Sir John Fortescue was arguably the most important political thinker of fifteenth-century England. Rising from relative obscurity to become Chief Justice of the King’s Bench he progressively assumed a political role as a partisanof the Lancastrian cause during the Wars of the Roses. As Chancellor-in-exile to Henry VI he wrote on the lawful succession and in praise of the common law of England. Ultimately making his peace with the Yorkists in 1471, he presented Edward IV with The Governance of England, a treatise that set the tone for debates about the extent of royal and parliamentary power for centuries to come. Demonstrating how England’s traditional laws, customs and parliament could ensure that monarchs safeguarded the rights and property of their subjects, his views on these institutions continue to resonate with contemporary debates about England’s relationship with Europe and the definition of national identity.
This book provides the first comprehensive biography of Fortescue. It reassesses his career and thought, challenging earlier views about his life, and discusses his work as a lawyer and political thinkerin the light of modern scholarship.

MARGARET KEKEWICH is a former Senior Lecturer in History at the Open University.