''The History of the Reformation in Scotland'' is a five-volume book written by the Scottish
reformer,
John Knox, between 1559 and 1566.
Knox and his ''History''
In 1559 during the
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refor ...
, the leaders of the Protestant nobility, the
Lords of the Congregation
The Lords of the Congregation (), originally styling themselves "the Faithful", were a group of Protestant Scottish nobles who in the mid-16th century favoured a reformation of the Catholic church according to Protestant principles and a Scotti ...
, asked Knox to write a history of the movement. This short
pamphlet became the second book of the ''History''.
In 1566 Knox continued writing the rest of the ''History'' while in
Kyle
Kyle or Kyles may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada
Ireland
* Kyle, County Laois
* Kyle, County Wexford
Scotland
* Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...
in Ayrshire. By this time he probably had completed drafts of the third book which chronicles the events leading up to the arrival of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
in Scotland. Knox mainly worked on the first and fourth books during this time. The first book covers the period from the beginnings of the Scottish Reformation up to 1559. The fourth book recorded the events from August 1561 to June 1564.
The fifth book first appeared in an edition published by David Buchanan (a relative of the Scottish historian
George Buchanan
George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...
) in 1644. It covers the period from September 1564 to August 1567 when Mary was forced to abdicate the throne. In Buchanan's biography of Knox, he claims that the ''History'' is based on Knox's own manuscripts and papers. In a 1732 edition of the ''History'', an unknown editor attributes the fifth book to Buchanan. It is not known who is the author of the fifth book.
Analysis
Knox's ''History of Reformation'' has been used as an historical source since its full publication in 1644. However, its own qualities as a text and its ideological context have only been examined in more recent years, starting with Arthur Williamson of
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
's ''Scottish National Consciousness in the Age of James VI'', (1979). Knox was addressing a problem of legitimacy for the new Scottish church compared with age old traditions of the Catholic church. The task was to provide a reassurance that the new community was meaningful and godly. To this Knox brought his evident skills as a preacher and his doctrine of adherence to biblical texts, with application not just to moral situations but in legal contexts and political argument. Working on these lines Knox tends to indicate clearly in his interpretation of past events whether actions were godly or not, thus imposing an intelligible structure on past events. Roger A Mason, of
St Andrews University
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
, summarized this aspect of the ''History of the Reformation'', "This kind of thinking, with its strong apocalyptic overtones, is evident on virtually every page of Knox's surviving writings."
Arthur Williamson contrasted Knox's work (apart from Book 1), with
John Foxe's ''Book of Martyrs'', wherein with a more abundant supply of historical materials, Foxe was able to create a progressive narrative of the Protestant church in England. Knox choose not to include historical or legendary material about the early church in Scotland. In this omission Roger Mason saw the possibility that Knox took his record of events of the Scottish Reformation, and laid the focus of his ''History'' on those events, and on the progress of the new Scottish kirk after the Reformation, producing a critique of recent familiar events which may have helped build community consensus.
[Mason, Roger A., ''Kingship and Commonwealth'', Tuckwell, (1998), pp.165-180, reviewing Arthur Williamson (1979), esp. pp.1-20: Mason, Roger A, 'Writing Scotland's History', ''SHR'', 76 (1997), 54-68]
Notes
References
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OCLC 5437053
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OCLC 1296659
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:History of the Reformation in Scotland
1559 books
16th-century books
History books about Scotland
History books about Christianity
16th century in Scotland
Scottish Reformation
Church of Scotland