Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sir Richard Empson was born around 1450 and was the son of Peter Empson, a man who held property at Towcester and Easton Neston in Northamptonshire. The persistent claim by John Stow that his father was a sieve maker remains unproven.
The Council Learned in the Law was a tribunal established around 1495 that operated outside the normal common law courts to maximize royal revenues. This body collected debts, bonds, and recognizances owed to the Crown through aggressive enforcement methods.
According to contemporary accounts, Empson and his partner Edmund Dudley collected over £200,000 for Henry VII in just four years. This sum would be worth hundreds of millions in modern currency.
Richard Empson was beheaded on the 17th of August 1510 after being charged with the crime of constructive treason. He was convicted at Northampton in October 1509 and his attainder by Parliament followed the trial.
His elder son Thomas Empson was restored in blood in 1512 by Act of Parliament, allowing him to inherit his father's property and status. His other children married into prominent families including the Sothill and Catesby families.