John Fortescue (judge)
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Sir John Fortescue, of Ebrington in Gloucestershire, was Chief Justice of the King's Bench and was the author of De Laudibus Legum Angliae, first published posthumously circa 1543, an influential treatise on English law. In the course of Henry VI's reign, Fortescue was appointed one of the governors of Lincoln's Inn three times and served as a Member of Parliament from 1421 to 1437. He became one of the King's Serjeants during the Easter term of 1441, and subsequently served as Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 25 January 1442 to Easter term 1460.
A portrait of Fortescue by William Faithorne published in 1663 inscribed "Sr John Fortescu Kt Lord Cheife Justice & Lord Chancellor of England vnder King Henry ye Sixth"
A drawing of Fortescue in anachronistic 17th-century dress with an oversized Great Seal of England, from the Legal Portrait Collection of Harvard Law School Library
The title page of Fortescue's De laudibus legum Angliæ (In Commendation of the Laws of England, 1616 edition)
The title page of the first English translation of Fortescue's De laudibus legum Angliæ, entitled A Learned Commendation of the Politique Lawes of England (1567)
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
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The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales.
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
Image: Ralph de Hengham
Image: Portrait of Sir John Fortescue (1663) by William Faithorne cropped
Image: Sir Edward Montagu