Francis Throckmorton of Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's spymaster. A search of his house produced incriminating evidence and, after torture on the rack, Throckmorton confessed his involvement in a plot to overthrow the Queen and restore the Catholic Church in England. An invasion led by Henry I, Duke of Guise, would have been coupled with an orchestrated uprising of Catholics within the country. Although Throckmorton later retracted his confession, he was convicted of high treason and executed in 1584. Sir Francis Throckmorton is featured in the film "", where he is played by Steven Robertson. In the film, he is shown asking
Edward Walsingham or the Life of ... Sir Henry Gage". Another work left in manuscript was "Hector Britannicus", on Sir John Digby (1605–1645), brother to Sir Kenelm Digby. These works have been described as hagiography, with the subjects having in common Catholicism, culture and a noble background and character. In 1651 he sent as a present to Ormonde his "Arcana Aulica, or Walsingham's Manual of Prudential Maxims for the Statesman and the Courtier." This work has been generally attributed to Sir Francis Walsingham, and other conjectures have been made as to its authorship. Its original was an anonymous French work, "Traité de