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John Knox (1505,
1513 or
1514 –
1572) was a
Scottish
religious reformer who played the lead part in reforming the Church in Scotland
in a
Calvinist manner. He is widely regarded as the
father of the
Protestant Reformation in Scotland, and of the
Church of Scotland. He died in
Edinburgh
on
November 24, 1572.
Early life
Many of the details of Knox's early life are unclear. His place of birth is
not known for certain, though
Giffordgate, a suburb of the
burgh of
Haddington,
East
Lothian (16 miles/26
km east
of Edinburgh),
is the generally accepted location. He may have been born in either
1513 or
1514, though some
sources favour 1505.
His father, William Knox of
Haddingtonshire, had fought at the
Battle of Flodden; his mother's maiden name was Sinclair. The young Knox
received his education via the Scottish Church, which was regarded as "liberal"
when compared with the pre-reformation
Catholic
standards of the day.
The uncertainty about Knox's early life is such that it is not even known at
which
university he studied, since the dates and time he spent at college are
uncertain. He certainly studied under the celebrated
John Mair
(or John Major), a native, like Knox, of
East
Lothian and one of the greatest scholars of his time. Mair was at the
University of Glasgow in 1522 and at
St. Andrews in 1531. The name "John Knox" is listed amongst Glasgow's
incorporati in 1522, though it is also claimed that he went to St. Andrews.
Knox did not shine as an outstanding scholar when compared with
contemporaries such as
George Buchanan and
Alesius.
Indeed, there is no evidence that he even
graduated.
He did, however, know
Latin well, and was familiar with the works of
classical
writers, such as
Saint Augustine and
Saint Jerome.
From his writing it is clear that Knox learnt the
Greek and
Hebrew languages after ending his formal studies.
Knox is first mentioned as a
priest in
1540, and in
1543 he was still
an ordained
Catholic clergyman. A notarial instrument dated
27 March
1543 and signed by him in his capacity as a priest is still in existence, and is
kept in the charter-room at
Tyninghame Castle.
Up to this time, however, he seems to have employed himself in private
tuition, rather than in parochial duties. At the moment when he last signed his
name as a priest, he was probably already engaged in the office (which he held
for several years) of
tutor in the family of
Hugh Douglas of
Longniddry,
in East Lothian. He was also responsible for the education of the son of a
neighbour,
John
Cockburn of
Ormiston. Both of these lairds, like Knox himself, had an interest in new
religious ideas sweeping
Europe at this
time.
Conversion to Protestantism
Knox first publicly professed the
Protestant
faith about the end of
1545, though it is thought that his beliefs had been moving in that
direction for some time. According to
Calderwood,
it was
Thomas Guillaume, a fellow native of
East
Lothian, who was the first "to give Mr. Knox a taste of the truth."
Guillaume was originally a member of the order of
Blackfriars, and had been chaplain to
James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran,
Regent of
Scotland, for a short time in
1543.
However, it is thought that the Knox's actual conversion was probably the
result of his friendship with
George Wishart. Wishart, who had returned to Scotland in 1544 after a period
of banishment, had preached in favour of the reformation. Knox became one of
Wishart's closest associates, and he followed him everywhere. He acted as
Wishart's body-guard, bearing, it is said, a two-edged
sword in order to
defend Wishart against supporters of
Cardinal
David
Beaton, leader of the anti-Protestant movement within the Scottish church.
In December 1545, Wishart was seized on Beaton's orders, and transferred to
Edinburgh Castle on
19 January
1546. Knox was
present on the night of Wishart's arrest, and was prepared to follow him into
captivity, and consequently, in all probability death. Wishart persuaded him
against this course however, saying:
- "Nay, return to your bairns [children]. One is sufficient for a
sacrifice."
Wishart was subsequently tried for heresy and
burnt at the stake in
St Andrews
in March 1546. Knox went on to become a Protestant minister in St Andrews, a
place with which he had strong links throughout his life. It does not appear
that he was ever officially
ordained,
though he was already a priest in the
Catholic Church. An account of the proceedings connected with his call to
the ministry, together with a report of the first sermon he delivered in St.
Andrews, is found in his book,
History of the Reformation.
Confinement in the French galleys
After Beaton's death the
castle at St.
Andrews became a place of refuge for many Scottish Protestants, and Knox resided
there in relative peace along with his pupils, the sons of Longniddry and
Ormiston, for some several months. At end of July
1547, however, the
castle was attacked and captured by pro-Catholic
French forces.
Knox and some of the rest of the refugees were taken prisoner, and forced to row
in the French
galleys.
He spent eighteen months as a galley-slave, amid hardships and miseries which
are said to have permanently injured his health:
- "How long I continued prisoner [and] what torments I sustained in the
galleys, and what were the sobs of my heart, is now no time to recite."
He never gave up hope of returning to Scotland, and indeed was confident that
he would eventually do so. In his History (vol, i., p. 228), he gave
testimony to this fact by mentioning how, during the second visit of the galley
to Scotland he was asked by
James Balfour (a fellow prisoner) whether he knew where he was. Knox, who at
the time was so extremely sick that few hoped for his life, replied:
- "Yea, I know it well; for I see the steeple of that place where God first
in public opened my mouth to glory; and I am fully persuaded, how weak soever
I now appear, that I shall not depart this life, till that my tongue shall
glorify his godly name in the same place."
The French made attempts to have Knox renounce his Protestant beliefs, and
was on one occasion asked to kiss the feet of an image of the
Virgin Mary. He threw it into the sea, saying "let our lady now save
herself; for she is light enough; let her learn to swim".
Residence in England
On his release, which took place early in
1549, through the
intervention, apparently, of the English government, Knox found that, in the
existing state of the country, he could be of little use in his beloved
Scotland. For nearly ten years, accordingly, he submitted to voluntary exile,
like many of the worthiest of his countrymen in those troublous times. All those
years, however, he devoted himself to ministerial labors in connection with the
Reformed Church. His first sphere of duty was provided for him in England, for
the space of about five years as a minister of the English Church.
It is to be remembered that, during the whole reign of
Edward VI., the
Church of England was in a transition state; some of its most marked
peculiarities (to which Knox himself and others in Scotland and abroad afterward
objected) were then in
abeyance,
or at least not insisted upon as terms of communion. Thus the use of the
prayer-book was not enforced, neither was kneeling at the communion.
Episcopal
government was of course acknowledged; but Knox held his commission, as a
Reformed preacher, directly from the privy council, and was virtually
independent of diocesan jurisdiction. Moreover, he seems to have had no strong
objection to episcopacy itself, although he disapproved of "your proud prelates'
great dominions and charge, impossible by one man to be discharged;" and on
this, along with other grounds, he declined the bishopric of Rochester in
1552.
The offices he held in the Church of England are briefly indicated in the
History, which says, "He was first appointed preacher to
Berwick, then to
Newcastle; and last he was called to
London and to
the southern parts of England, where he remained till the death of King
Edward VI of England" (Works,i., p. 280).
From other sources it appears that in
1551 he was
appointed one of the six chaplains in ordinary to the king; and in this capacity
there was submitted to him, and, after revisal, he joined the other chaplains in
sanctioning, The Articles concerning an Uniformity in Religion of
1552, which became
the basis of the
Thirty-nine Articles (q. v.) of the
Church of England.
Europe and Geneva, 1554-1559
From England, after the death of Edward, Knox proceeded to the continent,
traveling for a time from place to place in some uncertainty. In Sept. 1554,
while living at
Geneva, he accepted in accordance with Calvin's counsel a call to the
English Church at Frankfurt. Here controversies in connection with vestments,
ceremonies, and the use of the English prayer-book met him, and, notwithstanding
the great moderation which he showed from first to last, led, in Mar., 1555, to
his resignation of his charge (cf. his treatise, A Brief Narrative of the
Troubles which Arose at Frankfurt, reprinted in Laing's ion of his
works). He returned to
Geneva, where
he was invited to become minister of the refugee English congregation. In
August, however, he was induced to set out for Scotland, where he remained for
nine months preaching Evangelical doctrine in various parts of the country, and
persuading those who favored the Reformation to cease from attendance at mass,
and to join with himself in the celebration of the Lord's Supper according to a
Reformed ritual.
In May, 1556, he was cited to appear before the hierarchy in Edinburgh, and
he boldly responded to the summons; but the bishops found it expedient not to
proceed with the trial. In July an urgent call from his congregation at Geneva,
along, probably, with the desire to prevent the renewal of persecution in
Scotland, caused him to resume his Genevan ministry. His marriage to Marjorie
Bowes, daughter of Richard Bowes, captain of Norham Castle, had meanwhile taken
place, and his wife along with her mother accompanied him to Geneva, where they
arrived in September.
The church in which he preached there (called the Eglise de Notre Dame la
Neuve) had been granted, at Calvin's solicitation, for the use of the English
and Italian congregations by the municipal authorities. Knox's life in Geneva
was no idle one. To preaching and clerical work of an exacting kind he added a
large correspondence; and he was constantly engaged in literary work. His
publications at Geneva included his
First Blast against the Monstrous Regiment [Rule] of Women; and his
long and elaborate treatise on
predestination (published 1560) was composed in Geneva.
With the exception of some months spent in
Dieppe, France (1557-58) when he was contemplating a return to Scotland, he
continued to officiate in Geneva (while deeply interested in his native land and
in constant communication with the reform party there) till Jan., 1559, when he
finally left for home.
Knox and Queen Mary
Queen Mary returned to Scotland in August,
1561, thoroughly
predisposed against Knox, while he and the other Reformers looked upon her with
anxiety and suspicion. Fundamental differences of character and training made a
keen encounter between the two inevitable. Five personal interviews between Knox
and the queen are recorded (each at Mary's invitation).
Some sources—for example, Schaff (2000:iii.lxx.vii)—portray
Knox as having an "unyielding and repelling" attitude towards Mary, and claim
that he was "harsh and uncourtierlike" with her. However, others—like Mackenzie
(1888:351)—deny this, pointing out Knox's experience in Courts during his
Chaplaincy for Edward VI. Mackenzie (1888:352) even claims that there was a most
remarkable character witness for Knox: Queen Mary.
- The last time he stood in her presence, Knox put it to her if he had ever
spoken an offensive word in any one of their interviews. The Queen, thus
appealed to, could not, and did not say that he ever had.
There is agreement, though, that Knox did sometimes upset Mary. Mackenzie
(1888:370-371) reports that Mary worked herself into an enormous fury during one
of her meetings with Knox, angry at his public opposition to her proposed
marriage to
Don Carlos, son of
Philip II of Spain.
Ministry in Edinburgh and private life
Knox's life from the time of his return to Scotland in
1559 is a part of
the history of his country and its full story is to be sought in the histories
of Scotland. Only details which have a more personal interest can be noted here.
When the Reformed religion was formally ratified by law in Scotland in 1560 he
was appointed minister of the Church of St. Giles, then the great parish church
of Edinburgh. He was at this time in the fulness of his powers, as is manifest
abundantly in the style of his History of the Reformation— a work which
appears to have been begun about 1559, and completed in the course of the next
six or seven years.
The History, if sometimes rough and even coarse in language, and not
always commendable in temper and spirit, is written with a force and vigor not
surpassed by any of his other writings-- of all which it may be said, that,
whatever their faults, they are works of true genius, and well worthy in their
character, upon the whole, of the great leader and statesman who wrote them.
At the very beginning of his labors as minister of Edinburgh, he had the
misfortune to lose his much-loved and helpful young wife, whom
John
Calvin described as suavissima. She left two sons, one of whom,
Nathanael, died at
Cambridge
in 1580; the other,
Eleazer, became vicar of Clacton Magna in the archdeaconry of Colchester and
died in 1591. In
1564 Knox made a
second marriage, which was greatly talked of at the time because the bride was
remotely connected with the royal family and still more because she was a maiden
of seventeen while Knox was three times as old. The young lady was Margaret
Stewart, daughter of Andrew, Lord Stewart of Ochiltree. She bore Knox three
daughters, of whom the youngest, Elizabeth, became the wife of the famous
John Welsh, minister of
Ayr.
At this time the Reformer lived a very laborious life. He was much engrossed
with the public affairs of the national Church, and at the same time devoted to
his work as a parish minister, to say nothing of his continual, and perhaps, in
his position, unavoidable controversies, more or less personal, with the
ecclesiastical and political factions of the day, which he regarded as his
country's enemies. He was, however, not without social and family enjoyments. A
fair stipend of four hundred marks Scots, equal to about forty-four pounds of
English money of that day, enabled him to exercise hospitality and to advance
money to a friend in need. He had a good house, which was provided and kept in
repair by the municipality.
His home, during the greater part of his ministry in
Edinburgh,
stood on the site now occupied by the City Council Chambers. Another house in
Edinburgh, still preserved with little change and known since the eighteenth
century at the latest as "John Knox's house," may have been occupied by him
toward the close of his life. With all his severity, there must have been much
sympathy in a man who was repeatedly invited to reconcile the sundered, husband
with wife, friend with friend. He lived in kindly relations with his neighbors,
many of whom, in every rank, were among his intimate friends, and he was not
indisposed to mirth and humor, of which, as of other traits of his character,
his writings furnish abundant evidence.
Personal appearance and manner
An interesting description of Knox's appearance, and especially of his style
as a preacher, in his later years, is furnished in the Diary of James
Melville (published by the
Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, 1829, pp. 26, 33). Melville was at the time a
student in St. Andrews, and the period he refers to is the year
1571, when Knox,
for his personal security, had, not for the first time in his life, taken refuge
in that city.
- "Of all the benefits I had that year," writes Melville, "was the coming of
that most notable prophet and apostle of our nation, Mr. John Knox, to St.
Andrews, who, by the faction of the queen occupying the castle and town of
Edinburgh, was compelled to remove therefrom, with a number of the best, and
chose to come to St. Andrews... Mr. Knox would sometimes come in, and repose
him in our college-yard, and call us scholars unto him, and bless us, and
exhort us to know God and his work in our country, and stand by the good
cause; to use our time well, and learn the good instructions, and follow the
good example, of our masters... He was very weak. I saw him every day of his
doctrine go hulie and fear [slowly and warily], with a furring of martriks
about his neck, a staff in the one hand, and good godly Richard Ballantyne,
his servant, holding up the other oxter [arm-pit], from the abbey to the
parish church; and by the said Richard and another servant lifted up to the
pulpit, where he behoved to lean at his first entry; but ere he had done with
his sermon, he was so active and vigorous that he was like to ding that pulpit
in blads and flee out of it."
A Latin epistle sent by
Sir Peter Young to
Theodore Beza in
1579, contains a description of the Reformer's personal appearance in later
years. His stature was "a little under middle height"; his "limbs were
graceful"; his head "of moderate size"; his face "longish"; his nose "beyond the
average length"; his forehead "rather narrow"; his brows "standing out like a
ridge"; his cheeks "somewhat full" as well as "ruddy"; his mouth "large"; his
"complexion darkish"; his eyes dark blue (or bluish grey) and his glance "keen";
his beard "black, with white hairs intermingled" and a "span and a half long."
In his countenance, which was "grave and severe," "a certain graciousness was
united with natural dignity and majesty."
Testimonies to his character
John Knox died as he had lived— full of faith, but always ready for conflict.
He found a devoted nurse in his young wife; and all the noblest and best men of
Scotland hung about his house for tidings of the progress of his malady, in the
vain hope of his being longer spared. His servant, Richard Ballantyne, after
detailing the incidents of his last hours, says of him:
- "Of this manner departit this man of God, the lycht of Scotland, the
comfort of the Kirke within the same, the mirrour of Godliness, and patrone
and example to all trew ministeris, in puritie of lyfe, soundness in doctrine,
and in bauldness in reproving of wicketness, and one that caired not the
favore of men (how great soever they were) to reprove thair abuses and synes .
. ."
- "What dexteritie in teiching, bauldness in reproving, and hatred of
wickedness was in him, my ignorant dulness is not able to declair."
A higher testimony to the worth of a man not without faults was pronounced at
his grave in the churchyard of St. Giles by the Earl of Mortoun, the regent of
Scotland, in the presence of an immense concourse, who had followed the body to
its last resting-place:
- "Here lyeth a man who in his life never feared the face of man, who hath
been often threatened with dagge and dagger, but yet hath ended his dayes in
peace and honour."
John Knox's gravesite at the Church of St Giles has been (along with various
other graves) covered over by a visitors car park. He is buried under car park
number 23.
Organization of the Church in Scotland
He arrived in Edinburgh
May 2,
1559. The time was
a critical one. During his absence the reform party had become more numerous,
more self-reliant and aggressive, and better consolidated. The queen dowager,
Mary of Lorraine, acting as regent for her daughter, the young
Mary I of Scotland, then in France, had become more desirous to crush the
Protestants and determined to use force. Civil war was imminent, but each side
shrank from the first step. Knox at once became the leader of the Reformers. He
preached against "idolatry" with the greatest boldness, and with the result that
what he calls the "rascal multitude" began the "purging" of churches and the
destruction of monasteries. Politics and religion were closely intertwined; the
Reformers were struggling to keep Scotland free from the yoke of
France, and did
not hesitate to seek the help of
England.
Knox negotiated with the English government to secure its support, and he
approved of the declaration of the lords of his party in Oct.,
1559, suspending
their allegiance to the regent. The death of the latter in June,
1560, opened the
way to a cessation of hostilities and an agreement leaving the settlement of
ecclesiastical questions to the Scottish estates. The doctrine, worship, and
government of the Roman Church were overthrown by the parliament of
1560 and
Protestantism was established as the national religion. Knox, assisted by five
other ministers, formulated the
confession of faith adopted at this time and drew up the constitution of the
new Church — the First Book of Discipline.
The church - or Kirk
- was organised on something approaching
presbyterian lines. Priests were replaced by ministers (from the
Latin for
servants), with each parish governed by the Kirk Session of elders, but
at this time the proposed replacement of
bishops with
"superintendents" was only partly implemented.
""""A man with God is always in the majority.
John
Knox
No one else holds or has held the place in the heart of the
world which Jesus holds. Other gods have been as devoutly worshipped; no other
man has been so devoutly loved.
John
Knox
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