Laudianism was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud and his supporters. It rejected the predestination upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism in favour of free will, and hence the possibility of salvation for all men. Laudianism had a significant impact on the Anglican high church movement and its emphasis on liturgical ceremony and clerical hierarchy. Laudianism was the culmination of the move towards Arminianism in the Church of England, but was neither purely theological in nature, nor restricted to the English church.
William Laud, for whom "Laudianism" is named, was a leading High Church Anglican as Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Charles I.
William Laud was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms; he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 and executed towards the end of the First English Civil War in January 1645.
Portrait by Anthony van Dyck c. 1636
Stained glass windows in the Chapter House, Canterbury Cathedral, depicting Henry IV, Henry VIII, Thomas Cranmer and Laud
Altar, c. 1635, the centre of dispute between Puritans and Laudians, possibly consecrated by Laud himself
Etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, Laud being tried for treason, with several people present labelled
