John Knox
John Knox (
1505,
1513 or
1514 â€"
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.
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.
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.
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".
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 labours 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.
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 edition 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 favoured 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.
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 â€" 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.
|
John Knox admonishing Mary Queen of Scots. Stained glass window in Covenant Presbyterian Church, Long Beach, California, USA. |
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 sourcesâ€"for example, Schaff (
2000:iii.lxx.vii)â€"portray Knox as having an "unyielding and repelling" attitude towards Mary, and claim that he was "harsh and uncourtierlike" with her. However, othersâ€"like Mackenzie (1888:351)â€"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.
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 Reformationâ€" 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 vigour 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.
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."
John Knox died as he had livedâ€" 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.
*
Knox College (disambiguation) for learning institution(s) named after Knox
*Mackenzie, The Reverend James,
The History of Scotland, London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1888.
*Schaff, Philip,
The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VI: Innocents - Liudger, Grand Rapids: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2000-01-27, v0.1.
*
Free ebook of John Knox at
Project Gutenberg*
A lot of Knox's works at www.swrb.com
