Archbishop of Canterbury in 1707) monarch. Since the 20th century, the appointment of Archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternates between Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals. The current archbishop, Justin Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 4 February 2013. As archbishop he signs himself as "+ Justin Cantuar". His predecessor, Rowan Williams, 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 27 February 2003. Immediately prior to his appointment to Canterbury, Williams was the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of Wales. On 18 March 2012, Williams announced he would be stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury at the end of
Trial of Archbishop Laud Trial of Archbishop Laud The trial of William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, took place in stages in the first half of the 1640s, and resulted in his execution on treason charges. At first an impeachment, the parliamentary legal proceedings became an act of attainder. Arrested in late 1640, Laud was held initially for tactical reasons in the struggle between Charles I of England and the English parliament. When charges were actually brought, their main thrust was that Laud had run an ecclesiastical state within a state. This was supposed to have happened under the cover of the personal rule of