1528–1560

The Scottish Reformation and John Knox

Protestant ideas had been reaching Scotland since the 1520s. It began with the martyrdom of Patrick Hamilton in 1528.

The preacher John Knox was converted under George Wishart's influence. He spent nineteen months as a galley slave on a French ship and then served at Edward VI's court. After that he lived with Calvin in Geneva and with Bullinger in Zurich.

In 1557 Protestant nobles formed the "Lords of the Congregation". In 1559 Knox returned to Scotland. With the help of English troops, in 1560 he secured the Treaty of Edinburgh and parliamentary adoption of the Protestant confession.

That August the "six Johns", including Knox, drafted the Scots Confession. This founded the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.