Attributed to Paul van Somer (ca. 1577-1622). Size: 39 wide by 49 inches. Accession O0089.
Law writer of the highest authority and battler for judicial freedom. As attorney general (1594-1606) Coke figured in many of the great trials of the period, fully meriting his reputation for prosecutorial savagery. As chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas (1606-1613) he resisted King James I's abuse of the royal prerogative, stating as an instance that royal proclamations contrary to law are null and void. He upheld the supremacy of common law and enunciated doctrines of individual liberty that would have a profound effect on history. The king believed that elevating Coke to the chief justiceship of the Court of King's Bench (lord chief justice of England) would render him a tool of the crown. Although thus promoted (1613), Coke proved as uncomplying as before. Finally he was dismissed (1616). Subsequently, as a member of Parliament, he helped frame the Petition of Right (1628).