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Scotland - Protestant Reformation
During the 16th century, Scotland became embroiled in the throes of the Protestant Reformation.
John Knox stood out as the primary figure in this battle.
A disciple of John Calvin, Knox, waged fierce battles with the forces of Catholic orthodoxy and eventually converted the country to Presbyterianism, a spartan reformulation of Christianity.
Only the most distant parts of the Highlands retained a taste for older forms.
Presbyterianism first gained a foothold in 1556 but it didn't really get going until John Knox's firebrand oratory started stirring people up, most notably in Perth, when he roused the townsfolk so much that a mob scoured the countryside for Papists after one of his sermons, destroying the old abbey at Scone in the process.
Within a few years Parliament had legislated for a National Presbyterian church, the Catholic Queen had fled, Scotland had Protestant England rather than Catholic France as its main ally, and the firm, guiding, and above all godly, hands of Presbyterian tutors had in hand the upbringing of the infant King.
In 1603, following the death of the childless Queen Elizabeth I, the crown of England passed to the Stuart family, then the current rulers of Scotland.
James VI of Scotland took the title James I of England, thus unifying the two countries under his personal rule.
For the moment, this remained the sole connection between two independent nations, but it foreshadowed the eventual union of Scotland and England under the banner of the United Kingdom.
One of the primary differences between the two countries involved religion. While both had technically Protestant national Churches, they differed almost as much as two sects under that banner could.
The Church of England broke with Catholicism primarily for political reasons.
Thus they replaced very little traditional Catholic theology, except to substitute the Crown for the Pope as the head of the Church.
The Scots on the other hand were primarily Presbyterian, a movement which was the result of a strong theological rejection of certain Catholic teachings. In particular they were sceptical of the authority of the Pope and priesthood generally, which they rejected in favour of the priesthood of all believers.
This doctrine was seen by both sides as radically undermining the authority not just of the priestly class, but of the aristocracy since it was essentially democratic.
Inevitably this led to conflict with the Church of England as well as the British monarchs.
While James challenged the status quo, he had sufficient wisdom not to force the issue when the Scots roundly ignored his efforts to promote the Church of England in Scotland. His son Charles I did not act with such restraint.
Article is provided courtesy of Wikipedia.org and distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Click here for the Scotland360.com History of Scotland Index page.
 
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