Lawrence Booth

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Lawrence Booth (d. 1480) studied 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.

Outside Cambridge, his career advanced quickly. In 1449 he was named a prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral and on November 2, 1456 he was named Dean of the Cathedral. He was also a prebendary at York and Lichfield.

Booth's activity was not confined to the church, he was also active in the government. He became Chancellor to Queen Margaret and, around 1456, he became keeper of the Privy Seal, and that same year on January 28 he was appointed one of the tutors and guardians of the Prince of Wales.

On September 15, 1456 he was appointed Bishop of Durham. This was both an important ecclesiastical appointment, and an equally important civil one, as the Bishop of Durham would exercise civil authority over a large area of northern England almost up to the reign of Queen Victoria.

Although a Lancastrian, after the fall of Henry VI Booth accommodated himself to the new realities. Although he temporarily lost control of the Bishopric of Durham, he was restored to it in 1464, when he made submission to King Edward IV. He took an active part in Edward's government thereafter and on July 27, 1473 was made Keeper of the Great Seal.

In 1476 he was translated to the Archbishopric of York, succeeding to the place his half brother had held until his death in 1464. He was archbishop until his own death in 1480, when he was buried beside his brother in the collegiate church of Southwell, which both he and his brother had liberally endowed.

Religious Posts
Preceded by: Robert Neville	Bishop of Durham 1456–1476	Succeeded by: William Dudley
Preceded by: George Neville	Archbishop of York 1476–1480	Succeeded by: Thomas Rotherham