William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury

Abstract

William Laud played a crucial role during the ‘personal’ rule of Charles I. First as Bishop of London, then as Archbishop of Canterbury, he was responsible for formulating the religious policies of the period. These policies reversed the previous tendency of a measure of at least tacit toleration for those who did not follow the King’s own beliefs. Under Charles I and Laud, deviation from a fairly carefully defined set of religious beliefs and practices frequently resulted in heavy fines and sometimes far harsher punishment. The extension of this more stringent policy to Scotland led to the ‘Bishops’ Wars’ and then the calling of the parliaments of 1640. This in turn secured Laud’s downfall as well as leading to Civil War and the eventual destruction of the monarchy. But Laud was not only concerned with religion. Along with Thomas Wentworth he enjoined the King to practise an efficient and uncorrupt style of government which they termed ‘Thorough’; but, while Wentworth spent the bulk of his time in the north of England and in Ireland, Laud was at the very centre of political life with frequent access to the King, so that there were few aspects of policy which were not influenced by him in the 1630s. Indeed Laud was one of the most influential ministers during the Personal Rule and consequently much of the blame for the government’s failings has fallen on him.