John Knox

Timeline

1. c. 1514–1546Haddington · EuropeBorn near Haddington, he studied at the University of St Andrews (some say Glasgow), was ordained a Catholic priest after theological training, and also worked as a notary. In the early 1540s he encountered Scottish Protestant reform ideas, was influenced by the preacher George Wishart, gradually turned Protestant, and became his bodyguard-like companion.
2. 1546–1549St Andrews · EuropeAfter his mentor Wishart was executed in 1546, Knox joined the Protestants holding St Andrews Castle and preached openly there. When French forces took the castle in 1547, Knox was captured and forced to row as a galley slave for about 19 months, being released in 1549 after English diplomatic mediation.
3. 1549–1559Geneva · EuropeAfter his release he served as royal chaplain in England under Edward VI, embraced Calvinist theology, and declined the archbishopric of Canterbury. After Mary I's accession (1553) he went into exile on the Continent, first leading the English refugee church in Frankfurt, then settling in Geneva in 1556, where under Calvin he deepened his theology, calling Geneva "the most perfect school of Christ that ever was on earth." In 1558 he wrote First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, criticizing female Catholic monarchs.
4. 1559–1572Edinburgh · EuropeHe returned to Scotland in 1559 and led the Reformation with the support of the Covenanting nobles. In 1560 the Scottish Parliament abolished papal authority and passed the Scots Confession, which Knox helped draft. He then held famous meetings with Queen Mary, insisting that religious conscience stood above royal authority. He helped establish the Presbyterian polity of the Church of Scotland and wrote the History of the Reformation of Religion within Scotland. He died in Edinburgh on 24 November 1572.