William Laud

1573-1645. Churchman. Representing the more ornamental and Royalist branch of the Church of England.

William Laud was born in Reading October 7 1573, as the only son of William Laud, a clothier. Laud was educated at the Reading Grammar School. From there he went on to St. John’s College, Oxford, in 1589. He graduated B.A. in 1594, M.A. in 1598 and D.D. in 1608. In 1601 he was first ordained a deacon and later that year a priest. In 1608 he also entered the service of Richard Neile, bishop of Rochester – Laud was made Neile’s chaplain. Furthermore, Laud was elected president of St. John’s in 1611.

From 1611 he was a royal chaplain and came to the notice of King James I. He also became the Duke of Buckingham’s chaplain and confidant during his years of power. Laud also became a very dominant voice concerning church policies and appointments. In 1627 Laud became privy councillor and then in 1628 the bishop of London.

He fought against the Puritan clergy and thought of the Anglican Church as a branch of the universal church. Therefore he devoted himself to enforce a form of service strictly according to the Book of Common Prayer. In connection to this, new ceremonials as bowing when mentioning the name of Jesus were imposed. Moreover, churches were repaired and beautified. (Puritans saw this as a step back towards idolatry, superstition - in short: Catholicism). During his combat against the Puritan clergy, he tried to eliminate the Puritans from important positions within the Anglican church – he worked closely with Charles I, whose politics he strongly supported. When he became chancellor of Oxford University in 1629, he introduced reforms and new endowments to improve the university. He tried to make Oxford a royalist (and Laudian) stronghold by stamping out Calvinism.

In 1633, Laud became archbishop of Canterbury on the death of George Abbott. Hence, he held the highest churchly office in the Anglican Church – probably also because of the support of the Duke of Buckingham. Consequently, he continued his combat against the Puritans – for instance, he had Puritan propagandists such as William Prynne mutilated and imprisoned. This anti-Puritan policy caused violent opposition – not only from the Puritan’s movement. Laud’s only constant ally was Thomas Wentworth, who was lord deputy of Ireland from 1637 onwards and who later became the earl of Strafford. Later, by 1637, the attempts by Charles I and Laud to establish Anglican forms of worship in Scotland provoked severe resistance there. That is why in 1639 the Second Bishops’ Wars began. In December of 1640 the Long Parliament accused Laud of high treason and imprisoned him. His actual trial did not begin before 1644. Then on January 10, 1645, Laud was beheaded.

Sources:

Smith, George. The Dictionary of National Biography. London, 1882.

Pennington, D.H. "William Laud. Archbishop of Canterbury." Encyclopædia Britannica, first published online 20 July 1998, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/332198/William-Laud.