History of the Reformation of Religion, Within the Realm of Scotland

313 Pages·0.748 MB·English

by  Knox John.

T AGES D L
HE IGITAL IBRARY
HISTORY
H
ISTORY OF THE
R R ,
EFORMATION OF ELIGION
W R
ITHIN THE EALM OF
S
COTLAND
by John Knox
B o o k s F o r Th e A g e s
AGES Software • Albany, OR USA
Hartland Publications • Rapidan, VA USA
Version 1.0 © 1997
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HISTORY
OF THE
REFORMATION OF RELIGION
WITHIN THE REALM OF SCOTLAND
WRITTEN BY
JOHN KNOX
EDITED FOR POPULAR USE BY
C. J. GUTHRIE, Q.C.
With Notes, Summary, Glossary, Index, and Fifty-six Illustrations
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PREFACE
PICTURE: Portrait of John Knox
The History of the Reformation of Religion within the Realm of Scotland,
written by John Knox between 1559 and 1571, forms the first two
volumes of Dr. David Laing’s complete edition of Knox’s Works. That
edition of the History—the result of a collation of imperfect manuscripts,
and of the text of sixteenth and seventeenth century printed editions—can
never be superseded. It is a monument of Dr. Laing’s learning, skill, and
industry; and the notes with which the text is accompanied are models of
temperate, accurate, and exhaustive statement.
But Dr. Laing’s edition of the History, the only one now obtainable, is not
fitted for popular use. Its length (two volumes, containing 1055 pages), its
incorporation in a six-volume edition of Knox’s writings, its price, confine
it to a limited circle of readers; and, in addition, its spelling is so archaic
and irregular as to restrict its use to scholars. In Blackwood’s Magazine for
March 1898, it was stated that, even in the libraries of two Scottish
Universities, the pages of Dr. Laing’s edition of Knox’s Works were found
uncut. In full knowledge of the merits of that edition Thomas Carlyle
wrote: ‘Knox’s books, especially his History of the Reformation, if well
read (which, unfortunately, is not possible for every one, and has grave
preliminary difficulties for even a Scottish reader, still more for an English
one), testify in parts of them to the finest qualities that belong to a human
intellect; still more evidently to those of the moral, emotional, or
sympathetic sort, or that concern the religious side of a man’s soul. IT IS
REALLY A LOSS TO ENGLISH, AND EVEN TO UNIVERSAL, LITERATURE THAT
KNOX’S HASTY AND STRANGELY INTERESTING, IMPRESSIVE, AND PECULIAR
BOOK, The History of the Reformation in Scotland, HAS NOT BEEN
RENDERED FAR MORE EXTENSIVELY LEGIBLE TO SERIOUS MANKIND AT LARGE
THAN IS HITHERTO THE CASE.’—(Essay on the Portraits of John Knox.)
To supply the want thus indicated thirty years ago is the object of the
present publication. Indeed, we look for a wider circle of readers than Mr.
Carlyle contemplated. Even persons not accustomed to reckon themselves,
or to be reckoned by their friends, among ‘serious mankind at large,’ will
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find in this volume an amount of human interest, of dramatic incident, and
of homely humor, which the title might not lead them to anticipate. And, if
not in their case, certainly in the case of many of those to whom Carlyle
directly refers, perusal of this popular abridged version ought to induce
study of the full text as it appears in Dr. Laing’s incomparable edition.
No manuscript of the History in Knox’s handwriting exists; but what is
known as the 1566 MS. (now in the possession of the University of
Edinburgh) contains some marginal notes and corrections which Dr. Laing
thought to be in Knox’s hand. ‘That manuscript, with the exception of
certain portions added by various hands from other copies, is in the
handwriting of John Gray, Clerk or Scribe to the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland, who acted as Knox’s principal amanuensis. Dr. Laing
generally adhered to the 1566 manuscript, although in some cases he
preferred readings derived from what he calls the Glasgow manuscript, and
from other sources.
The work was not written by Knox in regular sequels, what are now the
Second and Third Books having been written before what now forms the
First Book. It was not revised, and no portion of it was published in the
author’s lifetime. Contrary to his friends’ wishes, Knox adhered to the
view expressed to John Wood, the Regent Moray’s Secretary, on 14th
February 1568: — ‘Then’ (after his death) ‘it shall be in the opinion of
others whether it shall be suppressed or come to light.’ Between the
different manuscripts as well as between Vautrollier’s edition, printed in
London in 1586, Buchanan’s editions, published in folio in London and in
quarto in Edinburgh in 1644, and the excellent folio edition published in
Edinburg by the Rev. Matthew Crawfurd in 1752, there are many and
important differences. Vautrollier’s edition was altered in several passages
so as not to offend Queen Elizabeth. For instance, Knox’s caustic
statement that Her Majesty was ‘neither good Protestant nor yet resolute
Papist!’ was omitted—but, notwithstanding, the whole issue was seized
in London by order of the Archbishop of Canterbury before the printing
was completed, and most of the twelve hundred copies were destroyed.
Buchanan’s editions, which are full of suppressions, additions, and
blunders, seem, from a statement by John Milton in his Areopagitica, to
have come under the pruning-hook of the Crown revisers.
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I have generally followed Dr. Laing’s text, but in many cases I have
preferred readings taken from manuscripts other than the 1566
manuscript—one being a manuscript of part of the Fourth Book unknown
to Dr. Laing—or from the older printed editions, or from the originals of
documents inaccurately copied by Knox’s amanuenses. There are passages
which appear to be corrupt in all the manuscripts; these I have omitted. In
other cases, what Dr. Laing calls ‘unintelligible nonsense’ (vol. 1. p. 233),
as contained in one manuscript, becomes clear on reference to another. For
example, in most of the manuscripts of the First Book the name ‘William
Guthrie’ has been copied ‘within gathered’; and in Vautrollier’s edition, in
a passage referring to David Rizzio, ‘his other villainy’ appears as ‘his
other William’! No manuscript of the so-called Fifth Book of Knox’s
History is extant, and I have not reproduced any part of that book.
Although at one time doubted, the first four books are now universally
ascribed to Knox; but it seems certain that little, if any, of what has been
called the Fifth Book (which first appeared in David Buchanan’s editions,
published in 1644) was written by Knox.
In order to keep the present work within moderate compass, and at the
same time to make it possible to include the most characteristic parts of
the History, it has been found necessary to omit the whole of the
Confession of Faith, most of the First Book of Discipline, and many
speeches and sermons, letters and other documents what Sir William
Stirling Maxwell described as ‘the wearisome and irrelevant sermons and
State Papers which encumber Knox’s History’ although, except in special
instances, it has not been thought needful to distract the reader’s attention
by noting the omissions. The narrative has also been abridged by the
omission of repetitions and redundancies, as well as of long passages of
minor interest; but care has been taken to give, so far as possible, the parts
of the History which have been quoted or referred to in detail by historians
and other writers, including Knox’s vivid account of his four interviews
with Queen Mary at Holyrood and Lochleven, and his trial for High
Treason.
Throughout, following the practice now adopted in all editions of the
Authorized Version of the Scriptures, the spelling has been modernized;
but in other respects Knox’s characteristic English has been retained. In
none of the previous editions not even in M‘Gavin’s modernized edition,
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published in 1831—were the books divided into chapters. This has now
been done; and the long paragraphs of the original, frequently extending over
many pages, have been sub-divided, and rubrics added; while, by mere
change of punctuation, sentences which in previous editions occupied
nearly a paragraph, have been broken up into sentences of ordinary length.
Obsolete words used by Knox have been retained, and explanations of their
meaning given in a Glossary, as well as, in some instances, in the text in
italics. In certain places, marked in some cases by square brackets, words
have been inserted in the text for identification of persons, places, or
periods of time. It will thus be apparent that the book is not fitted for the
use of those wishing exact quotation of the original. It is intended for
popular readers, not for scholars. The notes consist mainly of extracts from
Knox’s other writings or from the writings of his contemporaries. Some
readers may be surprised to find how few Scots words are used by Knox,
and how modern his style appears, once the superficial difficulties (caused
by the irregular old spelling of his amanuenses and the long sentences) are
removed; they must remember that Knox spent five years of his life in
England as a clergyman of the Church of England, and other five years in
France, Germany, and Switzerland, in the society of cultured Englishmen
and Englishwomen. Ninian Wingate, his Scottish Roman Catholic opponent,
made Knox’s English tongue a reproach to him: ‘Gif ye, throw curiositie of
novationis, hes forzet our auld plaine Scottis, quhilk zour mother lerit zou,
in times cuming I sail wrytt to zou my mynd in Latin, for I am nocht
acquyntit with zour Southeroun!’ And Knox tells how, when it was
reported to the Queen Regent, in 1556, that he had preached in Ayr,
‘diverse men were of diverse opinions, some affirming that it was an
Englishman, and some supposing the contrary. A prelate, not of the least
pride, said, “Nay, no Englishman; but it is Knox, that knave!”’
There is no reason to doubt that we have the History as Knox left it. His
friends considered the propriety of modifying some parts before
publication, as appears by a letter from George Buchanan to Thomas
Randolph, the English envoy, dated 6th August 1572, three months before
Knox’s death: ‘As to Master Knox, his History is in his friends’ hands,
and they are in consultation to mitigate some part the acerbity of certain
words and some taunts wherein he has followed too much some of your
English writers.’ Judging by the appearance of the manuscripts, the
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consultation seems to have had no result, and these ‘words’ and ‘taunts’
have to be dealt with. Undoubtedly, there are passages and expressions in
the History which, although in strict accord with the habits of speech of
the time, and with the extravagant abuse which was hurled at Knox by his
antagonists, are in striking contrast with the enlightened and humane views
Knox generally enforced, and with the tenor of a life which effected a
revolution so bloodless, that the Regent Moray, in his speech to the
Scottish Parliament of 1567, was able to say, ‘The True Religion hath
obtained a free course universally throughout the Realm, and yet not one
Scotsman’s blood hath been shed.’ While condemning Knox’s language, the
fault of ignorance or of prejudice will be ours if we cannot make allowance
for the man who, great as he was, failed to shake off the intolerance in
which the Church of Rome had educated him. Little wonder if he was
unable to speak in duly measured phrase of the men and women and their
Church whose ceaseless effort it was, by fair means and foul, to reimpose
on Scotland the spiritual and intellectual bondage from which he had
delivered it. Little wonder, too, if he was not always fair towards
opponents in a struggle during which his own life had been several times
attempted and he himself had been exiled, enslaved amidst the horrors of
the French galleys for nineteen months, and condemned to the stake.
During the present century, Knox’s career in Great Britain and on the
Continent has been chronicled in the biographies of Dr. M‘Crie, published
in 1811, and of Dr. Hume Brown, published in 1895, as well as in the
shorter works of Dr. W. M. Taylor, of New York, Mrs. M‘Cunn, of
Liverpool, and Mr. Taylor Innes, of Edinburgh. His character has been
vindicated by Carlyle and by Froude. His influence on the Church of
England has been proved by Dr. Lorimer in his Knox and the Church of
England, and he forms one of the most striking figures in Mr. Swinburne’s
tragedy of Bothwell. But the best estimate of Knox as a man, as a
statesman, and as a churchman, is to be gathered from personal contact
with him in his writings. Among these writings, none is more characteristic
than the History of the Reformation of Religion within the Realm of
Scotland.
CHARLES J. GUTHRIE.
13 ROYAL CIRCUS,
EDINBURGH, 1898.
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CONTENTS
PREFACE
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
BOOK 1
From the Martyrdom of Master Patrick Hamilton in 1528, to the
Meeting of the Scots Parliament in 1558
BOOK 2
From the First Petition of the Protestants to the Queen Regent in 1558, to
the Mission of William Maitland of Lethington to Queen Elizabeth in 1559
BOOK 3
From the Defeat of the Protestants on 6th November 1559 to the
Return of Lord James Stewart from France in May 1561
BOOK IV
From the Return to Scotland of Mary, Queen of Scots, on 19th
August 1561, to the rise of David Rizzio in 1564,
SUMMARY OF THE REFORMATION PERIOD
IN SCOTTISH HISTORY
1513. Battle of Flodden; James IV. and most of the Scots nobles slain;
James V. succeeds his father at the age of eighteen months; chief
power in the hands of Archbishop Beaton, uncle of Cardinal
Beaton,.
1517. Luther’s protest at Wittenberg against the sale of indulgences.
1520. Luther excommunicated.
1525. Act of the Scots Parliament against heretics; circulation of Luther’s
works, ‘and all such filth and vice’ prohibited,.
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1527. Master Patrick Hamilton preaches Justification by Faith,.
1528. Hamilton, twenty-four years of age, condemned by Archbishop
Beaton, is burned at the stake,.—The people everywhere inquire
why he was burned,.—Publication of Sir David Lyndsay’s poems
satirizing the licentious lives of the clergy and the abuses of the
Church; extensive circulation in Scotland of the writings of the
Continental Reformers and of Tyndale’s Bible, and of The Gude
and Godly Ballatis.
1534. Peace concluded with England; final breach between Henry VIII. and
the Pope; dispersion of Scots Reformers into England and on the
Continent,.—Archbishop Beaton burns Straton and Gourlay,.
1535. Friar Seton denounces the ‘corrupt doctrine of the Papacy,’ .—
Merchants and mariners spread the Reformed Doctrine in
Scotland,.
1536. Publication at Basle of John Calvin’s Institutes.
1538. Marriage of James V. to Mary of Lorraine, of the ultra-Catholic
House of Guise,.—Martyrdom of priests, friars, and gentlemen ‘in
one fire,’ .
1539. Persecution of persons suspected of Lutheranism; narrow escape of
George Buchanan, Scotland’s greatest scholar,.—Henry VIII. is
anxious to form an alliance with his nephew, James V.; meeting at
York between the two Kings prevented by Cardinal Beaton,. The
Scottish King, previously tolerant of the Reformed opinions, gives
himself over to the guidance of Cardinal Beaton,.
1540. Act against image-breaking and private meetings of heretics.
1541. Act enjoining Churchmen to reform themselves ‘in habit and
manners to God and man.’
1542. Defeat of the Scots under Oliver Sinclair by Lord Dacre at Solway
Moss,.—Birth of the Princess Mary, daughter of James V., on th
December; death of James V., on 13th December, and accession of
the Princess Mary as Queen of Scots, five days old,.
1543. The Earl of Arran chosen Regent; at first he favors the Reformed
opinions,.—Evangelical Preaching of Friars Guillaume and
Rough,.—Act authorizing the reading of the Scriptures ‘in Inglis or
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Scottis,’ .—An alliance with England is sanctioned by the Scots
Parliament in March; Mary, Queen of Scots, is to be educated in
England and married to King Henry’s son, Edward,.—In
September the Regent Arran renounces Protestantism,.—Mary
Stuart crowned Queen of Scots at the age of nine months; the
treaty with England declared null, and the old league with France
renewed,.
1544. War declared by Henry VIII.; Edinburgh and the southern towns and
abbeys of Scotland burned by Lord Hertford,. —Persecution of the
Protestants by Cardinal Beaton,.—Scotland divided into two
factions, one favoring France and Catholicism, the other favoring
England and Protestantism,.
1545. Knox, aged forty, attaches himself to George Wishart, as an avowed
adherent of the Reformed Faith,.—Quarrel between Cardinal
Beaton and Archbishop Dunbar of Glasgow,.
1546. Martyrdom of George Wishart at St. Andrews in March,.—The
people cry for vengeance,.—Murder of Cardin Beaton at St.
Andrews in May,.—Death of Martill Luther at Eisleben, aged
sixty-three.
1547. John Knox is publicly called on by Friar Rough (acting with Sir
David Lyndsay and Master Belnaves)to preach his first sermon in
the Castle of St. Andrews,.—Knox taken to task by the Friars,.—
Siege and capture of the Castle by French ships,.—Many Scots
Protestants, including Knox, sent as prisoners to the French galleys
for nineteen months,.—Death of Henry VIII; succeeded by Edward
VI.—Renewed invasion by the English under the Protector
Somerset,.The Regent Arran defeated at Pinkie,.
1548. Depredations by the English,.—The Scots Parliament declares for
France,.—Mary, Queen of Scots, sent at age of five to France,.—
Brutal conduct of the French in Edinburgh,.
1549. Provincial Council of Catholic Clergy, held at Edinburgh, declares
that the causes of the troubles in the Church are the ‘corrupt
manners and profane lewdness of ecclesiastical persons, together
with their crass ignorance of letters,’ .—Liberation of the Scots
prisoners from the French galleys,.—The Privy Council of