Andrew Melville (1545-1622) Theologian, Reformer, Educationalist.
Born near Montrose in the Scottish Borders, Melville lost his father at the battle of Pinkie and later attended university at St Andrews and Paris. He taught at Poitier and from 1569 in Geneva at the Academy founded by Calvin.
In 1574 Melville returned to Scotland. As principal of the University of Glasgow from 1574 to 1580 and of St Mary's College St Andrews from 1580-1606 he oversaw the reform of the curriculum, and contributed, especially through the Second Book of Discipline (1578), to the establishment of Presbyterian polity in Scotland.
Effectively the successor to Knox as the key leader of the Scottish Reformation, he defended Presbyterianism, resisted episcopacy and interference by King James VI in religious affairs. He spent 1607-1611 in the Tower of London and went into exile in France where he taught at the University of Sédan until his death.
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