![EdinburghKnoxHouse-pjt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/EdinburghKnoxHouse-pjt.jpg)
John Knox House, popularly known as John Knox's House, is an historic house in
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 ...
, Scotland, reputed to have been owned and lived in by
Protestant reformer
Protestant Reformers were those theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer (sharing his views publicly in 15 ...
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 ...
during the 16th century. Although his name became associated with the house, he appears to have lived in
Warriston Close where a plaque indicates the approximate site of his actual residence.
History
The house itself was built from 1490 onwards, featuring a fine wooden gallery and
hand-painted ceiling. It had belonged to Walter Reidpath whose grandson John Arres inherited it and left it to his daughter Mariota Arres in 1556. She married James Mosman, a goldsmith. Her father-in-law
John Mosman, also a goldsmith, had refashioned the crown of Scotland for
James V
James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...
.
In 1567
James Mosman
James Mosman or Mossman (died 1573) was a Scottish goldsmith.
He was a son of John Mosman, a goldsmith working in Edinburgh. It has been suggested that the Mosman family was of Jewish origin.
He married Mariota Arres, and secondly in 1571, Jan ...
was converting a piece of
Mary, Queen of Scots' jewelry when she was imprisoned in
Lochleven Castle
Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1 ...
. He remained loyal to Mary when she was exiled in England. Mosman worked in
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
with
James Cockie making coins for Mary's supporters who held the castle during the
'Lang Siege'. The two goldsmiths valued the
jewels of Mary, Queen of Scots which remained in the castle, so they could be used as security for loans.
When the Castle surrendered in August 1573, Mosman was charged with counterfeiting, for which he was hanged, quartered and beheaded. The house was forfeit for the treachery, and was given in the name 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 ...
to James Carmichael younger of that ilk.
The carvings were discovered behind woodwork in 1849, and restored in 1850 by
Alexander Handyside Ritchie
Alexander Handyside Ritchie (16 April 1804 – 24 April 1870) was a Scottish sculptor born in Musselburgh in 1804, the son of James Ritchie, a local brickmaker and ornamental plasterer, and his wife Euphemia. The father in turn was the son of a ...
. The building was restored again in 1984.
Over the next few centuries many decorations and paintings were added, and the house and its contents are now a museum. The building is owned by the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
and is now administered as part of the new, adjacent
Scottish Storytelling Centre
The Scottish Storytelling Centre, the world's first purpose-built modern centre for live storytelling, is located on the High Street in Edinburgh's Royal Mile, Scotland, United Kingdom. It was formally opened on 1 June 2006 by Patricia Ferguson ...
.
Association with John Knox
![Warriston Close plaque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Warriston_Close_plaque.jpg)
The visitor's pamphlet states that the house "was Knox's home only for a few months during the siege of Edinburgh Castle, but it is believed that he died here." It appears to have become widely accepted as "John Knox's House" from the mid-19th century onwards after Victorian writers like
Robert Chambers and
Sir Daniel Wilson had repeated the popular tradition, first recorded c.1800, of attaching Knox's name to it. The house looked old enough to fit the description, but no research was able to establish the rights or wrongs of the claim. Because of its visual prominence, however, it is almost certain that the building would have been familiar to Knox. The location of his actual residence is marked by a plaque in Warriston Close which lies further up the slope of the High Street. After the
Disruption in the Church of Scotland in 1843, the house was bought by the new
Free Church
A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...
, a fact which may have strengthened belief in its association with Knox. It was condemned and due for demolition by the Town Council in 1849 but saved through the efforts of the pioneering urban conservationist
Lord Cockburn
Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn ( ; Cockpen, Midlothian, 26 October 1779 – Bonaly, Midlothian, 26 April/18 July 1854) was a Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland between 1830 an ...
.
The building immediately adjacent on the west side of the house is
Moubray House
Moubray House, 51 and 53 High Street, is one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile, and one of the oldest occupied residential buildings in Edinburgh, Scotland. The façade dates from the early 17th century, built on foundations laid .
The t ...
. Its owner Robert Moubray also happened to be the owner of the house in Warriston's Close where Knox lodged in the 1560s.
[''Edinburgh City Old Accounts'', vol.1 (1899), 477: Miller, Robert, ''John Knox and the Town Council of Edinburgh'', (1898), pp.77-9]
See also
*
Moubray House
Moubray House, 51 and 53 High Street, is one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile, and one of the oldest occupied residential buildings in Edinburgh, Scotland. The façade dates from the early 17th century, built on foundations laid .
The t ...
Notes
References
Chambers, Robert and William ''Chambers's Edinburgh Journal,'' volume VIII nos. 183-200 July-December (1847), 231.Description of John Knox House in 1847.
*Guthrie, Charles John, ''John Knox and John Knox's House'', Constable (1905).
Guthrie, Charles John, 'Traditional Belief in John Knox's House Vindicated', in ''Proceedings Society Antiquaries Scotland'', vol.34 (1899), 249-273 (conclusions not now accepted)
*Smith, Donald, ''John Knox House, Gateway to Edinburgh's Old Town'', John Donald (1996)
*Miller, Robert, ''John Knox and the Town Council of Edinburgh'', Andrew Elliot (1898)
Miller, Robert, 'Where did John Knox live in Edinburgh?', in ''Proceedings Society Antiquaries Scotland'', vol.33 (1899) 80-115 (general conclusions widely accepted)
External links
Scottish Storytelling Centre
{{coord, 55, 57, 2.14, N, 3, 11, 6.26, W, type:landmark, display=title
Buildings and structures completed in 1490
Houses completed in the 15th century
Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh
Category A listed houses in Scotland
Museums in Edinburgh
Biographical museums in Scotland
Royal Mile
Hippolyte Blanc buildings
Religious museums in Scotland
Historic house museums in Edinburgh
History museums in Scotland
Renaissance in Scotland
Church of Scotland
Mosman family