 Abt 1513 - 1572 (59 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
John Knox |
| Prefix |
Reverend |
| Birth |
Abt 1513 |
Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
24 Nov 1572 |
Edinburgh, Edinburghshire, Scotland |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
3 Dec 1926 |
SLAKE |
| FamilySearch ID |
KC2C-TT4 |
| Burial |
Edinburgh, Edinburghshire, Scotland |
| Person ID |
I89600 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
William Knox, b. 1486, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland d. 9 Sep 1513, Battle of Flodden, Branxton, Nothumberland, England (Age 27 years) |
| Mother |
Jeanette Sinclair, b. 1490, Caithness, Scotland |
| Marriage |
Bef 1505 |
| Family ID |
F29889 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Margaret Stewart, b. 1540, Ochiltree, Ayrshire, Scotland d. 1612, Giffords Gate, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland (Age 72 years) |
| Marriage |
26 Mar 1565 |
Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland |
| Children |
| | 1. John Knox, b. Abt 1566, Irongray, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland |
| | 2. Margaret Knox, b. 1567, Irongray, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland d. 24 May 1625, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland (Age 58 years) |
| + | 3. Elizabeth Knox, b. 28 Apr 1572, Irongray, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland d. 1 Aug 1625, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland (Age 53 years) |
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| Family ID |
F29886 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
21 Nov 2024 |
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| Notes |
- John Knox (c. 1514 – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, theologi a n, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was th e f ounder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Born in Giffordgate, Knox is believed to have been educated at the Unive r sity of St Andrews and worked as a notary-priest. Influenced by early c hu rch reformers such as George Wishart, he joined the movement to refor m th e Scottish church. He was caught up in the ecclesiastical and politi cal e vents that involved the murder of Cardinal David Beaton in 1546 an d the i ntervention of the regent Mary of Guise. He was taken prisoner b y Frenc h forces the following year and exiled to England on his releas e in 1549.
While in exile, Knox was licensed to work in the Church of England, whe r e he rose in the ranks to serve King Edward VI of England as a royal ch ap lain. He exerted a reforming influence on the text of the Book of Comm o n Prayer. In England, he met and married his first wife, Margery Bowes . W hen Mary I ascended the throne of England and re-established Roman Ca thol icism, Knox was forced to resign his position and leave the country . Kno x moved to Geneva and then to Frankfurt. In Geneva, he met John Cal vin, f rom whom he gained experience and knowledge of Reformed theology a nd Pres byterian polity. He created a new order of service, which was eve ntuall y adopted by the reformed church in Scotland. He left Geneva to he ad th e English refugee church in Frankfurt but he was forced to leave ov er dif ferences concerning the liturgy, thus ending his association wit h the Chu rch of England.
On his return to Scotland, Knox led the Protestant Reformation in Scotla n d, in partnership with the Scottish Protestant nobility. The movement m a y be seen as a revolution, since it led to the ousting of Mary of Guis e , who governed the country in the name of her young daughter Mary, Que e n of Scots. Knox helped write the new confession of faith and the eccle si astical order for the newly created reformed church, the Kirk. He cont inu ed to serve as the religious leader of the Protestants throughout Mar y' s reign. In several interviews with the Queen, Knox admonished her fo r su pporting Catholic practices. When she was imprisoned for her allege d rol e in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley and King James VI was e nthron ed in her stead, Knox openly called for her execution. He continue d to pr each until his final days.
Early life, 1505–1546
John Knox was born sometime between 1505 and 1515[1] in or near Haddingt o n, the county town of East Lothian.[2] His father, William Knox, wa s a me rchant.[3] All that is known of his mother is that her maiden nam e was Si nclair and that she died when John Knox was a child.[4] Their el dest son , William, carried on his father's business, which helped in Kno x's inter national communications.
Knox was probably educated at the grammar school in Haddington. In thi s t ime, the priesthood was the only path for those whose inclinations we re a cademic rather than mercantile or agricultural.[5] He Preceded to fu rthe r studies at the University of St Andrews or possibly at the Univers ity o f Glasgow. He studied under John Major, one of the greatest scholar s of t he time.[6] Knox was ordained a catholic priest in Edinburgh on Ea ster Ev e of 1536 by William Chisholm, Bishop of Dunblane.
Knox first appears in public records as a priest and a notary in 1540 . H e was still serving in these capacities as late as 1543 when he descr ibe d himself as a "minister of the sacred altar in the diocese of St. An drew s, notary by apostolic authority" in a notarial deed dated 27 March. [8] R ather than taking up parochial duties in a parish, he became tuto r to tw o sons of Hugh Douglas of Longniddry. He also taught the son of J ohn Cock burn of Ormiston. Both of these lairds had embraced the new reli gious ide as of the Reformation.
Embracing the Protestant Reformation, 1546–1547
Knox did not record when or how he was converted to the Protestant faith , [10] but perhaps the key formative influences on Knox were Patrick Hami lt on and George Wishart.[11] Wishart was a reformer who had fled Scotlan d i n 1538 to escape punishment for heresy. He first moved to England, wh er e in Bristol he preached against the veneration of the Virgin Mary. H e wa s forced to make a public recantation and was burned in effigy at th e Chu rch of St Nicholas as a sign of his abjuration. He then took refug e in Ge rmany and Switzerland. While on the Continent, he translated th e First He lvetic Confession into English.[12] He returned to Scotland i n 1544, bu t the timing of his return was unfortunate. In December 1543 , James Hamil ton, Duke of Châtellerault, the appointed regent for the in fant Mary, Que en of Scots, had decided with the Queen Mother, Mary of Gu ise, and Cardin al David Beaton to persecute the Protestant sect that ha d taken root in S cotland.[13] Wishart travelled throughout Scotland prea ching in favour o f the reformation and when he arrived in East Lothian , Knox became one o f his closest associates. Knox acted as his bodyguard , bearing a two-hand ed sword in order to defend him.[14] In December 154 5, Wishart was seize d on Beaton's orders by the Earl of Bothwell and tak en to the Castle of S t Andrews.[15] Knox was present on the night of Wis hart's arrest and wa s prepared to follow him into captivity, but Wishar t persuaded him agains t this course saying, "Nay, return to your bairn s [children] and God bles s you. One is sufficient for a sacrifice."[16 ] Wishart was subsequently p rosecuted by Beaton's Public Accuser of Here tics, Archdeacon John Lauder . On 1 March 1546, he was burnt at the stak e in the presence of Beaton.
Knox had avoided being arrested by Lord Bothwell through Wishart's advi c e to return to tutoring. He took shelter with Douglas in Longniddry.[1 8 ] Several months later he was still in charge of the pupils, the son s o f Douglas and Cockburn, who wearied of moving from place to place whi le b eing pursued. He toyed with the idea of fleeing to Germany and takin g hi s pupils with him. While Knox remained a fugitive, Beaton was murder ed o n 29 May 1546, within his residence, the Castle of St Andrews, b y a gan g of five persons in revenge for Wishart's execution. The assassi ns seize d the castle and eventually their families and friends took refu ge with t hem, about a hundred and fifty men in all. Among their friend s was Henr y Balnaves, a former secretary of state in the government, wh o negotiate d with England for the financial support of the rebels.[19] D ouglas and C ockburn suggested to Knox to take their sons to the relativ e safety of th e castle to continue their instruction in reformed doctrin e, and Knox arr ived at the castle on 10 April 1547.
Knox's powers as a preacher came to the attention of the chaplain of t h e garrison, John Rough. While Rough was preaching in the parish churc h o n the Protestant principle of the popular election of a pastor, he pr opos ed Knox to the congregation for that office. Knox did not relish th e idea . According to his own account, he burst into tears and fled to hi s room . Within a week, however, he was giving his first sermon to a cong regatio n that included his old teacher, John Major.[21] He expounded o n the seve nth chapter of the Book of Daniel, comparing the Pope with th e Antichrist . His sermon was marked by his consideration of the Bible a s his sole aut hority and the doctrine of justification by faith alone, t wo elements tha t would remain in his thoughts throughout the rest of hi s life. A few day s later, a debate was staged that allowed him to lay do wn additional thes es including the rejection of the Mass, Purgatory, an d prayers for the de ad.
Confinement in the French galleys, 1547–1549
John Knox's chaplaincy of the castle garrison was not to last long. Whi l e Hamilton was willing to negotiate with England to stop their suppor t o f the rebels and bring the castle back under his control, Mary of Gui se d ecided that it could be taken only by force and requested the king o f Fra nce, Henry II to intervene.[23] On 29 June 1547, 21 French galley s approa ched St Andrews under the command of Leone Strozzi, prior of Cap ua. The F rench besieged the castle and forced the surrender of the garri son on 3 1 July. The Protestant nobles and others, including Knox, were t aken pris oner and forced to row in the French galleys.[24] The galley sl aves wer e chained to benches and rowed throughout the day without a chan ge of pos ture while an officer watched over them with a whip in hand.[25 ] They sai led to France and navigated up the Seine to Rouen. The nobles , some of wh om would have an impact later in Knox's life such as Willia m Kirkcaldy an d Henry Balnaves, were sent to various castle-prisons in F rance.[26] Kno x and the other galley slaves continued to Nantes and stay ed on the Loir e throughout the winter. They were threatened with tortur e if they did no t give proper signs of reverence when mass was performe d on the ship. Kno x recounted an incident in which one Scot—possibly him self, as he tende d to narrate personal anecdotes in the third person—wa s required to sho w devotion to a picture of the Virgin Mary. The prisone r was told to giv e it a kiss of veneration. He refused and when the pict ure was pushed u p to his face, the prisoner seized the picture and thre w it into the sea , saying, "Let our Lady now save herself: she is ligh t enough: let her le arn to swim."[27] After that, according to Knox, th e Scottish prisoners w ere no longer forced to perform such devotions.
In summer 1548, the galleys returned to Scotland to scout for English sh i ps. Knox's health was now at its lowest point due to the severity of h i s confinement. He was ill with a fever and others on the ship were afra i d for his life. Even in this state, Knox recalled, his mind remained sh ar p and he comforted his fellow prisoners with hopes of release. While t h e ships were lying offshore between St Andrews and Dundee, the spire s o f the parish church where he preached appeared in view. James Balfou r , a fellow prisoner, asked Knox whether he recognised the landmark. H e re plied that he knew it well, recognising the steeple of the place whe re h e first preached and he declared that he would not die until he ha d preac hed there again.
In February 1549, after spending a total of 19 months in the galley-pris o n, Knox was released. It is uncertain how he obtained his liberty.[30 ] La ter in the year, Henry II arranged with Edward VI of England the rel eas e of all remaining Castilian prisoners.
Exile in England, 1549–1554
On his release, Knox took refuge in England. The Reformation in Englan d w as a less radical movement than its Continental counterparts, but the re w as a definite breach with Rome.[32] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Th oma s Cranmer, and the regent of King Edward VI, the Duke of Somerset, we re d ecidedly Protestant-minded. However, much work remained to bring ref orme d ideas to the clergy and to the people.[33] On 7 April 1549, Knox w as li censed to work in the Church of England. His first commission was i n Berw ick-upon-Tweed. He was obliged to use the recently released Book o f Commo n Prayer, which maintained the structure of the Sarum Rite whil e adaptin g the content to the doctrine of the reformed Church of England . Knox, ho wever, modified its use to accord with the doctrinal emphase s of the Cont inental reformers. In the pulpit he preached Protestant doc trines with gr eat effect as his congregation grew.
In England, Knox met his wife, Margery Bowes (died c. 1560). Her fathe r , Richard Bowes (died 1558), was a descendant of an old Durham family a n d her mother, Elizabeth Aske, was an heiress of a Yorkshire family, th e A skes of Richmondshire.[35][36] Elizabeth Bowes presumably met Knox wh en h e was employed in Berwick. Several letters reveal a close friendshi p betw een them.[37] It is not recorded when Knox married Margery Bowes.[ 38] Kno x attempted to obtain the consent of the Bowes family, but her fa ther an d her brother Robert Bowes were opposed to the marriage.
Towards the end of 1550, Knox was appointed a preacher of St Nicholas' C h urch in Newcastle upon Tyne. The following year he was appointed one o f t he six royal chaplains serving the King. On 16 October 1551, John Dud ley , 1st Duke of Northumberland, overthrew the Duke of Somerset to becom e th e new regent of the young King. Knox condemned the coup d'état i n a sermo n on All Saints Day. When Dudley visited Newcastle and listene d to his pr eaching in June 1552, he had mixed feelings about the fire-br and preacher , but he saw Knox as a potential asset. Knox was asked to co me to Londo n to preach before the Court. In his first sermon, he advocat ed a chang e for the second edition of the Book of Common Prayer. The lit urgy requir ed worshippers to kneel during communion. Knox and the othe r chaplains co nsidered this to be idolatry. It triggered a debate wher e Archbishop Cran mer was called upon to defend the practice. The end res ult was a compromi se in which the famous Black Rubric, which declared th at no adoration i s intended while kneeling, was included in the second e dition.
Soon afterwards, Dudley, who saw Knox as a useful political tool, offer e d him the bishopric of Rochester. Knox refused, and he returned to Newc as tle.[41] On 2 February 1553 Cranmer was ordered to appoint Knox as vic a r of All Hallows, Bread Street in London, placing him under the authori t y of the Bishop of London, Nicholas Ridley. Knox returned to London i n or der to deliver a sermon before the King and the Court during Lent an d h e again refused to take the assigned post. Knox was then told to prea ch i n Buckinghamshire and he remained there until Edward's death on 6 Ju ly.[4 2] Edward's successor, Mary Tudor, re-established Roman Catholicis m in En gland and restored the Mass in all the churches. With the countr y no long er safe for Protestant preachers, Knox left for the Continent i n Januar y 1554 on the advice of friends.[43] On the eve of his flight, h e wrote:
"Sometime I have thought that impossible it had been, so to have remov e d my affection from the realm of Scotland, that any realm or nation cou l d have been equal dear to me. But God I take to record in my conscienc e , that the troubles present (and appearing to be) in the realm of Engla n d are double more dolorous unto my heart than ever were the troubles o f S cotland."
From Geneva to Frankfurt and Scotland, 1554–1556
Knox disembarked in Dieppe, France, and continued to Geneva, where Joh n C alvin had established his authority. When Knox arrived Calvin was i n a di fficult position. He had recently overseen the Company of Pastors , whic h prosecuted charges of heresy against the scholar Michael Servetu s, alth ough Calvin himself was not capable of voting for or against a ci vil pena lty against Servetus.[45] Knox asked Calvin four difficult polit ical ques tions: whether a minor could rule by divine right, whether a fe male coul d rule and transfer sovereignty to her husband, whether peopl e should obe y ungodly or idolatrous rulers, and what party godly person s should follo w if they resisted an idolatrous ruler.[46] Calvin gave ca utious replie s and referred him to the Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinge r in Zürich. Bu llinger's responses were equally cautious; but Knox had a lready made up h is mind. On 20 July 1554, he published a pamphlet attack ing Mary Tudor an d the bishops who had brought her to the throne.[47] H e also attacked th e Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, calling him "no les s enemy to Christ tha n was Nero".
In a letter dated 24 September 1554, Knox received an invitation fro m a c ongregation of English exiles in Frankfurt to become one of their m iniste rs. He accepted the call with Calvin's blessing. But no sooner ha d he arr ived than he found himself in a conflict. The first set of refug ees to ar rive in Frankfurt had subscribed to a reformed liturgy and use d a modifie d version of the Book of Common Prayer. More recently arrive d refugees, h owever, including Edmund Grindal, the future Archbishop o f Canterbury, fa voured a stricter application of the book. When Knox an d a supporting col league, William Whittingham, wrote to Calvin for advic e, they were told t o avoid contention. Knox therefore agreed on a tempor ary order of servic e based on a compromise between the two sides. This d elicate balance wa s disturbed when a new batch of refugees arrived tha t included Richard Co x, one of the principal authors of the Book of Comm on Prayer. Cox brough t Knox's pamphlet attacking the emperor to the atte ntion of the Frankfur t authorities, who advised that Knox leave. His dep arture from Frankfur t on 26 March 1555 marked his final breach with th e Church of England.
After his return to Geneva, Knox was chosen to be the minister at a ne w p lace of worship petitioned from Calvin. In the meantime, Elizabeth Bo we s wrote to Knox, asking him to return to Margery in Scotland, which h e di d at the end of August.[50] Despite initial doubts about the state o f th e Reformation in Scotland, Knox found the country significantly chan ged s ince he was carried off in the galley in 1547. When he toured vario us par ts of Scotland preaching the reformed doctrines and liturgy, he wa s welco med by many of the nobility including two future regents of Scotl and, th e Earl of Moray and the Earl of Mar.
Though the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, made no move against Knox, his a c tivities caused concern among the church authorities. The bishops of Sc ot land viewed him as a threat to their authority and summoned him to app ea r in Edinburgh on 15 May 1556. He was accompanied to the trial by so m an y influential persons that the bishops decided to call the hearing off . K nox was now free to preach openly in Edinburgh. William Keith, the Ea rl M arischal, was impressed and urged Knox to write to the Queen Regent . Knox 's unusually respectful letter urged her to support the Reformatio n and o verthrow the church hierarchy. Queen Mary took the letter as a jo ke and i gnored it.
Return to Geneva, 1556–1559
The Auditoire de Calvin where Knox preached while in Geneva, 1556–1558
Shortly after Knox sent the letter to the Queen Regent, he suddenly anno u nced that he felt his duty was to return to Geneva. In the previous ye a r on 1 November 1555, the congregation in Geneva had elected Knox as th ei r minister and he decided to take up the post.[53] He wrote a final le tte r of advice to his supporters and left Scotland with his wife and mot her- in-law. He arrived in Geneva on 13 September 1556.
For the next two years, he lived a happy life in Geneva. He recommende d G eneva to his friends in England as the best place of asylum for Prote stan ts. In one letter he wrote:
"I neither fear nor eschame to say, is the most perfect school of Chri s t that ever was in the earth since the days of the apostles. In other p la ces I confess Christ to be truly preached; but manners and religion s o si ncerely reformed, I have not yet seen in any other place..."
Knox led a busy life in Geneva. He preached three sermons a week, each l a sting well over two hours. The services used a liturgy that was derive d b y Knox and other ministers from Calvin's Formes des Prières Ecclésias tiqu es.[56] The church in which he preached, the Église de Notre Dame l a Neuv e—now known as the Auditoire de Calvin—had been granted by the mun icipa l authorities, at Calvin's request, for the use of the English an d Italia n congregations. Knox's two sons, Nathaniel and Eleazar, were bo rn in Gen eva, with Whittingham and Myles Coverdale their respective godf athers.
In the summer of 1558, Knox published his best known pamphlet, The fir s t blast of the trumpet against the monstruous regiment of women. In cal li ng the "regimen" or rule of women "monstruous", he meant that it was " unn atural". Knox states that his purpose was to demonstrate "how abomina bl e before God is the Empire or Rule of a wicked woman, yea, of a traite res se and bastard".[58] The women rulers that Knox had in mind were Quee n Ma ry I of England and Mary of Guise, the Dowager Queen of Scotland an d rege nt on behalf of her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots. This biblica l positio n was not unusual in Knox's day; however, even he was aware tha t the pamp hlet was dangerously seditious.[59] He therefore published i t anonymousl y and did not tell Calvin, who denied knowledge of it unti l a year afte r its publication, that he had written it. In England, th e pamphlet was o fficially condemned by royal proclamation. The impact o f the document wa s complicated later that year, when Elizabeth Tudor bec ame Queen of Engla nd. Although Knox had not targeted Elizabeth, he had d eeply offended her , and she never forgave him.
With a Protestant on the throne, the English refugees in Geneva prepar e d to return home. Knox himself decided to return to Scotland. Before h i s departure, various honours were conferred on him, including the freed o m of the city of Geneva. Knox left in January 1559, but he did not arri v e in Scotland until 2 May 1559, owing to Elizabeth's refusal to issue h i m a passport through England.
Revolution and end of the regency, 1559–1560
Preaching of Knox before the Lords of the Congregation (in the Parish Ch u rch of St. Andrew's, 10 June 1559) by David Wilkie[61]
Two days after Knox arrived in Edinburgh, he Preceded to Dundee wher e a l arge number of Protestant sympathisers had gathered. Knox was decla red a n outlaw, and the Queen Regent summoned the Protestants to Stirling . Fear ing the possibility of a summary trial and execution, the Protesta nts Pre ceded instead to Perth, a walled town that could be defended in c ase o f a siege. At the church of St John the Baptist, Knox preached a fi ery se rmon and a small incident precipitated into a riot. A mob poured i nto th e church and it was soon gutted. The mob then attacked two friarie s in th e town, looting their gold and silver and smashing images. Mary o f Guis e gathered those nobles loyal to her and a small French army. Sh e dispatc hed the Earl of Argyll and Lord Moray to offer terms and aver t a war. Sh e promised not to send any French troops into Perth if the Pr otestants ev acuated the town. The Protestants agreed, but when the Quee n Regent enter ed Perth, she garrisoned it with Scottish soldiers on th e French pay roll . This was seen as treacherous by Lord Argyll and Lor d Moray, who both sw itched sides and joined Knox, who now based himsel f in St Andrews. Knox' s return to St Andrews fulfilled the prophecy he m ade in the galleys tha t he would one day preach again in its church. Whe n he did give a sermon , the effect was the same as in Perth. The peopl e engaged in vandalism an d looting.
With Protestant reinforcements arriving from neighbouring counties, th e Q ueen Regent retreated to Dunbar. By now, the mob fury had spilled ove r ce ntral Scotland. Her own troops were on the verge of mutiny. On 30 Ju ne, t he Protestant Lords of the Congregation occupied Edinburgh, thoug h they w ere able to hold it for only a month. But even before their arri val, th e mob had already sacked the churches and the friaries. On 1 July , Knox p reached from the pulpit of St Giles', the most influential in th e capital .[63] The Lords of the Congregation negotiated their withdrawa l from Edin burgh by the Articles of Leith signed 25 July 1559, and Mar y of Guise pro mised freedom of conscience.
Knox knew that the Queen Regent would ask for help from France. So he ne g otiated by letter under the assumed name John Sinclair with William Cec il , Elizabeth's chief adviser, for English support. Knox sailed secretl y t o Lindisfarne, off the northeast coast of England at the end of July , t o meet James Croft and Sir Henry Percy at Berwick upon Tweed. Knox wa s in discreet and news of his mission soon reached Mary of Guise. He retu rne d to Edinburgh telling Croft he had to return to his flock, and sugge ste d that Henry Balnaves should go to Cecil.
When additional French troops arrived in Leith, Edinburgh's seaport, t h e Protestants responded by retaking Edinburgh. This time, on 24 Octobe r 1 559, the Scottish nobility formally deposed Mary of Guise from the re genc y. Her secretary, William Maitland of Lethington, defected to the Pr otest ant side, bringing his administrative skills. From then on, Maitlan d too k over the political tasks, freeing Knox for the role of religiou s leader . For the final stage of the revolution, Maitland appealed to Sc ottish pa triotism to fight French domination. Following the Treaty of Be rwick, sup port from England finally arrived and by the end of March, a s ignifican t English army joined the Scottish Protestant forces. The sudde n death o f Mary of Guise in Edinburgh Castle on 10 June 1560 paved the w ay for a n end to hostilities, the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh, an d the wit hdrawal of French and English troops from Scotland. On 19 July , Knox hel d a National Thanksgiving Service at St Giles'.
Reformation in Scotland, 1560–1561
On 1 August, the Scottish Parliament met to settle religious issues. Kn o x and five other ministers were called upon to draw up a new confessio n o f faith. Within four days, the Scots Confession was presented to Parl iame nt, voted upon, and approved. A week later, the Parliament passed th ree a cts in one day: the first abolished the jurisdiction of the Pope i n Scotl and, the second condemned all doctrine and practice contrary to t he refor med faith, and the third forbade the celebration of Mass in Scot land. Bef ore the dissolution of Parliament, Knox and the other minister s were give n the task of organising the newly reformed church or the Kir k. They woul d work for several months on the Book of Discipline, the doc ument describ ing the organisation of the new church. During this period , in December 1 560, Knox's wife, Margery, died, leaving Knox to care fo r their two sons , aged three and a half and two years old. John Calvin , who had lost hi s own wife in 1549, wrote a letter of condolence.
Parliament reconvened on 15 January 1561 to consider the Book of Discipl i ne. The Kirk was to be run on democratic lines. Each congregation was f re e to choose or reject its own pastor, but once he was chosen he coul d no t be fired. Each parish was to be self-supporting, as far as possibl e. Th e bishops were replaced by ten to twelve "superintendents". The pla n incl uded a system of national education based on universality as a fun damenta l principle. Certain areas of law were placed under ecclesiastica l author ity.[69] The Parliament did not approve the plan, however, mainl y for rea sons of finance. The Kirk was to be financed out of the patrimo ny of th e Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Much of this was now in th e hands o f the nobles, who were reluctant to give up their possessions . A final de cision on the plan was delayed because of the impending retu rn of Mary, Q ueen of Scots.
Knox and Queen Mary, 1561–1564
On 19 August 1561, cannon were fired in Leith to announce Queen Mary's a r rival in Scotland. When she attended Mass being celebrated in the roya l c hapel at Holyrood Palace five days later, this prompted a protest i n whic h one of her servants was jostled. The next day she issued a procl amatio n that there would be no alteration in the current state of religi on an d that her servants should not be molested or troubled. Many noble s accep ted this, but not Knox. The following Sunday, he protested from t he pulpi t of St Giles'. As a result, just two weeks after her return, Ma ry summon ed Knox. She accused him of inciting a rebellion against her mo ther and o f writing a book against her own authority. Knox answered tha t as long a s her subjects found her rule convenient, he was willing to a ccept her go vernance, noting that Paul the Apostle had been willing to l ive under Ner o's rule. Mary noted, however, that he had written agains t the principl e of female rule itself. He responded that she should no t be troubled b y what had never harmed her. When Mary asked him whethe r subjects had a r ight to resist their ruler, he replied that if monarch s exceeded their la wful limits, they might be resisted, even by force.
Stained glass window showing John Knox admonishing Mary, Queen of Scots[ 7 2]
On 13 December 1562, Mary sent for Knox again after he gave a sermon den o uncing certain celebrations which Knox had interpreted as rejoicing a t th e expense of the Reformation. She charged that Knox spoke irreverent ly o f the Queen in order to make her appear contemptible to her subjects . Aft er Knox gave an explanation of the sermon, Mary stated that she di d not b lame Knox for the differences of opinion and asked that in the fu ture h e come to her directly if he heard anything about her that he disl iked. D espite her friendly gesture, Knox replied that he would continu e to voic e his convictions in his sermons and would not wait upon her.
During Easter in 1563, some priests in Ayrshire celebrated Mass, thus de f ying the law. Some Protestants tried to enforce the law themselves by a pp rehending these priests. This prompted Mary to summon Knox for the thi r d time. She asked Knox to use his influence to promote religious tolera ti on. He defended their actions and noted she was bound to uphold the la w s and if she did not, others would. Mary surprised Knox by agreeing th a t the priests would be brought to justice.
The most dramatic interview between Mary and Knox took place on 24 Jun e 1 563.[75] Mary summoned Knox to Holyrood after hearing that he had bee n pr eaching against her proposed marriage to Don Carlos, the son of Phil ip I I of Spain. Mary began by scolding Knox, then she burst into tears . "Wha t have ye to do with my marriage?" she asked, and "What are ye wit hin thi s commonwealth?"[76] "A subject born within the same, Madam," Kno x replie d.[76] He noted that though he was not of noble birth, he had th e same du ty as any subject to warn of dangers to the realm. When Mary st arted to c ry again, he said, "Madam, in God's presence I speak: I neve r delighted i n the weeping of any of God's creatures; yea I can scarcel y well abide th e tears of my own boys whom my own hand corrects, much le ss can I rejoic e in your Majesty's weeping."[77] He added that he woul d rather endure he r tears, however, than remain silent and "betray my Co mmonwealth". At thi s, Mary ordered him out of the room.
Knox's final encounter with Mary was prompted by an incident at Holyroo d . While Mary was absent from Edinburgh on her summer progress in 156 3 , a crowd forced its way into her private chapel as Mass was being cele br ated. During the altercation, the priest's life was threatened. As a r esu lt, two of the ringleaders, burgesses of Edinburgh, were scheduled fo r tr ial on 24 October 1563. In order to defend these men, Knox sent ou t lette rs calling the nobles to convene. Mary obtained one of these lett ers an d asked her advisors if this was not a treasonable act. Stewart an d Maitl and, wanting to keep good relations with both the Kirk and the Qu een, ask ed Knox to admit he was wrong and to settle the matter quietly . Knox refu sed and he defended himself in front of Mary and the Privy Co uncil. He ar gued that he had called a legal, not an illegal, assembly a s part of hi s duties as a minister of the Kirk. After he left, the counc illors vote d not to charge him with treason.
Final years in Edinburgh, 1564–1572
The High Kirk of Edinburgh, where Knox served as minister from 1560 to 1 5 72[80]
On 26 March 1564 Knox stirred controversy again, when he married Margar e t Stewart, the daughter of an old friend, Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Ochi lt ree, a member of the Stuart family and a distant relative of the Queen , M ary Stuart. The marriage was unusual because he was a widower of fift y, w hile the bride was only seventeen.[81] Very few details are known o f thei r domestic life. They had three daughters, Martha, Margaret, and E lizabet h.
When the General Assembly convened in June 1564, an argument broke out b e tween Knox and Maitland over the authority of the civil government. Mai tl and told Knox to refrain from stirring up emotions over Mary's insiste nc e on having mass celebrated and he quoted from Martin Luther and Joh n Cal vin about obedience to earthly rulers. Knox retorted that the Bibl e note s that Israel was punished when it followed an unfaithful king an d that t he Continental reformers were refuting arguments made by the Ana baptist s who rejected all forms of government. The debate revealed his w aning in fluence on political events as the nobility continued to suppor t Mary.
On 29 July 1565 when Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, some of t h e Protestant nobles, including James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, ros e u p in rebellion. Knox revealed his own objection while preaching in th e pr esence of the new King Consort on 19 August 1565. He made passing al lusio ns on ungodly rulers which caused Darnley to walk out. Knox was sum mone d and prohibited from preaching while the court was in Edinburgh.[84 ]
On 9 March 1566, Mary's secretary, David Rizzio, was murdered by conspir a tors loyal to Darnley. Mary escaped from Edinburgh to Dunbar and by 1 8 Ma rch returned with a formidable force. Knox fled to Kyle in Ayrshire , wher e he completed the major part of his magnum opus, History of the R eformat ion in Scotland.[85] When he returned to Edinburgh, he found th e Protesta nt nobles divided over what to do with Mary. Lord Darnley ha d been murder ed and the Queen almost immediately married the chief suspe ct, the Earl o f Bothwell. The indictment of murder thus upon her, she wa s forced to abd icate and was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle. Lord Mora y had become th e regent of King James VI. Other old friends of Knox's, L ord Argyll and W illiam Kirkcaldy, stood by Mary. On 29 July 1567, Knox p reached James VI' s coronation sermon at the church in Stirling. During t his period Knox th undered against her in his sermons, even to the poin t of calling for he r death. However, Mary's life was spared, and she esc aped on 2 May 1568.
The fighting in Scotland continued as a civil war. Lord Moray was assass i nated on 23 January 1570. The regent who succeeded him, the Earl of Len no x, was also a victim of violence. On 30 April 1571, the controller o f Edi nburgh Castle, Kirkcaldy of Grange, ordered all enemies of the Quee n to l eave the city. But for Knox, his former friend and fellow galley-s lave, h e made an exception. If Knox did not leave, he could stay in Edin burgh, b ut only if he remained captive in the castle. Knox chose to leav e, and o n 5 May he left for St Andrews. He continued to preach, spoke t o students , and worked on his History. At the end of July 1572, afte r a truce was c alled, he returned to Edinburgh. Although by this time ex ceedingly feebl e and his voice faint, he continued to preach at St Giles '.
After inducting his successor, Lawson of Aberdeen, as minister of St Gil e s' on 9 November, Knox returned to his home for the last time. With hi s f riends and some of the greatest Scottish nobles around him, he aske d fo r the Bible to be read aloud. On his last day, 24 November 1572, hi s youn g wife read from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.[88] A tes timon y to Knox was pronounced at his grave in the churchyard of St Giles ' by J ames Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton and newly elected regent of Scotl and: "H ere lies one who never feared any flesh".[89] After the churchyar d's dest ruction in 1633 the precise site of Knox's grave cannot be estab lished.
Legacy
In his will, Knox claimed: "None have I corrupted, none have I defraude d ; merchandise have I not made."[91] The paltry sum of money Knox bequea th ed to his family, which would have left them in dire poverty, showed t ha t he had not profited from his work in the Kirk. The regent, Lord Mort on , asked the General Assembly to continue paying his stipend to his wid o w for one year after his death, and the regent ensured that Knox's depe nd ents were decently supported.
Knox was survived by his five children and his second wife. Nathaniel a n d Eleazar, his two sons by his first wife, attended St John's College , Ca mbridge. Nathaniel became a Fellow of St John's but died early in 15 80. E leazar was ordained into the Church of England and served in the pa rish o f Clacton Magna. He also died young, and was buried in the chape l of St J ohn's College in 1591.[92] Knox's second wife, Margaret Stewart , got rema rried to Andrew Ker, one of those involved in the murder of Da vid Rizzio . Knox's three daughters also married: Martha to Alexander Fai rlie; Marga ret to Zachary Pont, son of Robert Pont and brother of Timoth y Pont; an d Elizabeth to John Welsh, a minister of the Kirk.
Knox's death was barely noticed at the time. Although his funeral was at t ended by the nobles of Scotland, no major politician or diplomat mentio ne d his death in their surviving letters. Mary, Queen of Scots made onl y tw o brief references to him in her letters.[94] However, what the rule rs fe ared were Knox's ideas more than Knox himself. He was a successfu l reform er and it was this philosophy of reformation that had a great im pact on t he English Puritans. He has also been described as having contr ibuted t o the struggle for genuine human freedom, by teaching a duty t o oppose un just government in order to bring about moral and spiritual c hange.[94]Hi s epitaph reads. Here lies one who feared God so much that h e never feare d the face of any man." A reference, no doubt from Matthe w 10:28 .
Knox was notable not so much for the overthrow of Roman Catholicism in S c otland, but for assuring the replacement of the established Christian r el igion with Presbyterianism rather than Anglicanism. It was thanks to K no x that the Presbyterian polity was established,[96] though it took 12 0 ye ars following his death for this to be achieved in 1689. Meanwhile , he ac cepted the status quo and was happy to see his friends appointe d bishop s and archbishops, even preaching at the inauguration of the Pro testant A rchbishop of St Andrews John Douglas in 1571.[97] In that regar d, Knox i s considered the notional founder of the Presbyterian denominat ion, whos e members number millions worldwide.
[Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Knox]
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