Charles I. 1625-1649. Silver Medal 1644, 80.70 g. Execution of Archbishop William Laud. By J. Roettier. Bust in robes and cap. GVIL . LAVD . ARCHIEPISC . CANTVAR . X . IAN . 1644. Rv. Infant angel, ascending to heaven, carrying mitre and crozier, followed by two others bearing the King's crown, sceptre and orb, below view of London. SANCTI . CAROLI . PRÆCVRSOR. Plain edge. 58.4 mm. Eimer 145. MI i 315/147. van Loon II, 273. Saunders/Vanhoudt 1644-6. Vorzüglich / Extremely Fine. Feine Patina / Nicely toned.

Purchased from S & B, Great Missenden, November 1996, lot M210.

William Laud (7 October 1573 - 10 January 1645) 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 and he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 and executed towards the end of the First English Civil War in January 1645.

The Long Parliament of 1640 accused Laud of treason and, in the Grand Remonstrance of 1641, called for his imprisonment. In the spring of 1644, he was brought to trial which ended without a verdict. Parliament took up the issue and eventually passed a bill of attainder, under which Laud was beheaded on Tower Hill on 10 January 1645.