FORTESCUE, SIR JOHN

(ca. 1395–ca. 1477)

Sir John Fortescue was a constitutional lawyer who wrote in both Latin and English. Because of his forthright writing style, his works were significant in the development of English prose. He was immersed in politics and his writing is a reflection of that.His most famous works areDe laudibus legum Angliae(1468–1470, published in 1546),De natura legis naturae(1431–1433), andThe Governance of England(ca. 1473).

Fortescue was born into an ancient Devonshire family in Norris, Somerset. He was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn (ca. 1415) and later graduated from Exeter College, Oxford. He spent the majority of his life in service of the house of Lancaster.He was appointed as a Member of Parliament in 1421, sergeant-at-law in 1430, and chief justice of the king’s court in 1442, and was knighted in 1443. Fortescue faithfully served under Henry VI even to the point of joining him in exile in 1461 after his defeat by the Yorkist faction during the Wars of the Roses.While in exile with the king, Queen Margaret, and Prince Edward, Fortescue aided in the prince’s education. He wrote two of his most famous works for this purpose:De Natura legis naturaandDe laudibus legum Angliae. In the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471), Prince Edward was killed, Henry VI was defeated, and Fortescue was taken prisoner. As a result of the battle, Edward IV of the House of York was the irrefutable king. Fortescue was pardoned and his property returned to him only after he recanted his pro-Lancastrian arguments with the workA Declaration upon Certain Writings(1471–73). He was also admitted to the king’s council as a result of the retraction. He spent his final years in Ebrington, during which time he wroteUnderstanding and Faith.

Based on his history, it is not surprising that Fortescue’s most famous works are political. Fortescue had spent time abroad and studied the governments of both Scotland and France.De natura legis naturaewas translated into English asMonarchia: or, The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy. It was one of the works written for Prince Edward’s education and concerned the forms of “natural” government.De laudibus legum Angliae(In praise of the laws of England) was also for Edward’s instruction. In it Fortescue favorably compared England’sjus politicum et regalegovernment to France’sjus regalegovernment. The former is a government in which the king rules by laws to which the people have assented; in the latter, the king has absolute rule by laws he has made for himself.The Governance of Englandwas a work originally written for Henry VI, but rewritten and presented to Edward IV after the Yorkist success at Tewkesbury. Its substance was very similar toDe laudibus legum Angliae, but also included practical recommendations—for example, that the king rely only on guaranteed revenues and that the council be composed of paid appointees. This would ensure impartial advisement by the council. Clearly, Fortescue’s political involvements influenced his major works:De laudibus legum Angliae,De natura legis naturae, andThe Governance of England. As a result, his work was also an influence on the politics of his time.

■ Fortescue, John.On the Laws and Governance of England. Edited by Shelley Lockwood. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

■ Gill, Paul E. “Politics and Propaganda in Fifteenth-Century England: The Polemical Writings of Sir John Fortescue,”Speculum46 (April): 333–347.

■ Gross, Anthony.The Dissolution of the Lancastrian Kingship: Sir John Fortescue and the Crisis of Monarchy in Fifteenth-Century England. Stamford, U.K.: P.Watkins, 1996.

■ Kekwech, M. L. “ ‘Thou Shalt Be under the Power of the Man’: Sir John Fortescue and the Yorkist Succession,”Nottingham Medieval Studies42 (1998): 188–230.