play by Ben Jonson. As "the case is alter'd, quoth Plowden", it is attached to anecdotes. In one of them, while defending a gentleman charged with hearing Mass, Plowden worked out that the service had been performed by a layman for the sole purpose of informing against those present, and exclaimed, "The case is altered; no priest, no Mass", and thus secured an acquittal. Works Plowden is noted today for his legal scholarship and theory, in his written works: Les comentaries ou les reportes de Edmunde Plowden (1571) in law French. The Commentaries were abridged by Thomas Ashe (around 1597), and indexed by William Fleetwood. They contained a report by Plowden on the legal status of the Duchy of Lancaster in relation to The Crown, and its settlement by Henry IV of England. Plowden and Anthony Browne had, two decades earlier, formulated the theory of the King's Two Bodies to explain political arrangements; Ernst Kantorowicz has argued that this doctrine came to the fore in the 1560s, in debates over the status of the Duchy. Quares del Monsieur Plowden. A Treatise on Succession attempted to prove that Mary, Queen of Scots, was not debarred from the English throne under Henry VIII's will. Family Plowden married Catherine Sheldon of Beoley, daughter of the Worcestershire Member of Parliament William Sheldon; they had three sons and two daughters (Anne and Mary). Anne was the wife of Francis Perkins of Ufton, Berkshire, and Mary was the wife of Richard White of Hutton, Essex. Mary was also the mother of Thomas White. Plowden's sister Margaret inherited the Rossall estates and married Richard Sandford of Eglington. Plowden helped John Cole, husband of Alice Sandford, daughter of Richard, to gain the seat of in 1584. References External links Edmund Plowden Trust (Registered Charity) Plowden's Commentaries 1518 births 1585 deaths British legal scholars Lawyers from Shropshire English legal writers Recusants English Roman Catholics English legal professionals People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire People from Shiplake People from West Berkshire District Serjeants-at-law (England) Burials at the Temple Church English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1554–1555 English MPs 1555 16th-century Roman Catholics 16th-century English lawyers Politicians from Shropshire