Scotland: Notable Religious Figures, Theologians, and Philosophers

1265 - 1308 - Duns Scotus (All Facts)

• Scottish, Franciscan, and Catholic Scholastic Philosopher, Theologian, and Monk

• He was heavily influenced by and derived much of his thought from Plato

• He was a realist, denying the nominalist view that the qualities we perceive, such as the color green, are merely products of thought and do not exist in the real world

• He rejected the idea of predestination and inclined to the Pelagian view that man can alter his fate by his conduct

1513 - 1546 - George Wishart (All Facts)

• Scottish Protestant Reformer

• He preached the Lutheran doctrine of sola fide

• He was burnt to death on the orders of Cardinal Beaton

1539 - 1546 - David Beaton (All Facts)

• Scottish Catholic Cardinal, the last prior to the Scottish Reformation

• He was the Archbishop of St. Andrew’s

• He oversaw a sustained persecution of Protestants

  • He beat to death George Wishart for preaching the doctrine of Sola Fide

• After the death of King James V, he produced a forged will, appointing himself and three other regents of the kingdom

  • He was later arrested for this

• However, he later became a chancellor

  • He adopted a pro-French policy (likely due to the Catholic commonality)

• He was assassinated by a band of conspirators who took possession of his castle

1514 - 1572 - John Knox (All Facts)

• Founder of the Church of Scotland

  • He was a Scottish Protestant Reformer

  • He was a disciple of George Wishart

  • He was a disciple of John Calvin (Calvinist)

    • He went to Geneva in Switzerland became strongly influenced by John Calvin there

    • He returned to Scotland and began to preach Calvinism

    • He then was forced to flee to Geneva when condemned to further exile for his Protestant beliefs in then-Catholic Scotland at the time

    • He returned to Scotland when they rebelled against Queen Mary of Scotland (in 1559)

• He was the leader of the Scottish Reformation

  • He advocated for and preached Calvinism amongst the Scottish people

  • He drafted the Scots Confession, the Protestant Confession of Faith which Parliament accepted which renounced papal authority in Scotland and forbade the saying of Mass there

  • He essentially laid the foundations for Presbyterianism

• He was captured by royalist forces at St. Andrew’s Castle after a siege

  • St. Andrew’s Castle was being held by Protestants since the assassination of Cardinal Beaton

  • After his capture at St. Andrew’s Castle, he was exiled and condemned to the French galleys by the regent Mary of Guise under the reign of Queen Mary

  • He spent two years in prison after being captured by the French

  • After the English intervened, he was released and fled to Geneva, where he was inspired by Calvin’s teachings

• He died in Edinburgh

1558 - John Knox: First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (All Facts)

• Work in which the namesake author argues that rule by women is contrary to the Bible, thus attacking female monarchs of his time (like Queen Mary of Scotland and Queen Mary of England)

• Work in which the namesake author later conceded to Queen Elizabeth of England that it was mainly aimed at the pro-French Queen mother in Scotland, Mary of Lorraine, and her daughter Mary of Guise and her marriage to King Francis II (not at all female monarchs)

1560 - John Knox: (First) Book of Discipline (All Facts)

• Work in which the namesake author sets out a (new at the time) Scottish church constitution based on the Calvinist model

1599 - James VI: The True Laws of Free Monarchies (All Facts)

• Treatise by the namesake King of Scotland which argues for / defends absolute monarchy