Editing Francis Walsingham (section)

===Portrayal in fiction===
Fictional portrayals of Walsingham tend to follow Catholic interpretations, depicting him as sinister and Machiavellian.<ref>Cooper, p. 189; Wilson, p. 93</ref> He features in conspiracy theories surrounding the death of [[Christopher Marlowe]],<ref name=adams/> whom he predeceased. [[Charles Nicholl (author)|Charles Nicholl]] examined (and rejected) such theories in ''The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe'' (1992), which was used as a source by [[Anthony Burgess]] for his novel ''[[A Dead Man in Deptford]]'' (1993).<ref>Rozett, pp. 72–74</ref>

The 1998 film ''[[Elizabeth (film)|Elizabeth]]'' gives considerable, although sometimes historically inaccurate, prominence to Walsingham (portrayed by [[Geoffrey Rush]]). It portrays him as irreligious and sexually ambiguous,<ref name=adams/> merges chronologically distant events,<ref>Adams et al.; Spielvogel, p. 409</ref> and inaccurately suggests that he murdered [[Mary of Guise]].<ref>Spielvogel, p. 409</ref> Rush reprised the role in the 2007 sequel, ''[[Elizabeth: The Golden Age]]''. Both [[Stephen Murray (actor)|Stephen Murray]] in the 1971 [[BBC]] series ''[[Elizabeth R]]'' and [[Patrick Malahide]] in the 2005 [[Channel Four]] miniseries ''[[Elizabeth I (2005 TV series)|Elizabeth I]]'' play him as a dour official.<ref>Latham, pp. 203, 240</ref>