Reform to 1564 + Reform to 1572 + Reform to 1622 + Zwingli + George Wishart
The period through to the death of Martin Luther, the martyrdom of George Wishart in 1546, and the end of the reign of Henry VIII (he died in January 1547) covers the rise of the Lutheran movement in South Germany, the early phases of Swiss Reformation in Zurich under Zwingli and in Geneva, the failure of these streams to accommodate each other, and the first phase of religious reform in England.
After Henry VIII's break with Rome, the situation in Scotland became increasingly complex. Neither James V of Scotland, nor Henry of England, wanted another Anglo-Scottish war, but each was distrustful of the other, concerned for their international alliances, and troubled by their own and the other's exiles.
Lutheran publications had been banned in Scotland since 1525, but trade to East coast ports provided plenty of opportunity for smuggling. Luther's ideas attracted interest, reaction, discussion and persecution. Among those executed for their support of the Reformed heresy were Patrick Hamilton who was burnt alive in 1528 and George Wishart who was strangled and burned on March 1, 1546. Three months later Protestants murdered Cardinal Beaton in response and with John Knox as preacher took refuge in the castle at St Andrews.
By 1546 Calvin had been invited back to Geneva on his own terms, the young Edward was about to take England in a more Protestant direction than had been possible under his father, and some Catholic leaders in Scotland were considering reforms that would be possible without a break with the old church.
John Roxborogh