Title: Sir

Alternate names/spellings:

Dates: 1394 - 1480 (Dates are approximate. ) 

Sir John Fortescue was an English lawyer born c. 1394 in Devon and educated at Exeter College at Oxford University. During his career Fortescue was the king’s sergeant at law, chief justice of the king’s bench and one of the governors of Lincoln’s Inn. As a supporter of Henry VI, he was accused of treason by the parliament of Edward IV. When Henry fled to Scotland, he appointed Fortescue chancellor of England, and in 1463 Fortescue went with Queen Margaret and her court in exile on the Continent. Finally at the defeat of the Lancastrian party, he submitted to Edward and received pardon on October 13, 1471. He wrote The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy (later published as The Governance of England), as well as several minor writings. TLM