John Knox

Lore & Background

Knox's early life was marked by danger. After the execution of reformer George Wishart on 1 March 1546, Knox became a fugitive, sheltering with Douglas in Longniddry and tutoring his sons. When Cardinal David Beaton was murdered on 29 May 1546 in revenge for Wishart's death, a group of about one hundred and fifty men seized the Castle of St Andrews. Douglas and Cockburn suggested Knox take their sons there for safety, and he arrived on 10 April 1547. While there, the garrison's chaplain John Rough proposed Knox as pastor to the congregation. Knox, according to his own account, burst into tears and fled to his room, but within a week he gave his first sermon, on the seventh chapter of Daniel, comparing the Pope with the Antichrist. The castle was besieged by 21 French galleys under Leone Strozzi on 29 June 1547, and the garrison surrendered on 31 July. Knox was taken prisoner and forced to row in the French galleys. Chained to benches, the prisoners rowed throughout the day under a whip-wielding officer. They sailed to France and up the Seine to Rouen. Knox recounted an incident where a prisoner—possibly himself—was forced to kiss a picture of the Virgin Mary; the prisoner seized it and threw it into the sea, saying, "Let our Lady now save herself: she is light enough: let her learn to swim." After that, the Scottish prisoners were no longer forced to perform such devotions. In mid-1548, the galleys returned to Scotland to scout for English ships. Knox's health was at its lowest point, ill with a fever, but he comforted his fellow prisoners.

Reader's Guide

On his release in 1549, Knox was exiled to England, where he was licensed to work in the Church of England and rose to serve Edward VI as a royal chaplain, exerting a reforming influence on the Book of Common Prayer. In England, he met and married his first wife, Margery Bowes. When Queen Mary I ascended the throne and re-established Catholicism, Knox resigned and left the country, moving to Geneva and then Frankfurt. In Geneva, he met John Calvin and created a new order of service, The Forme of Prayers, later adopted by the Reformed Church in Scotland as the Book of Common Order—the first book printed in any Gaelic language. He left Geneva to head the English refugee church in Frankfurt but was forced to leave over differences concerning the liturgy, ending his association with the Church of England. On his return to Scotland, Knox led the Protestant Reformation in partnership with the Scottish Protestant nobility, a movement that led to the ousting of Mary of Guise. He helped write the new confession of faith and ecclesiastical order for the newly created Reformed Church, the Kirk. He wrote his five-volume The History of the Reformation in Scotland between 1559 and 1566. He continued as religious leader of the Protestants throughout Mary's reign, admonishing her in several interviews for supporting Catholic practices. After she was imprisoned for her alleged role in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley, and King James VI was enthroned, Knox openly called for her execution. He continued to preach until his final days.

Did You Know?

• Knox acted as a bodyguard for reformer George Wishart, bearing a two-handed sword to defend him.
• When forced to kiss a picture of the Virgin Mary on a French galley, a prisoner (possibly Knox) threw it into the sea, saying, 'Let our Lady now save herself: she is light enough: let her learn to swim.'
• Knox's first sermon, given at St Andrews, compared the Pope with the Antichrist, based on the seventh chapter of Daniel.
• The Forme of Prayers, created by Knox, was the first book printed in any Gaelic language.
• Knox openly called for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots after she was imprisoned for her alleged role in the murder of Lord Darnley.

Roots and Formation in Haddington

John Knox entered the world around 1514 in Haddington, the county seat of East Lothian, the son of a merchant named William Knox. His mother, whose maiden name was Sinclair, died while he was still a child. His elder brother William carried on the family trade, a connection that would later serve Knox's international correspondence. In an era when the priesthood was the only respectable path for a young man with scholarly rather than commercial or farming inclinations, Knox pursued studies at the Knox Academy grammar school before advancing to the University of St Andrews, or possibly Glasgow, where he studied under John Major, widely regarded as one of the finest scholars of his generation. Ordained a Catholic priest in Edinburgh on Easter Eve of 1536, he appeared in public records by 1540 holding dual roles as priest and notary. Rather than settling into a parish, Knox found his true vocation as tutor to the sons of two East Lothian lairds, Hugh Douglas and John Cockburn, both of whom had already embraced the emerging Reformation ideas that would soon consume his life.

The Wishart Connection and the Storm of 1546

Knox never documented the precise moment his faith shifted, but the figures of Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart clearly shaped his conversion. Wishart, a reformer who had fled Scotland in 1538 after preaching against the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Bristol and being forced to recant publicly, returned in 1544 to a country where the regent, Mary of Guise, and Cardinal Beaton had resolved to crush the Protestant movement. Travelling through East Lothian, Wishart drew Knox into his orbit as a close associate; Knox even carried a two-handed sword to serve as his bodyguard. In December 1545, the Earl of Bothwell seized Wishart on Beaton's orders and hauled him to the Castle of St Andrews. Knox was present that night and was ready to follow his mentor into captivity, but Wishart stopped him with the words, "Nay, return to your bairns and God bless you. One is sufficient for a sacrifice." On 1 March 1546, Wishart was burned at the stake before Beaton's eyes. Knox, following that advice, sheltered with Douglas in Longniddry. Just two months later, on 29 May, a gang of five men stormed the castle and murdered Beaton in direct revenge for Wishart's execution.

Exile, Calvin, and the Forging of a Theology

After the murder of Beaton, Knox was captured by French forces and held prisoner until his release in 1549, when he was exiled to England. There he was licensed in the Church of England and rose to serve as a royal chaplain to Edward VI, exerting a reforming influence on the text of the Book of Common Prayer. He also met and married his first wife, Margery Bowes. The accession of Mary I and the restoration of Catholicism forced him to resign and flee. Knox next found himself in Geneva, where he encountered John Calvin and absorbed the principles of Reformed theology and presbyterian polity that would define his later work. He composed The Forme of Prayers, a new order of service that would eventually be adopted by the Reformed Church in Scotland as the Book of Common Order and became the first book printed in any Gaelic language. He then moved to Frankfurt to lead the English refugee congregation, but irreconcilable disagreements over liturgy compelled him to depart, permanently severing his ties with the Church of England.

The Reformation Led and a Life in Service

Upon his return to Scotland, Knox threw himself into leading the Protestant Reformation in close partnership with the country's Protestant nobility. The movement carried the force of a revolution: it toppled Mary of Guise, who had governed in the name of her infant daughter, the future Mary, Queen of Scots. Knox helped draft the new confession of faith and the ecclesiastical order for the newly constituted Reformed Church, the Kirk. Between 1559 and 1566 he composed his five-volume The History of the Reformation in Scotland, a work that would anchor the movement's narrative for generations. He remained the spiritual leader of Scottish Protestants throughout Mary's reign, repeatedly admonishing the Queen in private interviews for her continued support of Catholic practices. When Mary was imprisoned for her alleged involvement in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley and the young James VI was enthroned in her place, Knox went further, openly calling for her execution. He continued to preach until his final days, dying on 24 November 1572.