Lawrence Booth
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| Lawrence Booth | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of York | |
| Enthroned | unknown |
| Reign ended | 19 May 1480 |
| Predecessor | George Neville |
| Successor | Thomas Rotherham |
| Consecration | translated 8 October 1476 |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 19 May 1480 |
| Buried | Southwell Minster |
Lawrence Booth (c. 1420 – 1480) was Bishop of Durham and then Archbishop of York.
[edit] Life
A scion of the ancient Cheshire family of Booth, Booth started out reading both civil and canon law at Pembroke Hall in Cambridge, becoming a licentiate. He was appointed Master of his college in 1450, a post he held until his death, and later was appointed Chancellor of the University. During his residence at Cambridge, he started a movement for both an arts school and a school of civil law, where it is believed he produced his first miracle.
Outside Cambridge, his career also advanced quickly. In 1449, he was named a Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral and on 2 November 1456 he was named Dean of the Cathedral. He was also a Prebendary of York and of Lichfield.
Booth's activity was not confined to the Church; he was also active in the Government. He became Chancellor to Queen Margaret and, in about 1456, he became Keeper of the Privy Seal,[1] and in that same year on 28 January he was also appointed one of the tutors and guardians of the Prince of Wales. He was Lord Privy Seal until 1460.[1]
On 25 September 1456, he was installed as Bishop of Durham.[2] This was both an important ecclesiastical appointment, and an equally important civil one, as the Bishop of Durham enjoyed civil authority over a large area of northern England almost until the reign of Queen Victoria.
Although a Lancastrian, after the fall of Henry VI Booth adapted himself to the new status quo. He submitted to Edward in April of 1461, and at the end of June beat back a raid led by the Lords Ros, Dacre and Rougemont-Grey who brought Henry VI over the border to try and raise a rebellion in the north of England.[3] Edward named him his confessor.[4] Although he temporarily lost control of the See of Durham, it was restored to him in 1464, when he made submission to King Edward IV, and he was never imprisoned.[5] He took an active part in Edward's government thereafter and on 27 July 1473 was made Keeper of the Great Seal, which office he held until May of 1474.[6] In October 1473 he led a delegation to Scotland to formally sign the marriage treaty between the newborn son (later James IV of Scotland) of James III and Edward's third daughter Cecily.[7]
In 1476, he was translated to the Archdiocese of York,[8] following on from where his half-brother had been until his death in 1464. He was the only Bishop that Edward IV inherited that was ever promoted to higher office.[9] He was Archbishop until his own death on 19 May 1480,[8] when he was buried beside his brother in the Collegiate church of Southwell, which both he and his brother had liberally endowed.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 95
- ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 242
- ^ Ross Edward IV p. 45-6
- ^ Seward The Wars of the Roses p. 85
- ^ Davies "The Church and the Wars of the Roses" in The Wars of the Roses p. 141
- ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 87
- ^ Ross Edward IV p. 213
- ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 282
- ^ Ross Edward IV p. 318
[edit] References
- Davies, Richard G. "The Church and the Wars of the Roses" in The Wars of the Roses ed. by A. J. Pollard New York: St. Martin's Press 1995 ISBN 0-312-12697-2
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third Edition, revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Ross, Charles Edward IV Berkeley: University of California Press 1974 ISBN 0-520-02781-7
- Seward, Desmond The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century New York:Viking 1995 ISBN 0-670-84258-3
- A. J. Pollard, ‘Booth , Laurence (c.1420–1480)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Lisieux |
Lord Privy Seal 1456–1460 |
Succeeded by Robert Stillington |
| Preceded by Robert Stillington |
Lord Chancellor 1473–1474 |
Succeeded by John Alcock |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded by Robert Neville |
Bishop of Durham 1456–1476 |
Succeeded by William Dudley |
| Preceded by George Neville |
Archbishop of York 1476–1480 |
Succeeded by Thomas Rotherham |
|
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