Lawrence Booth

For other people named Lawrence Booth, see Lawrence Booth (disambiguation).

Lawrence Booth
Archbishop of York
Church	Catholic
Appointed	1 September 1476
Term ended	19 May 1480
Predecessor	George Neville
Successor	Thomas Rotherham
Other post(s)	Lord Chancellor and Keeper of the Great Seal
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Durham Lord Chancellor
Orders
Ordination	1441
Consecration	25 September 1457
Personal details
Born	c. 1420 Barton, Lancashire
Died	19 May 1480 (aged 60) Southwell, Nottinghamshire
Buried	Southwell Minster
Nationality	English
Parents	John Booth (f.)
Alma mater	Pembroke Hall, Cambridge

Lawrence Booth (c. 1420 – 1480) served as Prince-Bishop of Durham and Lord Chancellor, before appointment as Archbishop of York.

Life

The illegitimate son of John Booth, lord of the manor of Barton, near Eccles, Lancashire, he was half-brother of Sir Robert Booth who established his family through marriage at Dunham Massey, Cheshire.

Lawrence Booth read civil and canon law at Cambridge, graduating as Licentiate (Lic.C.L.), before gaining a Doctor of Divinity (D.D.). He was elected Master of Pembroke Hall in 1450, a post he held until his death, and also served as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Whilst at Cambridge, where he started a movement for both a School of Arts and a School of Civil Law, he is believed to have produced his first miracle.

Outside Cambridge, Booth's career also advanced quickly helped by his half-brother William Booth, who was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield (1447–1452) and Archbishop of York (1452–1464). In 1449, he was appointed a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral and, on 2 November 1456, became dean of St Paul's Cathedral. He was also a prebendary of York Minster and of Lichfield Cathedral. From 1454 to 1457 he was Archdeacon of Richmond.

Booth's influence was not confined to the Church; he was also active in government. He was chancellor to Margaret of Anjou and, in about 1456, he became Keeper of the Privy Seal, 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. In 1457 he also served briefly as Provost of Beverley Minster.

On 25 September 1457, Booth was installed as Bishop of Durham.

Although from a Lancastrian family, he cultivated relations with the Yorkists and, after the fall of Henry VI, Booth adapted himself to the new status quo. He submitted himself to King Edward (the former Earl of March) in April 1461, and by the end of June, Booth was beating back a raid led by the lords de Ros, Dacre and Rugemont-Grey who brought Henry VI over the border to try to raise a rebellion in the north of England. Edward named him his confessor. Although he temporarily lost control of the see of Durham, it was restored to him in 1464, after making a submission to Edward IV; he was successful in part by being a prelate who was never imprisoned in that era. He took an active part in Edward's government thereafter and on 27 July 1473 was appointed Lord Chancellor, serving until May 1474. 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.

In 1476 Booth was translated to the see of York, following on from where his half-brother was archbishop until his death in 1464. He was the only prelate at Edward IV's accession ever promoted to higher office.

Booth served as Archbishop of York until his death on 19 May 1480, and is buried beside William Booth, in the Collegiate Church of Southwell, which both he and his brother generously endowed.

References

• Davies, Richard G. (1995). "The Church and the Wars of the Roses". In Pollard, A. J. (ed.). The Wars of the Roses. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-12697-2.
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
• Horn, Joyce M. (1963). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541: volume 5: St Paul's, London: Deans of St Paul's. Institute of Historical Research.
• Jones, B. (1963). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541: Volume 6: Northern province (York, Carlisle and Durham): Archdeacons: Richmond. Institute of Historical Research.
• Jones, B. (1963). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541: Volume 6: Northern province (York, Carlisle and Durham): Prebendaries: Wistow. Institute of Historical Research.
• Jones, B. (1964). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541: Volume 10: Coventry and Lichfield diocese: Prebendaries: Gaia Major. Institute of Historical Research.
• Jones, B. (1964). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541: Volume 10: Coventry and Lichfield diocese: Prebendaries: Offley. Institute of Historical Research.
• Pollard, A. J. (2004). "Booth, Laurence (c.1420–1480)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (January 2008 ed.). Oxford University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: External link in |format= (help)
• Ross, Charles (1974). Edward IV. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02781-7.
• Seward, Desmond (1995). The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-84258-3.