William Gascoigne

For other people named William Gascoigne, see William Gascoigne (disambiguation).

Sir William Gascoigne (c. 1350 – 17 December 1419) was an English judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England during the reign of King Henry IV. He was renowned for his integrity and independence, upholding the principle that even the monarch was subject to the law.

Gascoigne notably refused Henry IV's demand to sentence the leaders of the 1405 northern rebellion—including Archbishop Richard le Scrope of York—without trial, insisting that they were entitled to be judged by their peers.

He is also remembered in popular tradition, though likely apocryphally, for committing the young Prince Hal to prison for contempt of court, a story that reinforced his image as the model of an impartial judge. Gascoigne appears as a character in Henry IV, Part 2 by William Shakespeare, where he symbolizes justice and restraint in contrast to the prince's youthful recklessness.

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