Key facts
- Appointed by
- James I
- Preceded by
- Sir Thomas Fleming
- Succeeded by
- Sir Henry Montagu
- Born
- 1 February 1552, Mileham , Breckland , Norfolk, England
- Died
- 3 September 1634 (aged 82), Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, England
- Spouse s
- Bridget Paston (died 1598), Elizabeth Cecil (died 1646)
- Alma mater
- Trinity College, Cambridge , Inner Temple
- Profession
- Barrister politician judge
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Edward
- Family name
- Coke
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of England
- Place of birth
- Mileham
- Place of death
- Stoke Poges
- Occupation
- jurist
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Award
- Knight Bachelor
- Image
- Edward coke.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- described by source
- The Nuttall Encyclopædia
- date of birth
- 1549-00-00
- member of
- Inner Temple
- date of death
- 1633-09-03
- Commons category
- Edward Coke
- Commons Creator page
- Edward Coke
- honorific prefix
- Sir
- P12749
- transphobia
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Sir Edward Coke (/kʊk/ CUUK, formerly /kuːk/; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.
Born into an upper-class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the Bar on 20 April 1578. As a barrister, he took part in several notable cases, including Slade's Case, before earning enough political favour to be elected to Parliament, where he served first as Solicitor General and then as Speaker of the House of Commons. Following a promotion to Attorney General he led the prosecution in several notable cases, including those against Robert Devereux, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. As a reward for his services he was first knighted and then made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Edward Coke” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.