John Willock (or Willocks or Willox) (c. 15154 December 1585) was a
Scottish reformer. He appears to have been a friar of the Franciscan House at Ayr. Having joined the party of reform before 1541, he fled for his life to England. There he became noted as a zealous and taking preacher. This led to his arrest for heresy under an Act of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
., "for abolishing diversity of opinion" in matters of religion. He was found guilty of preaching against purgatory, holy water, priestly confession, and prayer to the saints, and of holding that priests might lawfully be married, he was for some time confined in the Fleet prison. After the accession of
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
he was chaplain to
Henry, Duke of Suffolk, who had married King Henry's niece, and is best known as the father of Lady Jane
Grey. He preached for a time in London, in St Katherine's Church, when both he and
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 ...
, his fast friend, were
granted general license to preach anywhere in England. Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, presented him to the rectory of Loughborough in Leicestershire, a living which he continued to hold during King Edward's reign, and again during that of Queen Elizabeth for the rest of his life. Thus in his later years he was in the unique position of being at the same time
a parish minister in both England and Scotland. When Mary Tudor came to the English throne in 1553, Willock fled to
Embden, in the Protestant Duchy of
Friesland
Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...
. There he practised as a physician with much success, and rose to some eminence. In 1555, and again in 1556, the Duchess Anne of Friesland sent him to Scotland as her Commissioner on matters of trade. In 1558 he returned home, and preached for some time in Dundee, with much acceptance among the friends of reform. In 1559, when John Knox had to leave Edinburgh in peril of his life, Willook took his place as the evangelist of the Reformation. It was then that he conducted in St Giles what is believed to have been the earliest public celebration of the Holy Communion in Scotland after the reformed ritual. In 1560, when Queen Mary of Guise lay dying, the Earls of Argyll and Moray, and other
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 ...
advised her to "send for a godly, learned man of whom she might receive instruction"; and Willock was chosen to minister to her, which he faithfully did. That same year he was made
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of Glasgow and the West. He was also one of the six Johns entrusted
with the drawing up of the First Book of Discipline, the others being John Knox,
John Winram
John Winram (1492 - 1582) was a 16th-century Scottish priest and ecclesiastical reformer. He was born in 1492, the son of one James Winram of Ratho and his wife Margaret Wilkie. He obtained a Bachelor's Degree (1515), a Master's Degree (x 1532 ...
,
John Spottiswood
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 ...
,
John Douglas, and
John Row
John Row (1568 – 26 June 1646) was a Scottish ecclesiastical historian and one of the Scottish Reformers. As minister of Carnock in Fife, he was a leading opponent of Episcopacy. Row's '' Historie of the Kirk of Scotland'' (1558–1637), ...
. Sometime in that year he went to England, and brought home his wife, Katherine Picknavell, an English lady. He was chosen
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 ...
in 1563, 1564, 1565, and 1568. In 1565 Queen Mary endeavoured to put a stop to his activity by having him imprisoned in Dumbarton Castle; but the Reformers were now too strong for her, and she had to depart from her purpose.
After that, Willock went back to his English rectory at Loughborough. In 1567 the General Assembly sent him a strong letter of appeal, begging him to come again to aid the good cause. This led to his return, and he was Moderator of Assembly in 1568. He went again to Loughborough, and was there in 1570 when the Regent Moray was assassinated. Knox then wished much to have the aid of his old friend in the perplexities of the time, but Willock could not come. His letter to Knox tells of his sorrow at the loss of the good regent, and of his great admiration for that departed statesman.
Early life
He was a native of
Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...
, but nothing is known of his parentage. He was educated at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
.
For some time he was a friar in
Ayr
Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...
, according to
Archbishop Spottiswoode of the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
, but according to
Bishop Lesley of the
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...
. He then embraced the
reformed religion
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...
and went to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where, about 1542, he became preacher at St. Catherine's Church and
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 ...
to
Henry Grey, afterwards Duke of Suffolk, the father of
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553.
Jane was ...
.
East Frisia
On the accession of
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
to the
English throne
The Throne of England is the throne of the Monarch of England. "Throne of England" also refers metonymically to the office of monarch, and monarchy itself.Gordon, Delahay. (1760) ''A General History of the Lives, Trials, and Executions of All the ...
in 1553 he went to
Emden
Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528.
History
The exact founding date of E ...
in
East Frisia
East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...
, where he practised as a physician. In 1555, and again in 1556, he was sent to Scotland on a commission to
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. She ...
, the Queen Regent, from
Anna of Oldenburg
Anna of Oldenburg (14 November 150124 September 1575) was a Countess consort of East Frisia as the spouse of Count Enno II of East Frisia. She was the Regent of East Frisia in 1542–1561 as the guardian for her minor sons, Johan II and Edzard II. ...
, the Countess and Regent of East Frisia; but according to Knox his principal purpose in visiting Scotland was "to assaye what God wald wirk to him in his native country. While there he was present at the supper in the house of
John Erskine of Dun
John Erskine of Dun (1509–1591) was a Scottish religious reformer.
Biography
The son of Sir John Erskine, Laird of Dun, he was educated at King's College, University of Aberdeen. At the age of twenty-one Erskine was the cause — probably by ...
, when a final resolution was come to by the leading reformers against attendance at the mass. He returned to East Frisia in 1557
During the Scots Reformation
He finally settled in Scotland in 1558, when, although "he contracted a dangerous sickness," he held meetings with several of the nobility, barons, and gentlemen, "teaching and exhorting from his bed"; and, according to Knox, it was the encouragement and exhortations of Willock in Dundee and Edinburgh that made "the brethren" begin "to deliberate on some public reformation," and resolve to send to the queen regent an "oration and petition" on the subject.
Afterwards Willock went to Ayr, where, under the protection of
the Earl of Glencairn, he preached regularly in St. John's Church. On 2 February 1559 he was indicted for heresy before the queen regent and her council, and for failing to appear and continuing to preach at Ayr he was outlawed on 10 May following. In March 1559 a disputation was proposed between him and
Quintin Kennedy
Quintin Kennedy (1520–1564) was a Scottish abbot from a noble background, one of the last Catholic opponents of the Scottish Reformation.
Life
He was son of Gilbert Kennedy, 2nd Earl of Cassilis, and his wife Isabel, daughter of Archibald Campbe ...
, abbot of
Crossraguel Abbey
The Abbey of Saint Mary of Crossraguel is a ruin of a former abbey near the town of Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Although it is a ruin, visitors can still see the original monks’ church, their cloister and their dovecot (pigeon tower ...
, at Ayr, but as they failed to agree on the method of interpreting scripture it did not take place (see correspondence between them in, and in. The sentence of outlawry of him and others was passed, notwithstanding the assembly of a large body of armed reformers at Perth, to whom a promise had been made that Willock and his friends would not be further molested; but the outlawry could not be rendered effective. Willock had come to Perth in company with the Earl of Glencairn, and while there he and Knox had an interview with
the Earl of Argyll and
Lord James Stewart (afterwards Earl of Moray), from whom they received an assurance that should the queen regent depart from her agreement they would "with their whole powers" assist and concur "with their brethren in all time to come". After the destruction of the monasteries at Perth, which followed the breach of agreement by the queen regent, Willock and
Knox towards the close of June 1559 entered Edinburgh along with 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 ...
. Shortly afterwards Knox was elected
minister of
St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh
St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended ...
; but after
a truce had been completed with the queen regent it was deemed advisable that Knox should for a while retire from Edinburgh, Willock acting as his substitute in St. Giles. During Knox's absence strenuous efforts were made by the queen regent to have the old form of worship re-established, but Willock firmly resisted her attempts; and in August he administered the Lord's supper for the first time in Edinburgh after the reformed manner.
After the queen regent had broken the treaty and begun to fortify
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 ...
a convention of the nobility, barons, and burghers was on 21 October held in
the Tolbooth to take into consideration her conduct, and Willock, on being asked his judgment, gave it as his opinion that she "might justly be deprived of the government," in which, with certain provisos, he was seconded by Knox. The result was that her authority was suspended, and a council appointed to manage the affairs of the kingdom until a meeting of parliament, Willock being one of the four ministers chosen to assist in the deliberations of the council.
After the Scots Reformation
Not long afterwards Willock left for England and a meeting with
John Craig in London has been suggested as Craig escaped from the continent to avoid the reaches of
Pius IV
Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...
. Willock returned to Scotland in 1560, and, at the request of the reformed nobility, attended
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. She ...
the queen regent on her deathbed in June following, when, according to Knox, he did plainly show her as well the virtue and strength of the death of Jesus Christ as the vanity and abomination of that idol the mass. By the committee of parliament he was in July 1560 named
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of the West, to which he was admitted at Glasgow in July 1561. He was also in July 1560 named one of a commission appointed by the Lords of the Congregation to draw up the ''
First Book of Discipline
The ''Book of Discipline'' refers to two works regulative of ecclesiastical order in the Church of Scotland, known as ''The First Book of Discipline'' (1560) and ''The Second Book of Discipline'' (1578), drawn up and printed in the Scottish Reform ...
''.
Life in England
As a Scottish reformer Willock stands next to Knox in initiative and in influence; but it is possible that the rigid severity of Knox became distasteful to him, and, apparently deeming the religious atmosphere of England more congenial, he about 1562—in which year he was, however, in June and December
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 ...
—became rector of
All Saints Church, Loughborough
All Saints Church, officially All Saints with Holy Trinity is the Church of England parish church of the town of Loughborough, Leicestershire within the Diocese of Leicester.
History
The church dates from the 14th century; the tower from the ...
in
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, to which he was presented by
Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, KG, KB (c. 153514 December 1595) was an English Puritan nobleman. Educated alongside the future Edward VI, he was briefly imprisoned by Mary I, and later considered by some as a potential successor to E ...
. Nevertheless, by continuing for several years to hold the office of Superintendent of the West, he retained his connection with the Scottish church, and he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly on 25 June 1564, 25 June 1565, and 1 July 1568.
While he was in Scotland in 1565 the queen made endeavours to have him sent to the castle of Dumbarton, but he made his escape. In January 1568
the General Assembly of the Kirk sent him through Knox a letter praying him to return to his old charge in Scotland; but although he did visit Scotland and officiated as Moderator of the Assembly, he again returned to his charge in England. According to
Sir James Melville,
the Earl of Morton made use of Willock to reveal to Elizabeth, through the Earls of
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
and
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, the dealings of
the Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...
with
the Regent Moray, for an arrangement by which the Duke would marry the Queen of Scots.
He travelled to Scotland in May 1568, and wrote that people of the north of England, who were "mere ignorant of religion and altogether untaught" were pleased at the news that
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 Scot ...
had escaped from
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 ...
.
Death and namesake
Willock died in his rectory at Loughborough on 4 December 1585, and was buried the next day, being Sunday; his wife Catherine survived him fourteen years, and was buried at Loughborough on 10 Oct 1599 (Fletcher, Parish Registers of Loughborough). Though
Thomas Dempster
Thomas Dempster (23 August 1579 – 6 September 1625) was a Scottish scholar and historian. Born into the aristocracy in Aberdeenshire, which comprises regions of both the Scottish highlands and the Scottish lowlands, he was sent abroad as a yo ...
ascribed to him , it does not appear that he left any works.
George Chalmers, in his "Life of
Ruddiman,' seeks to identify Willock with one "John Willokis, descended of Scottish progenitors," who on 27 April 1590 is referred to in a state paper as being in prison in Leicester, after having been convicted by a jury of robbery. The supposition of Chalmers, sufficiently improbable in itself, is of course disposed of by the entry of the rector's death in the parish register, but there is just a possibility that the robber may have been the rector's son.
Family
Willock's wife survived until 1599. His last will makes provision for his son Edmund, and Edmund's wife Grizel, also for their children John, Katherine, Mary, Bridget, Dorothy, and George.
References
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Willock, John
1510s births
1585 deaths
Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
16th-century Scottish medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Glasgow