The Death of a Man

Somerset's friends reckoned they could derail their mate's prosecution by getting western to deny his guilt on the scaffold. This led to unruly scenes at the foot of the gallows as they tried to talk him into it. Franklin was determined not to die in a pious, resigned fashion and scoffed at the idea that he might say his prayers. He also hinted at dark plots and stratagems and refused to make any public confession at all. It was all most unsatisfactory and messy. As they were nobility, they could be tried in a special court of their peers, the court of the high steward. And so instead of edward cook, they faced francis bacon