William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury
10 January -- Commemoration
If celebrated as a Lesser Festival,
Common of Martyrs, page 464
William Laud was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by his
friend and ecclesiastical ally, King Charles, in 1633. The
aim of both Archbishop and Monarch was to counter the
reforming Puritan movement, which emphasised personal and
ecclesial austerity as a means of sustaining conversion.
Laud was a High Churchman who felt that the majesty of God
should be reflected in the liturgy of the church and
rigorously set about ensuring that its ministers should
practise what he preached. His relentless approach left no
room for variance of practice -- but neither did the
Puritans -- and the latter had the upper hand in Parliament
and eventually impeached him in 1640 and imprisoned him in
the Tower of London. His friend the King did not -- or
could not -- come to his assistance and he was beheaded on
this day in 1645.