FORTESCUE, SIR JOHN (c. 1531-1607), English states man, was the eldest son of Sir Adrian Fortescue (executed in , and of his second wife, Anne Reade or Rede. Through his father's mother, Alice, daughter of Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, he was connected with Queen Elizabeth. He directed the Princess Eliza beth's classical studies in Mary's reign, and, on his pupil's acces sion, was appointed keeper of the great wardrobe. He entered parliament in 1572. In 1589 he was appointed chancellor of the exchequer and a member of the privy council. In 1592 he was knighted, and in Nov. 160I, in addition to his two great offices, he received the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster. He was a member of the court of the star chamber and an ecclesiastical commissioner, sat on various important commissions, and as chancellor of the exchequer explained the queen's financial needs and proposed subsidies in parliament. He was deprived by James of the chancellorship of the exchequer, but retained his two other offices. In 1604 Sir John, who stood for Buckinghamshire, was defeated by Sir Francis Goodwin, whose election, however, was declared void by the lord chancellor on the ground of a sentence of outlawry under which he lay, and Fortescue was by a second election returned in his place. This incident gave rise to a violent controversy, regarding the chancellor's jurisdiction in deciding disputed elections to parliament, which was repudiated by the Commons but maintained by the king. The matter after much debate was ended by a compromise, which, while leaving the prin ciple unsettled, set aside the elections of both candidates and issued a new writ. Fortescue died on Dec. 23, 1607.