Blessed Lawrence Booth

Lawrence Booth (c. 1420 – 1480) served as bishop of Durham and lord chancellor of England, before being appointed archbishop of York. The illegitimate son of John Booth, lord of the manor of Barton, near Eccles, Lancashire, he was half-brother of Sir Robert Booth of Dunham Massey, Cheshire. Booth read civil and canon law at Cambridge, graduating as licentiate (Lic.C.L.), before receiving 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, but cause for his beatification or canonization is yet to be introduced. Outside Cambridge, Booth's career was 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. 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 Prince-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.