Patrick Adamson
Encyclopedia
Patrick Adamson Scottish divine, Archbishop
of St Andrews, was born at Perth, Scotland
, where his father, Patrick Adamson, was Dean of the Merchant Guild
ry. He studied Philosophy, and took the degree of M.A.
at the University of St Andrews
.
for three years, in 1565 he set out for Paris
as tutor to the eldest son of
Sir James MacGill
, Clericus Rotulorum
. In June 1566 he wrote a Latin
poem on the birth of the young Prince James
to King consort
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
and Mary, Queen of Scots. He described James as serenissimus princeps of France and England. The French Court under Charles IX of France
was offended, and he was confined for six months.
He was released only through the intercession of Queen Mary and some of the principal nobility, and retired with his pupil to read Law at the University of Bourges
. He was in this city at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
in Paris, and lived concealed for seven months in a tavern, the aged master of which, in reward for his charity to such a heretic, was thrown from the roof. While in this "Sepulchre
", he wrote his Latin poetical version of the Book of Job
, and his tragedy of Herod the Great
in the same language.
and became Minister of Paisley. In 1575, he was appointed by the General Assembly
as one of the Commissioner
s to settle the jurisdiction and policy of the Church; and, the following year he was named with David Lyndsay
, to report their proceedings to James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
, then Regent
of Scotland.
In 1576, his appointment as Archbishop of St Andrews gave rise to a protracted conflict with the Presbyterian party in the Assembly. He had previously published a catechism in Latin verse dedicated to James VI, a work highly much acclaimed even by his opponents, and also a Latin translation of the Scots Confession
of Faith.
In 1578 he submitted himself to the General Assembly, which procured him peace for a short while, but the following year fresh accusations were brought against him. He took refuge in St Andrews Castle, where "a wise woman", Alison Pearson, who was subsequently burned for witchcraft, cured him of a "serious illness".
to the Court of Elizabeth I of England
, where he is reported to have behaved rather badly. On his return he took strong parliamentary measures against Presbyterians, and consequently, at a provincial Synod
held at St Andrews in April 1586, he was accused of heresy and excommunicated, although at the next General Assembly this verdict was remitted as illegal.
In 1587 and 1588, however, fresh accusations were brought against him, and he was again excommunicated, though afterwards on the inducement of his old opponent, Andrew Melville
, the sentence was again remitted. Meanwhile he had published the Book of Lamentations
, and the Book of Revelation
in Latin verse, which he dedicated to the King, complaining of his hard usage. But James was unmoved by his application, and granted the revenue of his See
to Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox
. For the rest of his life Adamson was supported by charity; he died in 1592.
Almighty than born of a woman", were produced by his son-in-law, Thomas Wilson, in 1619. Adamson had by his wife Elizabeth Arthur another daughter, Mariota, who married Sir Michael Balfour
. His brothers, Henry and James, both served as Provost
of Perth, and they were fathers of John and Henry Adamson
respectively.
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of St Andrews, was born at Perth, Scotland
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
, where his father, Patrick Adamson, was Dean of the Merchant Guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
ry. He studied Philosophy, and took the degree of M.A.
Master of Arts (Scotland)
A Master of Arts in Scotland can refer to an undergraduate academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the ancient universities of Scotland – the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh, while the University of...
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...
.
Residence in France
After being Minister of Ceres in FifeFife
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...
for three years, in 1565 he set out for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
as tutor to the eldest son of
Sir James MacGill
James MacGill of Nether Rankeillour
Sir James MacGill of Nether Rankeillour was a Scottish politician. In 1561, he was on the Privy Council of Mary, Queen of Scots and was her Lord Clerk Register in charge of archives...
, Clericus Rotulorum
Lord Clerk Register
The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century.The Clerk-Register was from ancient times the principal Clerk in the kingdom, from whom all other clerks, whatever their government positions, and who were essentially his...
. In June 1566 he wrote a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
poem on the birth of the young Prince James
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
to King consort
King consort
King consort is an alternative title to the more usual "prince consort" - which is a position given in some monarchies to the husband of a reigning queen. It is a symbolic title only, the sole constitutional function of the holder being similar to a prince consort, which is the male equivalent of a...
Henry Stuart, Lord 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...
and Mary, Queen of Scots. He described James as serenissimus princeps of France and England. The French Court under Charles IX of France
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
was offended, and he was confined for six months.
He was released only through the intercession of Queen Mary and some of the principal nobility, and retired with his pupil to read Law at the University of Bourges
Bourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
. He was in this city at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots , during the French Wars of Religion...
in Paris, and lived concealed for seven months in a tavern, the aged master of which, in reward for his charity to such a heretic, was thrown from the roof. While in this "Sepulchre
Sepulchre
The rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel are a group of hundreds of rock-cut tombs constructed in Israel in ancient times. They were cut into the rock, sometimes with elaborate facades and multiple burial chambers. Some are free-standing, but most are caves. Each tomb typically belonged to a...
", he wrote his Latin poetical version of the Book of Job
Book of Job
The Book of Job , commonly referred to simply as Job, is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The book is a...
, and his tragedy of Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
in the same language.
Return to Scotland
In 1572/1573 he returned to the ScotlandKingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
and became Minister of Paisley. In 1575, he was 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,...
as one of the Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
s to settle the jurisdiction and policy of the Church; and, the following year he was named with David Lyndsay
David Lyndsay
Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, was a Scottish Lord Lyon and poet of the 16th century, whose works reflect the spirit of the Renaissance.-Biography:...
, to report their proceedings to James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
James Douglas, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Morton was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he did manage to win the civil war which had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of...
, then Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Scotland.
In 1576, his appointment as Archbishop of St Andrews gave rise to a protracted conflict with the Presbyterian party in the Assembly. He had previously published a catechism in Latin verse dedicated to James VI, a work highly much acclaimed even by his opponents, and also a Latin translation of the Scots Confession
Scots Confession
The Scots Confession is a Confession of Faith written in 1560 by six leaders of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. The Confession was the first Subordinate Standard for the Protestant church in Scotland....
of Faith.
In 1578 he submitted himself to the General Assembly, which procured him peace for a short while, but the following year fresh accusations were brought against him. He took refuge in St Andrews Castle, where "a wise woman", Alison Pearson, who was subsequently burned for witchcraft, cured him of a "serious illness".
Excommunication
In 1583 he went as James's AmbassadorAmbassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the Court of Elizabeth I of England
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...
, where he is reported to have behaved rather badly. On his return he took strong parliamentary measures against Presbyterians, and consequently, at a provincial Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
held at St Andrews in April 1586, he was accused of heresy and excommunicated, although at the next General Assembly this verdict was remitted as illegal.
In 1587 and 1588, however, fresh accusations were brought against him, and he was again excommunicated, though afterwards on the inducement of his old opponent, Andrew Melville
Andrew Melville
Andrew Melville was a Scottish scholar, theologian and religious reformer. His fame encouraged scholars from the European Continent to study at Glasgow and St Andrews.-Early life and early education:...
, the sentence was again remitted. Meanwhile he had published the Book of Lamentations
Book of Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
, and the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
in Latin verse, which he dedicated to the King, complaining of his hard usage. But James was unmoved by his application, and granted the revenue of his See
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
to Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox
Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox
Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox and 1st Duke of Richmond was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He was the son of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox and his wife Catherine de Balsac. Stewart was involved in the Plantation of Ulster in Ireland and the colonization of Maine in New England...
. For the rest of his life Adamson was supported by charity; he died in 1592.
Legacy
His recantation of Episcopacy (1590) is probably spurious. Adamson was a man of many gifts, learned and eloquent, but with grave defects of character. His collected works, prefaced by a fulsome panegyric, in the course of which it is said that "he was a miracle of nature, and rather seemed to be the immediate production of GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
Almighty than born of a woman", were produced by his son-in-law, Thomas Wilson, in 1619. Adamson had by his wife Elizabeth Arthur another daughter, Mariota, who married Sir Michael Balfour
Balfour Castle
Balfour Castle is a historic building on the southwest of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. Though built around an older structure that dates at least from the 18th century, the present castle was built in 1847, commissioned by Colonel David Balfour, and designed by Edinburgh architect David...
. His brothers, Henry and James, both served as Provost
Provost (civil)
A provost is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities, and under the name prévôt was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Regime France.-History:...
of Perth, and they were fathers of John and Henry Adamson
Henry Adamson
Henry Adamson , was a Scottish poet and historian.Henry was the son of James Adamson, Dean of the Merchant Guildry and Provost of Perth...
respectively.
External links
- http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/adamson_patrick.htm
- http://www.scotlandspast.org/adamson.cfm
- http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst1429.html
- http://www.virtualscotland.co.uk/scotland_articles/famous-scots/patrick-adamson.htm
- www.AdamsonAncestry.com