John Fortescue
English jurist (c. 1394-1479) · Writers · Died at 85
Sir John Fortescue, of Ebrington in Gloucestershire, was Chief Justice of the King's Bench and the author of De Laudibus Legum Angliae, first published posthumously circa 1543, an influential treatise on English law.
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A drawing of Fortescue in anachronistic 17th-century dress with an oversized Great Seal of England, from the Legal Portrait Collection of Harvard Law School Library![Monument with recumbent painted effigy of Sir John Fortescue in the Church of St Eadburga, Ebrington[12]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Effigy_of_Lord_Chief_Justice_Sir_John_Fortescue.jpg/1280px-Effigy_of_Lord_Chief_Justice_Sir_John_Fortescue.jpg)
Monument with recumbent painted effigy of Sir John Fortescue in the Church of St Eadburga, Ebrington[12]![The title page of Fortescue's De laudibus legum Angliæ (In Commendation of the Laws of England, 1616 edition)[22]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/John_Fortescue%2C_De_Laudibus_Legum_Angliae_%281st_ed%2C_1616%2C_title_page%29.jpg/1280px-John_Fortescue%2C_De_Laudibus_Legum_Angliae_%281st_ed%2C_1616%2C_title_page%29.jpg)
The title page of Fortescue's De laudibus legum Angliæ (In Commendation of the Laws of England, 1616 edition)[22]
The title page of the first English translation of Fortescue's De laudibus legum Angliæ, entitled A Learned Commendation of the Politique Lawes of England (1567)Awards
About this person
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.
