In 1603 the beloved Virgin Queen had died after nearly half a century on the throne. The Scottish king, James I, succeeded her as the first monarch of the Stuart family. The following year, he signed a peace treaty with England’s mortal enemy, Spain, ending the decades-long sea war that had culminated in the destruction of the Spanish Armada. Peace presented a new series of opportunities for a new generation of gentlemen adventurers and investors overseas. The old generation of Elizabethan sea dogs and promoters had largely passed away during the previous decade. One of the firmest supporters of overseas ventures at court, Sir Francis Walsingham, had died in 1590. The elder Richard Hakluyt, who had published so many tracts to promote investment and support for colonization, had passed away in 1591. Renowned privateers Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins perished in an ill-fated 1595 expedition to Panama. Sir Thomas Cavendish was lost at sea, and Sir Richard Grenville was killed assaulting a Spanish fortress.
