Archbishop William Laud (7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism. This and his support for King Charles I resulted in his beheading in the midst of the English Civil War.
Laud was born in a house on Broad Street in Reading, of comparatively low origins, his father, also William, having been a cloth merchant (a fact about which...
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Archbishop William Laud (7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism. This and his support for King Charles I resulted in his beheading in the midst of the English Civil War.
Laud was born in a house on Broad Street in Reading, of comparatively low origins, his father, also William, having been a cloth merchant (a fact about which he was to remain sensitive throughout his career). He was educated at Reading School and, through a White Scholarship, St John's College, Oxford. He was baptized at St Laurence's Church in Reading.
Laud was ordained on 5 April 1601 and his Arminian, High Church tendencies and antipathy to Puritanism, combined with his intellectual and organisational brilliance, soon gained him a reputation. At that time the Calvinist party was strong in the Church of England and Laud's affirmation of apostolic succession was unpopular in many quarters. In...
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