Lawrence Booth

Infobox Archbishop of York
name = Lawrence Booth


consecration = translated 8 October 1476
began = unknown
term_end = 19 May 1480
predecessor = George Neville
successor = Thomas Rotherham
birth_date =
birthplace =
death_date = 19 May 1480
deathplace =
tomb = Southwell Minster

Lawrence Booth (c. 1420 – 1480) was Bishop of Durham and then Archbishop of York.

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,Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 95] 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.

On 25 September 1456, he was installed as Bishop of Durham.Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 242] 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.Ross "Edward IV" p. 45-6] Edward named him his confessor.Seward "The Wars of the Roses" p. 85] 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.Davies "The Church and the Wars of the Roses" in "The Wars of the Roses" p. 141] 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.Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 87] In October of 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.Ross "Edward IV" p. 213]

In 1476, he was translated to the Archdiocese of York,Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 282] 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.Ross "Edward IV" p. 318] He was Archbishop until his own death on 19 May 1480, when he was buried beside his brother in the Collegiate church of Southwell, which both he and his brother had liberally endowed.

Notes

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
*
* 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, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2888 ‘Booth , Laurence (c.1420–1480)’] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008

Persondata
NAME= Booth, Lawrence
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Booth, Laurence; Bothe, Lawrence; Bothe, Laurence
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Lord Privy Seal; Lord Chancellor; Bishop of Durham; Archbishop of York
DATE OF BIRTH=c. 1420
PLACE OF BIRTH=Barton, Lancashire
DATE OF DEATH=19 May 1480
PLACE OF DEATH=Southwell, Nottinghamshire