William Laud was Archibishop of Canterbury during the reign of Charles I (1625-1649). Shortly after Charles's succession, Laud presented him with a list of England's ministers, divided into "O" (for orthodox) and "P" (for Puritan). This began a feud that led to the persecution of many Puritans and the beheading of Laud himself once the Puritans came to power. Laud was also at odds with Catholics, as may be seen from this conference or discussion with "Fisher the Jesuit." Fisher was often imprisoned but lived into old age and died a natural death of cancer in about 1642. His name was brought up at Laud's trial, one of the accusations against Laud being that he had protected Fisher and secured his release from prison. "A.C.," mentioned on the title page, probably stands for "A Catholic."
