Editing John Fortescue (judge) (section)

==Career==
He was educated at [[Exeter College, Oxford]],<ref name=EB1911/> favoured by many Devonshire gentry families. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for  [[Tavistock (UK Parliament constituency)|Tavistock]] (1421 to 1425), [[Totnes (UK Parliament constituency)|Totnes]] (1426 and 1432), [[Plympton Erle (UK Parliament constituency)|Plympton Erle]] (1429) and [[Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Wiltshire]] (1437).<ref name="parliament"/>

During the reign of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]], Fortescue was thrice appointed one of the governors of [[Lincoln's Inn]]. During the [[Easter term]] of 1441 he was made one of the [[serjeant-at-law#King's Serjeants|King's Serjeants]], and on 25 January in the following year [[Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales|Chief Justice of the King's Bench]], a position he held till Easter term 1460.<ref>Foss, pp. 309–310.</ref> As a judge Fortescue was recommended for his wisdom, gravity and uprightness, and he is said to have been favoured by the king.<ref name=EB1911/>

He held his office during the remainder of the reign of Henry VI, to whom he was loyal; as a result, he was [[attainder|attainted]] of [[treason]] in the first parliament of [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]]. When Henry subsequently fled to [[Scotland]], he is supposed to have appointed Fortescue, who appears to have accompanied him in his flight, [[Lord Chancellor|Chancellor of England]].<ref name=EB1911/> Fortescue referred to himself in this manner on the title page of ''De Laudibus Legum Angliae'', but as the King did not possess the [[Great Seal of the Realm|Great Seal of England]] during his exile it has been suggested that the title was "nominal" and "merely illusory".<ref>Foss, pp. 310–312.</ref>

In 1463 Fortescue accompanied [[Margaret of Anjou|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 of Westminster|Edward]] his celebrated work ''De laudibus legum Angliæ''<ref name=EB1911/> (''Commendation of the Laws of England'', first published posthumously around 1543),<ref name="Prenobilis militis">{{citation|author=John Fortescue|title=Prenobilis militis, cognomento Forescu ''[sic]'', qui temporibus Henrici sexti floruit, de politica administratione, et legibus ciuilibus florentissimi regni Anglie, commentarius [Commentary on Political Administration and on the Civil Laws of the Most Flourishing Kingdom of England, of the Very Noble Knight, surnamed Forescu ''[sic]'', who Flourished during the Reign of Henry VI]|location=London|publisher=tipis Edwardi Whitechurche, et veneunt in edibus Henrici Smyth bibliopole [printed by Edward Whitechurche, and are sold in the buildings of Henry Smith the bookseller]|year=c. 1543|oclc=606486248}}.</ref> in which he made the first 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 [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrian]] party he made his submission to Edward IV, who reversed his attainder on 13 October 1471.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Foss, pp. 313–314.</ref>