The prosecutor, Sir Edward Coke, would someday be noted in legal circles as a man of substantial courage who in his waning years actually stood up to the Crown on behalf of English common law, which would become the basis of the American legal system. But at this time, he was not well liked by the general public because of his involvement two years earlier in convicting the popular Lord Essex of treason on orders of Queen Elizabeth. On the other hand, Raleigh was not universally liked by the common man either.

Soldier, ship's captain, adventurer, poet, and courtier, Raleigh was one of the most famous men of his time in both his own country and among England's enemies, especially Spain, whose treasure ships from the New World he'd plundered on behalf of his Queen and himself. He was also one of the wealthiest men in England.

With his taste for fine clothes and armed with charm and wit, he made a dashing knight in Elizabeth's court-with a reputation as a ladies' man-and occupied a special place in the heart of the Queen. Legend had it that he had once laid his cloak over a mud puddle so that Elizabeth would not have to dirty her royal feet. But it was his charms with the ladies that also got him in trouble with Her Majesty when he married one of her maids of honor-the lovely, and much younger, Bess Throckmorton-without the Queen's permission. The Queen had him thrown into the Tower of London, but she eventually relented when she realized that the couple truly were in love.

Her Majesty's court was notorious for its intrigues and plots, with the various courtiers vying against one another for the position as her favorite. Lord Essex, Robert Devereux, a descendant of King Henry VIII, had been one of Raleigh's chief rivals.

Devereux was a hero to the masses for his military successes against the Spanish and also a favorite of the Queen. However, he saw himself as deserving of the throne and was accused-with reason-of conspiring against her with King James VI of Scotland.