Behold, I am become a reproach to thy holy name, by serving any ambition and the sins of others; which though I did by the persuasion of other men, yet my own conscience did cheek and upbraid me in it.

In 1605 somewhat against his will he obliged his patron Lord Devonshire by conducting his marriage to a divorcée Penelope Lady Rich. John's College Oxford. He was indeed far more inclined to make enemies than friends due to his irritable temper and the extraordinary sharpness with which he reprimanded anyone even his social superiors with whom he disagreed.

This and his support for King Charles I resulted in his beheading in the midst of the English Civil War. One of the High Church Caroline divines he opposed radical forms of Puritanism. William Laud (7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645.