Edward Coke
![A portrait of a brunette man in his 40s, with a brunette beard and mustache. He is wearing a shapeless black robe and a Jacobean ruff; to the right of his head is a coat of arms with a motto underneath it. On the bottom right of the portrait is a paragraph of indistinguishable text, while the entire picture is captioned "Given by the descendent Thomas William Coke 1780+".](/Images/godic/202501/10/Edward_coke1959.jpg")
![Trinity College, Cambridge, where Coke studied between 1567 and 1570](/Images/godic/202501/10/Trinity_College_Chapel,_Cambridge1959.jpg")
![The Court of King's Bench, where Coke brought his first case](/Images/godic/202501/10/Court_of_King's_Bench1959.JPG")
1959.jpg")
Sir Edward Coke SLPC (/ˈkʊk/ ("cook"), formerly /ˈkuːk/; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge and, later, opposition politician, who is considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle-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.