Title: Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield
Content: in financial irregularities, but he did not resign as Lord Chancellor until 1725. In 1725, he was impeached and tried in the House of Lords. He was, unanimously, convicted of corruption for taking more than £100,000 in bribes (the equivalent of more than £11,000,000 today). He was fined £30,000 and placed in the Tower of London until payment was received. He was also struck off the roll of the Privy Council. He was a fabulously wealthy man, possibly because of his corruption, but as this money was confiscated, he had no resources to pay his fine. He spent most of

Title: John Bingley (MP)
Content: Earl of Suffolk, the Lord High Treasurer. Suffolk, his wife Katherine Knyvett and Bingley have been described as treating the Exchequer as "their private bank account". The allegations of corruption, bribery and maladministration were numerous and detailed, and there is little doubt that all three were guilty as charged. After a trial in Star Chamber, Bingley was found guilty, imprisoned and fined. The prosecution proposed a colossal fine of £100,000, but the actual fine imposed was £30,000. He was soon released from prison, but was much troubled by lawsuits from those he had defrauded, who included members of his own

Title: John Hales (died 1608)
Content: plea for the Queen's forgiveness, Knightley was fined £2000, and it was ordered that he be imprisoned at the Queen's pleasure. Hales denied all knowledge of the nature of the books printed on the secret press, and protested, in excuse of his actions, that: He had great reason, as he thought, to gratify Sir Richard Knightley in anything, to whom he owed much reverence, as he that had married his aunt'. Hales was fined 1000 marks, and, like Knightley, was ordered to be committed to prison. Sir Roger Wigston was fined 500 marks, with a similar order for his imprisonment.

Title: John Trevor (speaker)
Content: to members of the House that they were frequently uncertain as to which of them had "caught the Speaker's eye", and would try to speak out of turn. On 7 March 1695, he was found guilty of accepting a bribe of 1000 guineas (£1050, but equivalent to around £1.6 million in 2009) from the City of London to aid the passage of a bill through the house. This was judged to be a "high crime and misdemeanour" and he was expelled from the House of Commons, a move which he initially resisted on the ground of ill-health. He was not

Title: Thomas Smythe (customer)
Content: for £2,500. He was confirmed in his appointment at the Customs on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, and he continued in the office for 11 years. In 1567, he appears to have incurred her Majesty's severe displeasure, having been accused of issuing privy warrants leading to a £6,000 loss; his friend William Cecil, Lord Burghley, intervened and helped Smythe escape imprisonment. Cecil persuaded the Queen to be lenient, arguing that if Smythe was allowed more time he would repay this loss. Elizabeth began to require larger and larger fines to renew Smythe's leases in order to replenish her

Question: Which Elizabethan politician, philosopher and essayist was fined L40,000 for taking bribes?
Answer: Frances Bacon