Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition Portuguese possessions and shipping, and conduct illicit trading. Sir Walter Raleigh had enjoyed several years of high esteem from Queen Elizabeth I, which stemmed in part from his previous exploits at sea which included the famous Capture of the Madre de Deus. Soon after, however, Raleigh suffered a short imprisonment for secretly marrying one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, Elizabeth Throckmorton, and bearing her a child. In a bid to restore his influence with the Queen, Raleigh, having promised a "gold-rich empire more lucrative than Peru", had set up an expedition under John Whiddon to find the fabled city of gold
Robert Throckmorton peace. In 1577, the Bishop of Worcester, John Whitgift, listed Throckmorton as a Catholic and reckoned him to be worth 1,000 marks a year in lands and £1,000 in goods. Sir Robert Throckmorton's mother was the daughter of Elizabeth FitzHugh, mother of Sir Thomas Parr, by her first marriage to William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Kendal. This connection made Throckmorton a first cousin to Queen Consort Catherine Parr and her brother William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton. Throckmorton continued the family in the Catholic tradition. He married his children into leading Catholic families, and in these generations the increased