1552-1634. Lord Chief Justice of England
1613-17. He was a defender of common law
against royal prerogative; against Charles I
he drew up the Petition of Right 1628, which
defines and protects Parliament's liberties.
Coke was called to the Bar in 1578, and in
1592 became speaker of the House of Commons
and solicitor-general. As attorney-general
from 1594 he conducted the prosecution of
Elizabeth I's former favourites Essex and
Raleigh, and of the Gunpowder Plot
conspirators. In 1606 he became Chief Justice
of the Common Pleas, and began his struggle,
as champion of the common law, against James
I's attempts to exalt the royal prerogative.
An attempt to silence him by promoting him to
the dignity of Lord Chief Justice proved
unsuccessful, and from 1620 he led the
parliamentary opposition and the attack on
Charles I's adviser Buckingham. Coke's
Institutes are a legal classic, and he ranks
as the supreme common lawyer.