John Fortescue

Arms of Fortescue: Azure, a bend engrailed argent plain cottised Or. Motto: "Forte Scutum Salus Ducum" ("A Strong Shield is the Salvation of Leaders")

Sir John Fortescue ( 1394 – December 1479), of Ebrington in Gloucestershire, was Chief Justice of the King's Bench and the author of De Laudibus Legum Angliae (Commendation of the Laws of England), first published posthumously circa 1543, an influential treatise on English law. In the course of Henry VI's reign, Fortescue was appointed one of the governors of Lincoln's Inn three times and served as a Member of Parliament from 1421 to 1437. He became one of the King's Serjeants during the Easter term of 1441, and subsequently served as Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 25 January 1442 to Easter term 1460.

During the Wars of the Roses, Henry VI was deposed in 1461 by Edward of York, who ascended the throne as Edward IV. Henry and his queen, Margaret of Anjou, later fled to Scotland. Fortescue remained loyal to Henry, and as a result was attainted of treason. He is believed to have been given the nominal title of Chancellor of England during Henry's exile. He accompanied Queen Margaret and her court while they remained on the Continent

Career He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, As a judge Fortescue was recommended for his wisdom, gravity and uprightness, and he is said to have been favoured by the king.

In 1463 Fortescue accompanied Queen Margaret and her court in their exile on the Continent, and returned with them to England in 1471. During their exile he wrote for the instruction of the young Prince Edward his celebrated work De laudibus legum Angliæ in which he made an early expression of what would later become known as Blackstone's formulation, stating that "one would much rather that twenty guilty persons should escape the punishment of death, than that one innocent person should be condemned, and suffer capitally". On the defeat of the Lancastrian party he made his submission to Edward IV, who reversed his attainder on 13 October 1471.

Family By 1423 he was married to Elizabeth Bright, daughter of Robert Bright from Doddiscombsleigh in Devon, but in 1426 she died without coming into her inheritance and without children. By 1436 he was married to Isabella James, daughter and heiress of John James who held land at Norton St Philip in Somerset as well as in Wiltshire, and they had three known children: The exact date of Fortescue's death is not known, but is believed to be shortly before 18 December 1479. A painted stone effigy of John Fortescue, wearing his scarlet robes of office with collar of ermine, exists within the church, against the north wall of the chancel within the communion rails. Above it was erected in 1677 by Col. Robert Fortescue (1617–1677) (eight times his descendant and the second son of Hugh Fortescue (1593–1663) of Filleigh) a mural monument with a biographical inscription in Latin. A smaller tablet is affixed below stating that the monument was repaired in 1765 by Matthew Fortescue, 2nd Baron Fortescue. A brass plate below states: "Restored by the Rt Honble. Hugh, 3rd Earl Fortescue, AD 1861".

Legacy John Fortescue's description of England's mixed monarchy as a dominium politicum et regale (a political and regal kingdom) has been profoundly influential in the history of British constitutional thought. During the 20th century, the earlier portrayal of Fortescue as a constitutionalist has come under pressure from legal and constitutional historians. Scholars of literature have taken an interest in Fortescue's contribution to the development of English prose, and in his role as a Lancastrian writer. More recently, Fortescue's constitutional thought has been reassessed and his Lancastrian affiliation has been challenged.

To this day the John Fortescue Society is joined by students of law at Exeter College, Oxford.

Works

Fortescue's most significant works were composed in Scotland and France, where the Lancastrian party had taken refuge, between 1463 and 1471. Taken together, Opusculum de natura legis naturæ et de ejus censura in successione regnorum suprema (A Small Work on the Nature of the Law of Nature, and on its Judgment on the Succession to Supreme Office in Kingdoms, c. 1463), De laudibus legum Angliæ (1468–1471), and a work written in English around 1471 which was later published as The Difference between an Absolute and Limited Monarchy (1714) His works, in particular the masterly vindication of the laws of England De laudibus legum Angliæ, circulated in manuscript in late medieval England and were cited by the leading thinkers of the early Tudor period, among them the printer and playwright John Rastell and the lawyer Christopher St. Germain. based on Fortescue's c. 1471 manuscript, was published in 1714 by a descendant, John Fortescue Aland. In the Cotton library there is a manuscript of this work, and its title indicates that it was addressed to Henry VI. However, many passages show plainly that it was written in favour of Edward IV. A revised edition of this work, with a historical and biographical introduction, was published in 1885 by Charles Plummer under the title The Governance of England.

Fortescue also wrote a number of mostly topical works that addressed the political conflict during the Wars of the Roses. Among the surviving works are the pamphlets De titulo Edwardi comitis Marchiæ (The Title of Edward, Earl of March), Of the Title of the House of York, Defensio juris domus Lancastriæ (Defence of the Rights of the House of Lancaster), Replication ageinste the Clayme, and Title of the Duke of Yorke for the Crownes of England and France, as well as the treatise Opusculum de natura legis naturæ et de ejus censura in successione regnorum suprema already mentioned. Two further works, Declaration upon Certayn Wrytinges Sent oute of Scotteland and Articles Sent to Warwick have been discussed by recent scholarship. All of Fortescue's minor writings appear in The Works of Sir John Fortescue, published in 1869 for private circulation by another descendant, Thomas Fortescue, 1st Baron Clermont.

A list of Fortescue's printed works and selected later editions follows:

. Later editions: . (According to the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), further editions were issued under this title in 1573 and 1599.) . (According to the ESTC, further editions were issued under this title in 1660, 1672, 1737, 1741 and 1775.)

. . . (According to the ESTC, further editions were issued under this title in 1719 and 1724). Later editions: . Digital versions of text are available online, including at The University of Michigan's Corpus of Middle English and Prose and Verse. . [Photo reprints of the original Clermont text are now available, including an edition from The British Library, Historical Print Editions (2011): ] Modern editions of Fortescue's major works: Fortescue, Sir John. (1942), De Laudibus Legum Angliae, Edited and translated by S. B. Chrimes, (2nd Edition: 2011). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, c[includes an extensive introduction along with Latin and English texts] Fortescue, Sir John. (1997), On the Laws and Governance of England. Edited by Shelly Lockwood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [includes a new English translation of De Laudibus Legum Angliae, The Governance of England in modern English, and selected passages from the Opusculum de natura legis naturæ and lesser works]