November 17, 1603 Westminster, England

"THOU ART A MONSTER!" the prosecutor roared out his accusation and pointed at the defendant as the judges and jurors in their satin doublets and embroidered waistcoats shifted uneasily in their seats. "Thou hast an English face but a Spanish heart!"

The defendant, Sir Walter Raleigh, remained calm despite the worst insult to someone who had spent much of his life fighting against Spain. But, forty-nine years old, his hair and the distinctive goatee shot through with gray, he now stood accused of treason.

"Let me answer for myself," Raleigh demanded.

"Thou shalt not," Prosecutor Sir Edward Coke thundered back.

Raleigh turned to the jury. "It concerneth my life," he pleaded, though he knew the men before him were not sympathetic to him personally or interested in a fair trial.

The hearing was a specialized sort of court procedure. In later years, it would be inaccurately referred to as a Star Chamber, a fifteenth-to seventeenth-century English court comprised of judges appointed by the Crown. The Star Chambers, so named because the courtrooms were decorated with stars, were notorious for being conducted in secrecy and were given to arbitrary procedures. They were a convenient way for the Crown, and its supporting nobles, to get rid of rivals and enemies both real and perceived.

What Raleigh faced was actually a "special commission of oyer and terminer." Similar to the Star Chambers, the commissions had been created for the sole purpose of trying people accused of treason. However, unlike a Star Chamber, juries sat on these commissions and weighed what evidence was presented to them. The trials were also supposed to be governed by the rules of law, and the proceedings were followed with great interest by the general public. However, the method and outcome were still heavily weighted in favor of the Crown's wishes.