Knox, John

Knox, John (c.1513–72), Scottish Reformer. Having embraced the principles of the Reformation, he became preacher at St Andrews in 1547. In 1551 he was made chaplain to Edward VI and as such assisted in the revision of the Second BCP. On Mary's accession he fled to the Continent and in 1556 he accepted a call to the English church at Geneva. Here he published The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558) asserting that government by a woman was contrary to the law of nature and to Divine ordinance. He returned to Scotland in 1559 and became the leader of the Reforming party. He drew up the Scottish Confession (q.v.) and brought into being a commission which abolished the authority of the Pope in Scotland and forbade the celebration of, and attendance at, Mass. The First Book of Discipline (1560) and the Book of Common Order (qq.v., 1556–64) were largely his work. After Mary Stuart's return to Scotland in 1561 he came into repeated conflict with the Queen. His principal work is the History of the Reformation of Religion within the Realm of Scotland (published in full, 1644).