Laurence, the First Vicar: Founder of the Healing Church and the First Cleric Beast
Laurence was a scholar of Byrgenwerth who left his master, founded the Healing Church and became its first vicar. He also became the first cleric beast. In The Old Hunters he burns in the Nightmare, looking for a skull that can never give him back his memories.
Laurence was a scholar of Byrgenwerth and the founder and first vicar of the Healing Church. He took the old blood to Yharnam against his teacher's warnings, and in the end became the first cleric beast. In The Old Hunters he is a boss: a burning beast in the Nightmare Grand Cathedral, still guarding the place where he once preached. (Bloodborne; Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)
Who was Laurence?#
The game first shows Laurence in a vision. After Vicar Amelia falls in the Grand Cathedral, the player touches the large skull on the altar and sees Willem and Laurence. Laurence has come to bid his master farewell, and tells him, "I will not forget our adage." Willem recites it: "We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open." The two say "Fear the old blood" together, and Laurence takes his leave. (Bloodborne)
He didn't stay. Alfred says a group of young Byrgenwerth scholars found a holy medium in the tomb of the gods, leading to the founding of the Healing Church. Laurence's Skull names him first vicar of that church. (Bloodborne; Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)
Laurence and the Healing Church#
In the Grand Cathedral a note reads: "Heir to the ritual of blood, purveyor of ministration. Place your hand on the altar's sacred covering, and inscribe Master Laurence's adage upon your flesh." The adage itself is known throughout the Church as "the sacred adage of the Grand Cathedral". (Bloodborne)
The Lecture Building holds two notes that name him. One says: "Master Willem was right. Evolution without courage will be the ruin of our race." Another, near a note reading "Three third cords", says: "The nameless moon presence beckoned by Laurence and his associates. Paleblood." (Bloodborne)
Gehrman remembers him. Dozing in the garden of the Hunter's Dream, he mutters, "Oh, Laurence... what's taking you so long... I've grown too old for this". Later he begs Laurence and Willem to unshackle him from the dream. (Bloodborne)
The first cleric beast#
Laurence's end is stated outright in The Old Hunters. His skull is "Skull of Laurence, first vicar of the Healing Church. In reality he became the first cleric beast, and his human skull only exists within the Nightmare." The description goes on: the skull is a symbol of his past "and what he failed to protect". He is destined to seek it, but even if he found it, it could never restore his memories. (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)
The Sword Hunter Badge adds the wider pattern: many Church hunters were clerics, and clerics turned into the most hideous beasts. The skull on the altar in the waking Grand Cathedral is a beast's, not a man's. (Bloodborne)
Laurence in The Old Hunters#
In the Nightmare Grand Cathedral sits a cleric beast wreathed in flame. It doesn't move until the player has taken Laurence's Skull from beneath the Research Hall. Return, and Laurence, the First Vicar, rises. Late in the fight his legs give way and he drags himself on, bleeding fire. Defeating him gives the Beast's Embrace rune. (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)
His fight sits with the rest in the bosses guide, and the timeline shows where his story falls.
What fans read into Laurence#
- The most common reading is that Laurence's blood ministration started the scourge of beasts, and that he paid for it first. The skull and the cleric beast pattern support that, but the game never says he caused the plague. (Bloodborne; Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)
- Many players believe Laurence took part in the Fishing Hamlet massacre, since he is held in the Hunter's Nightmare, which Simon says sprouted from the hunters' misdeeds. He is never named at the hamlet. (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)
- His burning is often linked to the burning of Old Yharnam. A Central Yharnam note says Old Yharnam burned the night the hunt began, but no text ties that fire to Laurence. (Bloodborne; Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)
- "Laurence and his associates" is often read as including Gehrman, given the sleep talk, and the moon presence as the Moon Presence, the Great One behind the Hunter's Dream. Both readings are popular and unconfirmed. (Bloodborne)
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Laurence in Bloodborne?
- Laurence was a Byrgenwerth scholar and student of Master Willem who became the first vicar of the Healing Church. Laurence's Skull says he became the first cleric beast.
- Is the Cleric Beast Laurence?
- The Cleric Beast fought on the Great Bridge is not Laurence. Laurence, the First Vicar, is a separate boss in The Old Hunters: a cleric beast wreathed in fire in the Nightmare Grand Cathedral.
- Where is Laurence's Skull?
- In the Hunter's Nightmare, in The Old Hunters. Taking it to the Nightmare Grand Cathedral wakes Laurence for his boss fight.
- Did Laurence summon the Moon Presence?
- A note in the Lecture Building reads "The nameless moon presence beckoned by Laurence and his associates. Paleblood." The game says no more about how.
Sources
- GameBloodborne, FromSoftware, 2015
- GameBloodborne: The Old Hunters, FromSoftware, 2015 (expansion)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
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