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Fortescue, Sir John

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Encyclopedias
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Sir John Fortescue (Lawyer)
• Sir John Fortescue (Statesman)
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
• Fortescue, Sir John

An eminent English lawyer, born in Somersetshire; flourished in the 15th century; was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, and in 1442 became Lord Chief-Justice of the Court of King's Bench; he was a staunch Lancastrian during the Wars of the Roses, and shared the exile of Queen Margaret and her son Edward, for whom he wrote in dialogue form his famous "De Laudibus Legum," a treatise still read; the fate of the Lancastrian cause was sealed on the field of Tewkesbury, and he himself was taken prisoner; he died at the advanced age of 90.