Poetic justice
James Knox
The Scottish Reformation: Church and Society in sixteenth-century Scotland Ian B Cowan (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £11.95) It is impossible to like John Knox. He was naturally stubborn, arrogant and rude, characteristics fortified by his belief in pre- destination. His sermonising directly in- spired the destruction of the friaries in Perth, the 'monuments of idolatry' at St Andrews, and worst of all the Abbey of Scone. He was a selfish kill-joy who hated dancing and once warned Queen Mary's maids of honour that all their 'gay gear would avail them nothing of the knave death'. And yet in his own coarse way, arid contrary to his literary reputation, he was something of a ladies' man. He married twice, both times girls half his age, and was rumoured to have had an affair with his first wife's mother. It is also possible that he was implicated in Rizzio's' murder, although he could still accuse Mary Queen of Scots, in a letter to Cecil, of having 'a proud mind, a crafty wit and indurate heart'. No wonder he succeeded time and time again in reducing the Queen to tears. Largely fostered by his own History of the Reformation, Knox has enjoyed the reputa- tion of being a great reformer and a worthy Scot. In two important ways Ian Cowan's book weakens Knox's case. First by point- ing out that the pre-Reformation church in Scotland was relatively incorrupt and work- ing well, and second by showing that it was
the Lowland lairds, and not Knox, who for political reasons were the driving force behind the Reformation.
The pre-Reformation church in Scotland fostered the arts and education and was the only institution to care for the sick and the poor. Its churches and monasteries were in good repair, and determinedly rebuilt after the English raids of the 1540s. The standard of decoration was high, as the few remain- ing examples of woodcarving and wall paint- ing testify. The glory of the Scottish church was its music, which flourished at the Chapel Royal at Stirling and song schools throughout Scotland. Only three main collections have survived from the rich flowering of the art of composition; they are the Scone Antiphony, the Dunkeld Music Book and the St Andrews Music Book. The rest, including nearly all other examples of the art of the Scottish Renaissance, were swept away by Knox and his followers: cathedrals were demolished or converted to commercial use (only Glasgow survived intact), and all music, drama and the decorative arts were repress- ed, not to reappear, apart from the occa- sional architectural masterpiece, until the early 18th century.
The universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen, which had been founded by the Church in the 15th century, survived. Unfortunately the friaries did not. They were singled out for especial attention and were razed to the ground. As .a result, throughout the latter half of the 16th cen- tury there was no support or charity available to the poor and the sick. The strength of the pre-Reformation chuch of Scotland helps explain why protestantism, as a popular movement, had no deep roots. Occasional preachers such as one Hans Bogbinder would arrive from abroad, but failed to make any impression; and John Knox himself, as late as 1556, was still mainly preaching in private houses to a handful of enthusiasts.
The reason the Reformation triumphed was political. It was through a fear of French domination that led many Lowland lairds to side with the reformers. In 1558 Mary Queen of Scots married the dauphin of France and it was well known that she had assigned Scotland to the King of France if she died without heirs. In 1559 fower en- signes of Frenchmen' arrived off Leith and' this persuaded even Catholic magnates to support the reformers (so much for the `auld alliance'). It also led Elizabeth I to swallow her detestation of Knox — she had taken 'the monstrous regiment of women' personally — and offer military assistance.
Once established, and it took at least a generation to do so, Knox's brand of Calvinism had a lasting influence on Scot- tish society. This made the Pope's meeting with the moderator of the Church of Scotland in June so remarkable: the 'in- fidel' standing in the heart of Edinburgh beneath the statue of John Knox. Somewhere, probably in limbo, Knox must have been reduced to tears of frustration at not being allowed to have the last word.
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