Lawrence Booth

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

The Most ReverendandRight Honourable Lawrence Booth
Archbishop of YorkandPrimate of England
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
Orders
Ordination	1441
Consecration	25 September 1457
Personal details
Born	c. 1420 Barton, Lancashire,England
Died	19 May 1480 (aged 60) Cawood Castle, Yorkshire
Buried	Southwell Minster
Denomination	Catholic
Previous post(s)	Prince-Bishop of Durham Dean of St Paul's
Alma mater	Pembroke Hall, Cambridge
Coat of arms

Lawrence Booth(c. 1420– 1480) served asbishop of Durhamandlord chancellor of England,before being appointedarchbishop of York.

Life

The illegitimate son of John Booth,lord of the manorofBarton,nearEccles,Lancashire,he was half-brother of Sir Robert Booth ofDunham Massey,Cheshire.

Booth readcivilandcanon lawatCambridge,graduating aslicentiate(Lic.C.L.), before receiving aDoctor of Divinity(D.D.). He was electedMasterofPembroke Hallin 1450, a post he held until his death, and also served asChancellor of the University of Cambridge.Whilst atCambridge,where he started a movement for both aSchoolofArtsand aSchool of Civil Law,he is believed to have produced his firstmiracle,but cause for hisbeatificationorcanonizationis yet to be introduced.

Outside Cambridge, Booth's career was helped by his half-brotherWilliam Booth,who wasBishop of Coventry and Lichfield(1447–1452) andArchbishop of York(1452–1464).In 1449, he was appointed aprebendaryofSt Paul's Cathedraland, on 2 November 1456, becameDeanofSt Paul's.He was also a prebendary ofYork Minsterand ofLichfield Cathedral.From 1454 to 1457 he wasArchdeacon of Richmond.

Booth's influence was not confined to theChurch;he was also active in government. He waschancellortoMargaret of Anjouand, in about 1456, he becameKeeper of the Privy Seal,and in that same year on 28 January he was also appointed one of the tutors and guardians of thePrince of Wales.He wasLord Privy Sealuntil 1460.In 1457 he also served briefly asProvost of Beverley Minster.

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

Although from aLancastrianfamily, he cultivated relations with theYorkistsand, after the fall ofHenry VI,Booth adapted himself to the newstatus quo.He submitted himself to KingEdward (the former Earl of March)in April 1461, and by the end of June, Booth defeated a raid led by theLordsde Ros,DacreandRugemont-Greywho brought Henry VI over the border to try to raise a rebellion in the north of England.King Edward named him hisconfessor.Although he temporarily lost control of thepalatinate of Durham,he was restored 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 resumed activity in Edward's governmentthereafter being appointed, on 27 July 1473,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 (laterJames IV of Scotland) ofJames IIIand Edward's third daughterCecily.

In 1476 Booth wastranslatedto thesee of York,previously held by his half-brother. He was the onlyprelateafter King 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 theCollegiate Church of Southwell,which they both generously endowed.

See also

• Booth baronets– Baronetcy in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
• York Minster– Grade I listed cathedral in England

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.ISBN0-312-12697-2.
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996).Handbook of British Chronology(Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-56350-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)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(January 2008 ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2888.(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
• Ross, Charles(1974).Edward IV.Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-02781-7.
• Seward, Desmond (1995).The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century.New York: Viking.ISBN0-670-84258-3.