"King Under Law":On Fortescue's In Praise Of The Laws Of England

The chaos in England under the rule of Henry VI made Fortescue,the grand judge,called for the emergence of a powerful king.In this context,Fortescue puts forward his own legal and political thoughts.But the historical opportunity and the strong purpose of the article made Fortescue as a political thinker.His legal thoughts were selectively ignored.But because its political thought is based on the legal thought,it must attach importance to its legal thought while stressing its political thought.In the common law history,Fortescue is an indispensable person.His importance is not due to his profound and systematic discussion of the common law theory.because he continues and develops the common law spirit of “king under law” from Glanville to Bracton.The “law” of his predecessor “king under law” was extended from the natural law to the more practical and operational common law and the formulation law.In addition,Fortescue extends his theory from the angle of law to the political point of view,then puts forward his political thought,in the same time Fortescue's political thought develops Aristotle's theory and Aquinas' s theory which was popular solution to the kingship in medieval ages.Of course,historical trend of all of Fortescue's theory must based on the English history in that time.If there is no legal community and the Lancaster parliament culture system,Fortescue's theory may only be theoretical.Though Fortescue still uses his predecessor Bracton created the “king under law”tradition,but this “king under law” is not that “king under law”.This article attempts to analyze Fortescue's legal and political thoughts from the In Praise of Laws of the England which is one of Fortescue's trilogy.From the three questions to uncover the veil of the “king under law”: first,which law does the “law” of “king under law” means;second,what king does the “king” of “king under law” means;third,what institutions do we need to achieve“king under law”.Through the answers to these three questions,we will understand the regional characteristics that are produced under the unique social and institutional environment of the United Kingdom.This paper mainly consists of three parts: introduction,body and epilogue.The introduction briefly introduces Fortescue's thought researches both at home and abroad,and introduces the reason why the topic is selected.The text is divided into four parts.The first part briefly outlines the historical background of Fortescue's thought.In thetheoretical background,the main sources of political thought are introduced from Aristotle's Politics and Saint Thomas' s On Princely Government.The second part mainly is to tell the “law” of “king under law" law refers to those laws and “deceive” the king to recognize the importance of the law.And this is the foundation of the whole “king under law” theory building.The third part mainly discusses what kind of king do we need in “king under law”,whether it is absolute monarchy or limited monarchy,and the rebel and theoretical development of Fortescue.The fourth part mainly discusses the supporting measures needed under the theoretical framework of “king under law”,and the importance of Parliament and legal professional community,as well as a brief introduction to them.The concluding part summarizes the theory put forward by Fortescue.The elasticity of the theory of “king under law” makes Fortescue's theoretical vitality very long.Of course,as the text implies,it is closely related to the unique social and historical environment of England.