Page "John Knox" Paragraph 8

Knox did not record when or how he was converted to the Protestant faith, but perhaps the key formative influences on Knox were Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart.

Wishart was a reformer who had fled Scotland in 1538 to escape punishment for heresy.

He first moved to England, where in Bristol he preached against the veneration of the Virgin Mary.

He was forced to make a public recantation and was burned in effigy at the Church of St Nicholas as a sign of his abjuration.

He then took refuge in Germany and Switzerland.

While on the Continent, he translated the First Helvetic Confession into English.

He returned to Scotland in 1544, but the timing of his return was unfortunate.

In December 1543, James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault, the appointed regent for the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, had decided with the Queen Mother, Mary of Guise, and Dr David Cardinal Beaton to persecute the Protestant sect that had taken root in Scotland.

Wishart travelled throughout Scotland preaching in favour of the reformation and when he arrived in East Lothian, Knox became one of his closest associates.

Knox acted as his bodyguard, bearing a two-handed sword in order to defend him.

In December 1545, Wishart was seized on Cardinal Beaton's orders by the Earl of Bothwell and taken to the Castle of St Andrews.

Knox was present on the night of Wishart's arrest and was prepared to follow him into captivity, but Wishart persuaded him against this course saying, " Nay, return to your bairns and God bless you.

One is sufficient for a sacrifice.

" Wishart was subsequently prosecuted by Beaton's Public Accuser of Heretics, Archdeacon John Lauder.

On 1 March 1546, he was burnt at the stake in the presence of Cardinal Beaton.