The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy

Chief Justiceof theKing'sBench.Sits on aspecialcommissioninNorfolk.step, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in succession toSir John Hody, with a salary of £120 and allowances ofL8 13s. 6d. for robes at Christmas and Whitsuntide. InFebruary, 1442, and May, 1443, he received grants of anannual tun of wine. In March, 1447, he received anannual addition of £40 to his salary1. Sometime afterhis appointment as Chief Justice, and before May, 1443,he was knighted2.In October, 1442, he was required to certify the King'sCouncil of the tenor of certain indictments brought maliciously,as was alleged, against Robert Wells, abbot 'ofTourhille beside London,' and others" About the sametime he and the other Judges of the King's Bench wereordered to ' committe to baille' 140 of the adherents ofSir William Boneville4. Early in 1443 he was sent withothers on a special commission into Norfolk with referenceto disturbances which had broken out in Norwich,in consequence of the attempt of the Prior of Christchurch,Norwich, to impose certain new ecclesiastical dues5. OnMarch 4th, 1443, a special letter of thanks for 'his gretelaboures' was ordered by the council to be sent to himin the king's name6. On the 14th he and the Chief Justiceof the Common Pleas were ordered to send to the council' the names of indifferent persones suche [as] may bemaade justices of the pees and sherriefs,' in Norfolk7. Onthe 23rd, he and his colleague Westbury attended themeeting of the Privy Council and ' declareden alle theire' The patents of Fortescue'sappointments and grants areprinted in full by Lord Clermont ;U. S. pp. 103-4. In the Res'umptionAct of 1455 exception wasmade in favour of 'the Graunte. . . . to John Fortescu Knyght,of 11 Tunne of Wyne to be takenyerely in the Porte of London forterme of his lif ;' Rot. Parl. v.317 a. According to the LiberNiger the Chief Justice of theCommon Pleas received two tunsof wine regularly in return for thelegal assistance which he gave tothe royal household, of which hewas reckoned ' a grete membre ; 'Ordinances, &C., p. 29.a I find him mentioned as SirJohn Fortescue first on May 8,1443 ; P. P. C. v. 268. He seemsnot to have been a knight on Oct.11, I442 ; ib. 215. Some interveningnotices of him in therecords of the Privy Council areinconclusive on the point.,S Ib. 215.* Ib. 221.Ib. cxxiii &Ib. 231-2. ' Ib. 243.demenyng at Norwiche and in Norffolkel.' Fortescuewas present in the council on April 3rd and May 3rd,144s2, and on May 8th the council ordered a warrantto be made out for the payment of fifty marks to himfor his labours and expenses in Norfolk3. TWO days 1n.Yorklaterthe two Chief Justices were summoned to the shire'council with reference to certain riotous attacks whichhad been made on Cardinal Kemp's estates in Yorkshire*,arising out of the manner in which he had exercisedhis spiritual jurisdiction as Archbishop of York ;they were ordered to make their report to the councilon the following day6. This they did in the presence ofa very full meeting of the council and of ' alle the remenantof the Juges6.' In consequence of their advice LordsDorset and Willoughby and the two Chief Justices themselveswere a week later ' assigned to go and sitte inYorkshire upon an oier and terminer7.' On July I ~ thFortescue again attended the council, perhaps withreference to the termination of this matter8.In January, 1444, we learn that Fortescue had for some 111 oftime been suffering from sciatica, and his colleague WilliamPaston being also unwell, the assizes at East Grinstead hadto ' discontynue $ 2 4 ~~zoz~a v~nw d~z Justicez"' In the Trier ofParliament of February, 1445, Fortescue was appointed one petitions inof the triers of petitions ; and was reappointed in everyment.subsequent Parliament up to that of 1455 inclu~ive'~. The Refuses tonext fact that we learn about Fortescue is his refusalto obey the king's command to deliver out of Walling-P. P. C. v. 247-9. Lord Clermont does; U. S. p. 56.Ib. 256, 266.He merely attended in his capa-S Ib. 268. city as Judge to give legal advice* Writs to the Sheriff and to the Council ; cf. Chap. xv.Keepers of the Peace in York- below, and the notes thereto.shire, dated May 12, are in Paston Letters, i. 50.Rymer, xi. 27-8. l0 See the Rolls of ParliamentP. P. C. v. 269. during those years. Fortescue'sIb. 270-1.Summonses to Parliament may beIb. 273. found in the Lords' Report, i.Ib. 304. These attendances at App. i. Part ii. gog, 914, 919, -924,the Privy Council do not,I think, 928, 933, 937,942, 946. They exwarrantus in speaking of For- tend from 1445 to 1460.tescue as a Privy Councillor, as