Francis Mitchell (c. 1556 – died in or after 1628) was the last English knight of the realm to be publicly degraded[1] (stripped of his knighthood), after being found guilty of extorting money from licensees following his being granted monopoly on the licensing of inns by George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and James I. Mitchell was probably of an Essex family.
He appears to have performed services in Scotland on behalf of James VI before that king's accession to the English throne.
Early in James' reign it had been established in the case of Darcy v. Allein that monopolies were in breach of both common and statute law, because they raised the price of the commodity, lowered the standard of the product and put craftsmen out of work.
The judges in the Darcy case ruled that monopolies were only acceptable when a new invention was introduced or when the interests of the state demanded it.
After the sentencing had taken place, doubt as to the legality of the impeachment was raised, as the Commons did not have jurisdiction over areas that did not concern their privileges.