Civic Reformation And Religious Change In Sixteenth Century Scottish Towns

The History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland is a book by John Knox. Knox was a Scottish minister, theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Civic Reformation and Religious Change in Sixteenth-Century Scottish Towns demonstrates the crucial role of Scotland's townspeople in the dramatic Protestant Reformation of 1560. It shows that Scottish Protestants were much more successful than their counterparts in France and the Netherlands at introducing religious change because they had the acquiescence of urban populations. As town councils controlled critical aspects of civic religion, their explicit cooperation was vital to ensuring that the reforms introduced at the national level by the military and political victory of the Protestants were actually implemented. Focusing on the towns of Dundee, Stirling and Haddington, this book argues that the councillors and inhabitants gave this support because successive crises of plague, war and economic collapse shook their faith in the existing Catholic order and left them fearful of further conflict. As a result, the Protestants faced little popular opposition, and Scotland avoided the popular religious violence and division which occurred elsewhere in Europe.

Whilst the Protestant Reformation of 1560 is acknowledged as being a watershed moment in Scottish history, relatively little is known about the actual process of establishing a reformed church in the parishes in the following decades This book helps remedy the situation by examining the foundation of the reformed church and the impact of Protestant discipline in the parishes of Fife. Based on a wealth of under-utilised sources, the study's focus is on the grass-roots religious life of the parish, rather than the more familiar themes of church politics and theology. It evaluates the success of the reformers in affecting both institutional and ideological change, and provides a detailed account of the workings of the reformed church, and its impact on ordinary people.