He held his office during the remainder of the reign of Henry VI, to whom he was loyal; as a result, he was attainted of treason in the first parliament of Edward IV. When Henry subsequently fled to Scotland, he is supposed to have appointed Fortescue, who appears to have accompanied him in his flight, Chancellor of England. Fortescue referred to himself in this manner on the title page of "De Laudibus Legum Angliae", but as the King did not possess the Great Seal of England during his exile it has been suggested that the title was "nominal" and "merely illusory".