-age-diary"],"yoast_head":"\n