SCOTLAND (CHURCH HISTORY) 



243 



it Glasgow, had a certain precedence ; the bishops 

 of the former see, and failing them the bishops of 

 the latter, having the privilege of crowning and 

 anointing the sovereign. But they had no juris- 

 diction over the other sees, nor did their bishops 

 bear the style of archbishop. This led to claims on 

 the part of the Archbishops of York to metropolitan 

 authority in Scotland, which had no foundation 

 except in regard to the southern portion of the 

 diocese of St Andrews and the see of Galloway, 

 the bishops of which were for several centuries 

 suffragans of York. The court of Home found it 

 convenient, for the sake of its own privileges, to 

 encourage this anomalous system ; but to provide 

 for the meetings of the Scottish bishops in pro- 

 vincial council a bull of Pope Honorins III. in 

 1225 authorised them to meet in synod. In virtue 

 of this bull the bishops, abbots, priors, and other 

 chief ecclesiastics, with representatives of the 

 capitular, collegiate, and conventual bodies, 

 :i--ruil>l"il annually in provincial synod, sitting in 

 one house under the presidency of a conservator 

 chosen by and from the bishops. The chief govern- 

 ment of the church under the pope thus devolved 

 on these synods and their elective presidents. This 

 continued until the erection of St Andrews into an 

 archiepiscopal and metropolitan see, in virtue of a 

 bull of Pope Sixtns IV. in 1472. By this bull all j 

 the Scottish sees were made suffragans to that of 

 St Andrews, whose bishops were now to be styled 

 archbishops. 



In 1492 Glasgow was raised to the dignity of a 

 metropolitan see by a bull of Pope Innocent VIII., 

 and the bishops of Dunkeld, Dunblane, Galloway, 

 and Argyll were made suffragans to its archbishop, 

 an arrangement which was soon afterwards altered 

 to some extent Dunkeld and Dunblane being 

 reannexed to St Andrews, and Glasgow having for 

 its sutfragan sees those of Galloway, Argyll, and 

 the Isles. This last arrangement continued till the 

 Reformation, and afterwards during the establish- 

 ment of Episcopacy the two Scottish archbishops 

 occupying towards each other precisely the same 

 position as the Archbishops of Canterbury and 

 York, and being sometimes involved in the same 

 unseemly broils, in regard to jurisdiction and 

 precedence, which long existed between the English 

 metropolitans. 



The ignorance and immorality of the clergy 

 were far worse than they were in England, or 

 perhaps anywhere in Europe, except in the Scan- 

 dinavian churches. The desire tor reformation 

 which led to the proceedings of Huss and Wyclif 

 produced similar effects in the Scottish kingdom. 

 As early as the year 1406 or 1407 James Resby, 

 an English priest and a disciple of Wyclif, w:w 

 burned at Perth ; and in 1433 Paul Crawar, a 

 Bohemian Hussite, was burned at St Andrews. 

 The opinions of Wyclif continued to be privately 

 taught, particularly in the south-western counties, 

 where his followers were known by the name 

 of the Lollards (q.v. ) of Kyle, In the following 

 century the intercourse with the Continent was 

 frequent and close, and the effects of Luther's 

 preaching and writings were soon felt in Scotland. 

 In the year 1525 the importation of Lutheran 

 books and the propagation of the Reformer's tenets 

 were forbidden by an act of the Scottish parlia- 

 ment ; ami in February 1528 Patrick Hamilton, 

 abbot of Feme, was burned at St Andrews for 

 teaching find publishing Lutheran doctrines. The 

 piety ot Hamilton and the patience with which 

 he bore his sufferings induced others to follow 

 his teaching and example. Several persons, Imth 

 ecclesiastics and laymen, were subsequently 

 burned, and many more fled to England or the 

 Continent. 



The persecution, though encouraged or permitted 



by the bishops, was disapproved of by some ecclesi- 

 astics of learning and influence, who were desirous 

 of effecting a reform in the church without breaking 

 off from communion with the hierarchy. The efforts 

 of this school were unsuccessful, and the Scottish 

 nation was gradually divided into two parties one 

 of which, headed by the bishops and supported by 

 the state, was determined to resist all change ; and 

 the other, composed of a considerable number of 

 the clergy both regular and secular, of the gentry, 

 and of tlie burgesses of the large towns, was dis- 

 posed to carry its reforming principles far beyond 

 what had been done by Luther and Melanchthon. 

 These two parties came into deadly conflict in 1546. 

 On the 28th of February in that year George 

 \Vishart, the most eloquent of the Reforming 

 preacliei-s, was condemned to death by an ecclesi- 

 astical court at which Cardinal Beaton, Arch- 

 bishop of St Andrews, presided and was burned. 

 On the 28th of May following the cardinal was 

 murdered by Norman Leslie and other adherents 

 of the Reforming party. The struggle continued 

 during the regency of the Earl of A rrun and that of 

 Mary of Lorraine, the mother of Mary, the young 

 queen of Scots. 



In the year 1559 the Reformers became strong 

 enough to set the regent at defiance. Various 

 circumstances encouraged them to demand freedom 

 for their opinions, particularly the death of Mary 

 of England and t lie accession of Elizabeth. They 

 were further animated at this time by the return 

 from Geneva of their chief preacher, John Knox. 

 The conflict was to be decided by other than 

 spiritual weapons. The regent and the Reformed 

 party, now known by the name of the Congrega- 

 tion, met in o|ien warfare. The contest was 

 carried on for a twelvemonth, and ended in the 

 triumph of the Congregation. A parliament met 

 at Edinburgh on the 1st of August 1560. The 

 Reforming party had the complete ascendency, 

 and succeeded in passing several acts by which the 

 jurisdiction of the po|>e was abolished, the mass 

 was proscribed, and a Confession of Faith drawn 

 up by Knox and his associates was ratified, the 

 spiritual lords making a faint resistance. 



The new Confession of Faith adhered in all 

 essential articles of belief to the ancient creeds 

 of the church. In regard to the sacraments it 

 differed entirely from the recent teaching of the 

 Western Church ; but its language, on the whole, 

 was moderate and conciliatory. In reference 

 to ceremonies and the details of church polity it 

 declared that such things were temporary in their 

 nature, and not appointed for all times and places, 

 and that they ought to be altered when they 

 fostered superstition and ceased to be conducive to 

 edification. 



A Book of Discipline was soon afterwards drawn 

 up by the compilers of the Confession, which was 

 generally approved of, but did not receive the 

 sanction of parliament. It followed out in detail 

 the principles laid down in the Confession. In 

 regard to the office-bearers of the church various 

 orders were mentioned, but three were specially of 

 importance ministers, elders, and deacons. Minis- 

 ters were to be chosen by each several congre- 

 gation, but were to be examined and admitted in 

 public by the ministers and elders of the church. 

 No other ceremony, such as imposition of hands, 

 was to be used. The elders and deacons were to 

 be chosen yearly in each congregation, and were 

 not to receive any stipend, because their office was 

 only to be from year to year and because they 

 were not to be debarred from attending to their 

 own private occupations. In order to the better 

 provision for the wants of the time certain persons 

 called superintendents were appointed in particular 

 districts, with power to plant and erect churches 



