John Knox

John Knox (1505, 1513 or 1514 – 1572) was a Scottish religious reformer who played the lead part in reforming the Church in Scotland in a Presbyterian manner. He died in Edinburgh on November 24, 1572.

Early life

Neither the place nor the date of the birth of John Knox, the Reformer, is settled beyond dispute; but the weightiest considerations favour Giffordgate, a suburb of the town of Haddington (16 miles east of Edinburgh) as the place, and 1513 or 1514 as the year. (Another favored year of birth is 1505.)

Related Topics:
Giffordgate - Haddington - 1513 - 1514 - 1505

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His father was William Knox, of fair, though not distinguished, descent, who fought at the Battle of Flodden, and had his home in the county of Haddington. His mother's name was Sinclair. He received the elements of a liberal spirit which, at least as regards education, animated the Scottish Church even before the Reformation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thence he proceeded either to the University of Glasgow, where the name "John Knox" occurs among the incorporati in 1522, or to St. Andrews, where he is stated to have studied under the celebrated John Major, a native, like Knox, of East Lothian and one of the greatest scholars of his time.

Related Topics:
University of Glasgow - John Major - East Lothian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Major was at Glasgow in 1522 and at St. Andrews in 1531. How long Knox remained at college is uncertain. He certainly never made any pretense to be such a scholar as his contemporaries George Buchanan and Alesius; nor is there evidence that he even graduated. That he was a fair Latinist, and accustomed to study, appears from the fact, which seems to be well attested, of his familiarity with the writings of Saint Augustine and St. Jerome. He acquired the Greek and Hebrew languages at a later period, as his writings indicate.

Related Topics:
Glasgow - St. Andrews - George Buchanan - Alesius - Saint Augustine - St. Jerome - Greek - Hebrew language

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was ordained to the priesthood at some date prior to 1540, when his status as a priest is first mentioned. It seems that in 1543 Knox had not yet divested himself of Roman orders; at any rate, in his character as a priest, he signed a notarial instrument dated Mar. 27 of that year, the original of which is still to be found in the charter-room at Tyninghame Castle.

Related Topics:
1540 - 1543 - Roman - Tyninghame Castle

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Up to this time, however, he seems to have employed himself in private tuition, rather than in parochial duties; and, at the moment when he last signed his name as a priest, he was probably already engaged in the office -- which he held for several years -- of tutor in the family of Hugh Douglas of Longniddry, in East Lothian, with the further charge of the son of a neighbouring gentleman, John Cockburn of Ormiston. Both of these lairds, like Knox himself, had even at this time a leaning to the new doctrines.

Related Topics:
Hugh Douglas - Longniddry - John Cockburn - Ormiston

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~