Knox, John c.1513-1572
Scottish Protestant reformer, founder of the Church of Scotland

John Knox was born in or near Haddington, Lothian. He was educated there and probably at the University of St Andrews. From 1540 to 1543 he was a Catholic priest and acted as notary in Haddington. In 1544 he came into contact with George Wishart, now full of zeal for the Lutheran reformation, and Knox identified with him. Wishart was burned by Cardinal David Beaton in March 1546, and Beaton was murdered in May. The cardinal's murderers held the castle of St Andrews and Knox joined them with his pupils (1547). Here he was formally called to the ministry. A few months later the castle surrendered to the French, and for 18 months Knox remained a prisoner on the French galleys.

He was freed in February 1549, on the intercession of Edward VI, and for four years he made his home in England. In 1551 he was appointed one of six chaplains to Edward VI, and in 1552 declined an offer of the bishopric of Rochester. Knox was consulted by Thomas Cranmer regarding his 42 articles, and largely on Knox's representation the thirty-eighth article was so couched as to commit the Church of England to the Genevan doctrine of the Eucharist. On the accession of Mary I, Knox fled to the Continent, where in Geneva he found a congregation of his own way of thinking; he remained there for the next two years, much influenced by John Calvin.

Knox returned to Scotland in 1559, now known for his First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558). He won over Perth and St Andrews to his cause, and won much support in Edinburgh. To counteract the influence of the regent, Mary of Guise, who was subsidized by France with money and soldiers, the Reformers, mainly through the efforts of Knox, sought the assistance of England; by the treaty of Leith and the death of the regent (1560) they became masters of the country, and the Church of Scotland was established. Ministers drew up the First Book of Discipline (1561), with suggestions for the religious and educational organization of the country.

The return of Mary, Queen of Scots (1561) introduced new elements into the strife of parties; and during the six years of her reign Knox's attitude towards her amounted to open antagonism. The celebration of mass in Holyrood Chapel first roused his anger; and a sermon delivered by him in St Giles High Kirk led to the first of his famous interviews with Mary. After the murder of David Rizzio, Knox withdrew to Ayrshire, where he wrote part of his History of the Reformation in Scotland. During the later ascendancy of the Catholic party, he moved to St Andrews for safety.

In November 1572 he made his last public appearance at St Giles. He was buried in the churchyard then attached to St Giles. His first wife, Marjory Bowes, died in 1560, leaving him two sons. By his second wife, Margaret Stewart, daughter of Lord Ochiltree, whom (then not above 16) he married in 1564, he had three daughters.

Knox is the pre-eminent type of the religious Reformer: single-minded of purpose, and indifferent or hostile to every interest of life that did not advance his cause. He combined a shrewd worldly sense with an ever-ready wit and native humour. The impress of his individuality is stamped on every page of his History of the Reformation in Scotland (published 1586).

Bibliography: J Ridley, John Knox (1968).