David Lindsay (1531–1613) was one of the twelve original ministers nominated to the "chief places in Scotland" in 1560. In 1589 as one of the recognised leaders of the Kirk and as chaplain of
James VI of Scotland
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
, Lindsay accompanied James to Norway to fetch home his bride. He was appointed
bishop of Ross and a privy councillor in 1600. He was five times
Moderator of the General Assembly
The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states th ...
: 1577, 1582, 1586, 1593 and 1597.
Biography
Lindsay was the son of Alexander Lindsay and Rachel Barclay, and nephew of
David, ninth Earl of Crawford. He was said to have been a student of the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
, though his name does not appear as such in any of the university records. He appears to have been an associate of
John Knox
John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Born in Giffordgat ...
in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
.
During travels in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
Lindsay imbibed
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
principles, and he was one of the twelve original ministers nominated in July 1560 to the "chief places in Scotland", the town assigned him being
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
. He was present in December following at the first meeting of the
general assembly of the kirk, and thenceforth was one of its recognised leaders. He was
moderator of the assembly which met in February 1568, and subsequently held the same office on five different occasions. He visited Knox on his deathbed in 1572, and at Knox's request, though "he thought the message hard", went to the
castle of Edinburgh to warn
William Kirkcaldy of Grange
Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange (c. 1520 –3 August 1573) was a Scottish politician and soldier who fought for the Scottish Reformation but ended his career holding Edinburgh castle on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots and was hanged at the c ...
that unless he gave it up he "should be brought down over the walls of it with shame and hang against the sun".
Lindsay visited Kirkcaldy after his condemnation, and was sent by him to
Morton Morton may refer to:
People
* Morton (surname)
* Morton (given name)
Fictional
* Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3''
* A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise
* A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...
to intercede for his life, being empowered to offer Kirkcaldy's whole estate as a ransom. The intercession having failed, Lindsay, at Kirkcaldy's special request, attended him on the scaffold, and thus, according to Calderwood, became witness of the literal fulfilment of the doom pronounced by Knox. Always inclined to moderate counsels, Lindsay in 1579 took part in the successful mediation between Morton and the dissentient lords. On the arrival shortly afterwards of
Esmé Stuart, the secret catholic emissary from France, Lindsay, at the king's request was, on account of his knowledge of French, appointed by the kirk to attend on him with a view to his conversion to
protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
.
By Lindsay's nominal success, he became the unconscious tool of Stuart in his designs against Morton. After the banishment of those concerned in the Ruthven raid, Lindsay endeavoured to obtain the co-operation of
Robert Bowes, the English ambassador, to bring about a reconciliation between the two factions, but his endeavours were unsuccessful. He had gradually won considerable influence with the king, and acquired the reputation of being "the minister whom the court liked best". On this account he was in May 1584 selected by the ministers in and around
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
to induce the king to delay his assent, until a meeting of the assembly, to certain acts circumscribing the authority of the kirk; but as he entered the palace gate he was apprehended and lodged in
Blackness Castle
Blackness Castle is a 15th-century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth.
It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blacknes ...
. Here he had a remarkable dream, recorded at length by Calderwood. On the fall of Arran shortly afterwards, he was set at liberty. Lindsay was the only one of the ministers of the kirk – with the exception of the "king's own minister" – who complied with the request of the king to pray for Queen Mary before her execution.
As
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
of the king Lindsay accompanied him in October 1589 when he set sail for Norway to bring home his bride,
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...
. Lindsay preached a sermon at
Tønsberg
Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...
on 16 November, which is commemorated on a surviving painted board, and on 23 November he married them at
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
. He and
Robert Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
crowned them in the abbey kirk, Edinburgh, on 12 May 1590. At the baptism of the young
Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to:
People
*Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father
*Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460)
*Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...
at
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...
, 23 August 1594, Lindsay delivered a learned speech to the ambassadors in French.
Lindsay came to Edinburgh from
Falkland Palace
Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of ...
in 1600 in order to assure the clergy of the truth of the official version of the
Gowrie House conspiracy of 5 August 1600. When the clergy declined to order a general service of thanksgiving for the king's deliverance, a service was conducted by Lindsay at the market cross. On the arrival of the king at Leith, 16 August, Lindsay also preached a thanksgiving sermon in his own church. Soon afterwards he received a special mark of royal favour by his crown provision on 5 November 1600, in accordance with the act for the establishment of a modified
episcopacy
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, to the
bishopric of Ross. On 30 September he was also admitted a member of the privy council. His provision was renewed on 22 December 1604, on both occasions the honour was purely titular until the restoration of regular episcopal succession in 1610. He received consecration as bishop on 24 February 1611 in his home church of South Leith.
As
bishop of Ross Lindsay sat and voted in
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, but in the assembly of the kirk the new bishoprics were not recognised till November 1602. At that date commissions were appointed for general visitation; Lindsay and the other bishops were sent as commissioners to the districts of which they were bishops, and thus, laments James Melville, "thair was thrie bishops put in possession of thair bishoprics". Lindsay was one of those who accompanied
King James to England, when he set out to take possession of the English throne. On 1 April 1604, he obtained a pension of 200 pounds per annum for life. At the parliament held at Perth in July of this year he was appointed a commissioner for the union with England. He died on 14 August 1613, "having", according to his son-in-law,
Archbishop Spotiswood, "attained to fourscore and two or three years". "He was", says the same authority, "of a placable nature, and greatly favoured of the king, to whom he performed diverse good services, especially in the troubles he had with the church: a man universally beloved and well-esteemed of by all wise men". His corpse was interred at
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
churchyard by his own direction, as desiring to rest along with that people on whom he had taken great pains in his life.
[ cites: Hist., Spotiswood Soc. ed., iii. 220.]
Family
He married firstly Joneta Ramsay, a daughter of George Ramsay of Clattie, and secondly, Helen Harresoun
By his first marriage, he had two sons:
*Sir Jerome Lindsay of Annatland, who married Margaret, daughter of
John Colville, and was knighted as Sir Jerome Lindsay of Annatland, and appointed Lyon King of Arms, and who is now represented by a family in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and
*Rev. David Lindsay (1566 - 1627), Minister of South Leith 1613-1627.
... and a daughter, Rachel, who married
John Spotiswood
John Spottiswoode (Spottiswood, Spotiswood, Spotiswoode or Spotswood) (1565 – 26 November 1639) was an Archbishop of St Andrews, Primate of All Scotland, Lord Chancellor, and historian of Scotland.
Life
He was born in 1565 at Greenbank in ...
, afterwards
Archbishop of St. Andrews
The Bishop of St. Andrews ( gd, Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, sco, Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews ( gd, Àrd-easbaig ...
.
Notes
References
*
*
*
;Attribution
*
* The entry cites the following sources:
**Histories of Calderwood, Spotiswood, and Row;
**Knox's Works; Hist. of James the Sext (Bannatyne Club);
**
David Moysie
David Moysie () was a Scottish notary public, known as the author of the ''Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, 1577–1603''.Also Moise, Moyses, Mosey.
Life
He was by profession a writer and notary public. A notarial attestation of a lease by hi ...
's ''Memoirs'' (
Bannatyne Club The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history, ...
);
**James Melville's Diary;
**Reg. P. C. Scotl. vol. vi.;
**Lord Lindsay's Lives of the Lindsays;
**Lindsay Pedigree, by W. A. Lindsay, in the College of Arms;
**Keith's Scottish Bishops; Scott's Fasti, i. 97–9.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, David
1531 births
1613 deaths
Alumni of the University of St Andrews
Bishops of Ross (Scotland)
Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
17th-century bishops of the Church of Scotland