John Fortescue (judge)

Sir John Fortescue
A portrait of Fortescue by William Faithorne published in 1663 inscribed "Sr John Fortescu Kt Lord Cheife Justice & Lord Chancellor of England vnder King Henry ye Sixth"
Chief Justice of the King's Bench
In office 25 January 1442 – Easter term 1460
Appointed by	Henry VI
Preceded by	John Hody
Succeeded by	John Markham
Personal details
Born	c. 1394 Norris, North Huish, Devon, England
Died	1479 (aged 84–85)
Resting place	St. Eadburgha’s Church, Ebrington, Gloucestershire, England 52°3′28.98″N 1°44′0.92″W / 52.0580500°N 1.7335889°W / 52.0580500; -1.7335889
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford

Sir John Fortescue (c. 1394 – December 1479) was the Chief Justice of the King's Bench and was 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 between 1463 and 1471, and wrote De Laudibus Legum Angliae for the instruction of young Prince Edward. After the defeat of the House of Lancaster, he submitted to Edward IV who reversed his attainder in October 1471.

Fortescue was born in about 1394 at Norris (or Norreys), in the parish of North Huish in Devon. He was the second son of Sir John Fortescue (fl.1422) (who in 1422 was appointed captain of the captured Castle of Meaux, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Paris), by his wife Elinor Norries, daughter and heiress of William Norries (alias Norreys) of Norreys in the parish of North Huish in Devon, by his wife a daughter of Roger Colaton. His eldest brother was Henry Fortescue, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland. The earliest surviving record of the Fortescue family relates to its 12th-century holding of the manor of Whympston, in the parish of Modbury, Devon.