The Difference between an Absolute and Limited Monarchy

Fortescue was Chief Justice of the King's Bench^[1] until Henry VI was deposed in 1461 during the Wars of the Roses. Fortescue joined Henry in exile^[2] where he wrote the manuscript and was also tutor to Henry's son Edward.^[3]

The manuscript was written in English around 1471 provide the first discussion of the political and conceptual underpinnings of the common law, besides commenting on England's constitutional framework.^[4] In the Cotton library there is a manuscript of this work, and its title indicates that it was addressed to Henry VI. However, many passages show plainly that it was written in favour of Edward IV.^[2]

Written within the tradition of late medieval constitutional thought, the work distinguishes between dominium regale (often rendered as an absolute monarchy) and dominium politicum et regale (a limited monarchy), arguing that royal authority is best exercised under law and with the consent of the realm.^[1] Drawing on English legal practice, Fortescue contends that a limited monarchy more reliably secures justice, the liberties of subjects, and the common good. The treatise is frequently cited for its early articulation of constitutional ideas that later informed English political and legal theory.

The Difference between an Absolute and Limited Monarchy,^[5] based on Fortescue's 1471 manuscript, was published in 1714^[2] by a descendant, John Fortescue Aland.

A revised edition of this work, with a historical and biographical introduction, was published in 1885 by Charles Plummer^[2] under the title The Governance of England.^[6]