Henry Balnaves
Encyclopedia
Henry Balnaves was a Scottish
politician
and religious reformer.
, Fife
, around 1512, he was educated at the University of St Andrews
and on the continent, where he adopted Protestant views. Returning to Scotland, he continued his legal studies and in 1538 was appointed a lord of session. He married Christian Scheves and in 1539 was granted the estate of Halhill in Fife
, after which he is generally named. Before 1540 he was sworn of James V of Scotland
's privy council, and was known as one of the party in favour of the English alliance and of an ecclesiastical reformation. He is also described as treasurer to James, but the regent Arran appointed him secretary in the new government of the infant Queen Mary (January 1543).
He promoted the act permitting the reading of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, and was one of the commissioners appointed to arrange a marriage treaty between the little queen. and the future Edward VI
In London
he was not considered so complaisant as some of the other commissioners, and was not made privy to all the engagements taken by his colleagues. But Beton "loved him worst of all," and, when Arran went over to the priestly party, Balnaves was, in November 1543, deprived of his offices and imprisoned in Blackness Castle
.
He was released by the arrival of Hertford's fleet in the following May, and from this time he became a paid agent of the English cause in Scotland. He took no part in the murder of Beton
at St Andrews Castle
, but was one of the most active defenders of the castle during the subsequent siege
and was English paymaster of the garrison. In support of Henry VIII's Rough Wooing, he drafted the form of an assurance bond for Scots to support the marriage of Prince Edward and Mary. When that castle surrendered to the French in July, Balnaves was taken prisoner to Rouen
.
Somerset made vain efforts to procure his release and continued his pension. He made himself useful by giving information to the English government, and even Mary Tudor sent him a reward in June 1554. Balnaves also busied himself in writing what Knox calls "a comfortable treatise of justification," which was found in manuscript with a preface by Knox, among the reformer's papers, and was published at Edinburgh
in 1584 under the title The Confession of Faith.
In August 1555, Balnaves wrote to Mary of Guise
from Paris. She had become Regent of Scotland, and Balnaves offered to support her regime with secret legal advice regarding crown incomes. He expressed confidence in her rule and mentioned she had shown kindness to his wife, Christina Scheves;
In February 1557 Balnaves was permitted to return to Scotland
and regain his property; probably it was thought that Queen Mary
's burnings would have cooled the ardour of his English affections, and that in the war threatening between two Catholic countries, Balnaves would serve his own.
The accession of Queen Elizabeth I
changed the situation, and Mary of Guise
had reasons for accusing him of "practices out of England". He took, in fact, an active part in the rising of 1559
and was commissioned by the Congregation
to solicit the help of the English government through Sir Ralph Sadleir at Berwick
. Balnaves was surprised to meet the young Earl of Arran
there. He arrived and left secretly by sea from Holy Island
. Elizabeth wrote to thank Sir Ralph Sadler and Sir James Croft, Captain of Berwick, personally for their good and diligent service in meeting Balnaves.
He was also selected one of the Scots representatives to negotiate with the Duke of Norfolk
in February 1560, arranging the Treaty of Berwick
. Balnaves's rehabilitation by letter of Mary, Queen of Scots, in May 1562. In 1563 he was restored to his office as lord of session, and was one of those appointed by the General Assembly
to revise the Book of Discipline
. He was one of Bothwell's
judges for the murder of Darnley
in 1567, and in 1568 he accompanied Moray to the York
inquiry into Queen Mary's guilt.
He resigned his judicial office in 1574, and died in 1579 at Edinburgh
. He has been claimed as a Scots bard on the strength of one ballad, "O gallandis all, I cry and call," which is printed in Allan Ramsay's Evergreen (2 vols. 1724-1727).
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and religious reformer.
Biography
Born in KirkcaldyKirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
, Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, around 1512, he was educated at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
and on the continent, where he adopted Protestant views. Returning to Scotland, he continued his legal studies and in 1538 was appointed a lord of session. He married Christian Scheves and in 1539 was granted the estate of Halhill in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, after which he is generally named. Before 1540 he was sworn of James V of Scotland
James V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...
's privy council, and was known as one of the party in favour of the English alliance and of an ecclesiastical reformation. He is also described as treasurer to James, but the regent Arran appointed him secretary in the new government of the infant Queen Mary (January 1543).
He promoted the act permitting the reading of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, and was one of the commissioners appointed to arrange a marriage treaty between the little queen. and the future Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
In London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
he was not considered so complaisant as some of the other commissioners, and was not made privy to all the engagements taken by his colleagues. But Beton "loved him worst of all," and, when Arran went over to the priestly party, Balnaves was, in November 1543, deprived of his offices and imprisoned in Blackness Castle
Blackness Castle
Blackness Castle is a 15th century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of...
.
He was released by the arrival of Hertford's fleet in the following May, and from this time he became a paid agent of the English cause in Scotland. He took no part in the murder of Beton
David Beaton
The Most Rev. Dr. David Cardinal Beaton was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish Cardinal prior to the Reformation.-Career:...
at St Andrews Castle
St Andrews Castle
St Andrew's Castle is a picturesque ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The castle sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining North Sea. There has been a castle standing at the site since the times of Bishop Roger...
, but was one of the most active defenders of the castle during the subsequent siege
Siege of St Andrews Castle
The Siege of St Andrews Castle followed the killing of Cardinal David Beaton by a group of Protestants at St Andrews Castle. They remained in the castle and were besieged by the Governor of Scotland. However, over 18 months the Scottish besieging forces made little impact, and the Castle finally...
and was English paymaster of the garrison. In support of Henry VIII's Rough Wooing, he drafted the form of an assurance bond for Scots to support the marriage of Prince Edward and Mary. When that castle surrendered to the French in July, Balnaves was taken prisoner to Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
.
Somerset made vain efforts to procure his release and continued his pension. He made himself useful by giving information to the English government, and even Mary Tudor sent him a reward in June 1554. Balnaves also busied himself in writing what Knox calls "a comfortable treatise of justification," which was found in manuscript with a preface by Knox, among the reformer's papers, and was published at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in 1584 under the title The Confession of Faith.
In August 1555, Balnaves wrote to Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
from Paris. She had become Regent of Scotland, and Balnaves offered to support her regime with secret legal advice regarding crown incomes. He expressed confidence in her rule and mentioned she had shown kindness to his wife, Christina Scheves;
"Your Heighnes' maist gentill and gracious clemencie schawin to me ,undeservit, and to the pure woman my wiff, quha hes no other help bot your grace, and the hope I have in your heighness, compellis me seik and preis forward to your grace' service, and to pretermit (avoid) na thyng, when occasion is gevin to me, that I can do to your contentation and pleasour."
In February 1557 Balnaves was permitted to return to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and regain his property; probably it was thought that Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
's burnings would have cooled the ardour of his English affections, and that in the war threatening between two Catholic countries, Balnaves would serve his own.
The accession of Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
changed the situation, and Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
had reasons for accusing him of "practices out of England". He took, in fact, an active part in the rising of 1559
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
and was commissioned by the Congregation
Lords of the Congregation
The Lords of the Congregation were a group of Protestant Scottish nobles who in the mid-16th century favoured reformation of the church along Protestant principles and a Scottish-English alliance.- Historical events :...
to solicit the help of the English government through Sir Ralph Sadleir at Berwick
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
. Balnaves was surprised to meet the young Earl of Arran
James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran
James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who fought against French troops during the Scottish Reformation....
there. He arrived and left secretly by sea from Holy Island
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
. Elizabeth wrote to thank Sir Ralph Sadler and Sir James Croft, Captain of Berwick, personally for their good and diligent service in meeting Balnaves.
He was also selected one of the Scots representatives to negotiate with the Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...
in February 1560, arranging the Treaty of Berwick
Treaty of Berwick (1560)
The Treaty of Berwick was negotiated on 27 February 1560 at Berwick-upon-Tweed. It was an agreement made by the representative of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Scottish Lords of the Congregation...
. Balnaves's rehabilitation by letter of Mary, Queen of Scots, in May 1562. In 1563 he was restored to his office as lord of session, and was one of those appointed by the General Assembly
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body[1] An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland, A Gordon McGillivray, 2nd Edition .-Church courts:As a Presbyterian church,...
to revise the Book of Discipline
Book of Discipline
A Book of Discipline or Book of Order is a book detailing the beliefs, practices, doctrines, laws, organisational structure and government of many Christian denominations...
. He was one of Bothwell's
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney , better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell, was hereditary Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband...
judges for the murder of Darnley
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Henry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany , styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland and murdered at Kirk o'Field...
in 1567, and in 1568 he accompanied Moray to the York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
inquiry into Queen Mary's guilt.
He resigned his judicial office in 1574, and died in 1579 at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. He has been claimed as a Scots bard on the strength of one ballad, "O gallandis all, I cry and call," which is printed in Allan Ramsay's Evergreen (2 vols. 1724-1727).