Empson, Richard (died 1510)

English lawyer and politician. With Edmund Dudley he was an unpopular agent of Henry VII, employed in exacting taxes and penalties due to the Crown. Both men had a reputation for harshness and tyranny. In 1491 Empson became Speaker of the House of Commons, and in 1504 chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In the second year of Henry VIII's reign he and Dudley were both accused of treason, and were beheaded at Tower Hill.