The first comprehensive biography of arguably the most important political thinker of fifteenth-century England. 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.

Fortescue, Sir John. De Laudibus Legum Angliae. A Treatise in Commendation of the Laws of England. With Translation by Francis Gregor. Notes by Andrew Amos and a Life of the Author by Thomas (Fortescue) Lord Clermont. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1874. lxiv, 302 pp. Reprinted 1999 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 99-16485. ISBN 1-58477-019-8. Hardcover. * Written in 1470, De Laudibus was intended for the instruction of Edward, Prince of Wales. Written in the form of a dialogue, this book contains one of the earliest sketches of the English legal system. This is the first appearance of the modern edition, based on the 1825 Amos edition, which includes for the first time the life of the author by Lord Clermont, a direct descendant, as well as his corrected version of both the text and translation, these having appeared only in an 1869 privately published edition of Fortescue's works limited to 120 family copies.

Sir John Fortescue CJKB (c.1395–c.1477) was undoubtedly the foremost English political scientist of the fifteenth century. This convenient volume brings together for the first time new editions of his two major works - In Praise of the Laws of England and The Governance of England - with references and suggestions for further reading for the student. In her introduction, Shelley Lockwood presents a clear reassessment of the work of John Fortescue and places these key texts in their historical and intellectual contexts. These works, arguably the earliest in English political thought, were written from the perspective of a self-consciously analytical and highly experienced lawyer and government official during a time of war and political upheaval. They form a coherent argument for justice against tyranny and afford unique insights into the law and governance of fifteenth-century England.

Two major works by the founder of English political thought made accessible to the student.

A comprehensive and wide-ranging account of the interrelationship between law and literature in Anglo-Saxon, Medieval and Tudor England.

Examines of the rise of constitutionalism from the "democratic strands" in the works of Aristotle and Cicero through the transitional moment between the medieval and the modern eras.