John Fortescue (judge) - Published Works

Published Works

Fortescue's masterly vindication of the laws of England, though received with great favour by experts, did not appear in print until the reign of Henry VIII, when it was published, but without a date. It was subsequently reprinted many times.

Another work by Fortescue, written in English, was published in 1714 by John Fortescue Aland, under the title of The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy. In the Cotton library there is a manuscript of this work, in the title of which it is said to have been addressed to Henry VI; but many passages show plainly that it was written in favour of Edward IV. A revised edition of this work, with a historical and biographical introduction, was published in 1885 by Charles Plummer, under the title The Governance of England.

All of Fortescue's minor writings appear in The Works of Sir John Fortescue, now first Collected and Arranged, published in 1869 for private circulation, by his descendant, Lord Clermont.There is an unpublished Ph.D. dissertation on Fortescue's life and career: Paul E. Gill, Sir John Fortescue: Chief Justice of the King's Bench,Polemicist of the Succession Problem, Governmental Reformer, and Political Theorist, The Pennsylvania State University,1968. Also, there is an article in the April 1971 volume of Speculum concerning Fortescue's role in the succession crisis between the Houses of Lancaster and York.