Patrick Hamilton (martyr)
Encyclopedia
Patrick Hamilton was a Scottish
churchman and an early Protestant Reformer
in Scotland. He travelled to Europe, where he met several of the leading reforming thinkers, before returning to Scotland to preach. He was tried as a heretic by Archbishop James Beaton
, and burned at the stake in St Andrews.
and Catherine Stewart, daughter of Alexander, Duke of Albany
, second son of James II of Scotland
. He was born in the diocese of Glasgow
, probably at his father's estate of Stanehouse
in Lanarkshire
, and was most likely educated at Linlithgow
. In 1517 he was appointed titular Abbot
of Fearn Abbey
, Ross-shire
. The income from this position paid for him to study at the University of Paris
, where he became a Master of the Arts in 1520. It was in Paris, where Martin Luther
's writings were already exciting much discussion, that he first learned the doctrines he would later uphold. According to sixteenth century theologian Alexander Ales
, Hamilton subsequently went to Leuven
, attracted probably by the fame of Erasmus, who in 1521 had his headquarters there.
, then the Scottish capital of the church and of learning, as his residence. On June 9, 1523 he became a member of St Leonard's College, part of the University of St Andrews
, and on October 3, 1524 he was admitted to its faculty of arts, where he was first a student of, and then a colleague of the humanist
and logician John Mair
. At the university Hamilton attained such influence that he was permitted to conduct, as precentor
, a musical mass of his own composition in the cathedral.
The reforming doctrines had now obtained a firm hold on the young abbot, and he was eager to communicate them to his fellow-countrymen. Early in 1527 the attention of James Beaton
, Archbishop of St Andrews, was directed to the heretical
preaching of the young priest, whereupon he ordered that Hamilton should be formally tried. Hamilton fled to Germany
, enrolling himself as a student, under Franz Lambert of Avignon, in the new University of Marburg, opened on May 30, 1527 by Philip of Hesse
. Among those he met there were Hermann von dem Busche
, one of the contributors to the Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum
, and probably William Tyndale
, translator of the Bible.
Late in the autumn of 1527 Hamilton returned to Scotland, living up to his convictions. He went first to his brother's house at Kincavel, near Linlithgow, where he preached frequently, and soon afterwards he married a young lady of noble rank; her name is unrecorded. David Beaton, avoiding open violence through fear of Hamilton's high connections, invited him to a conference at St Andrews. The reformer, predicting that he was going to confirm the pious in the true doctrine by his death, accepted the invitation, and for nearly a month was allowed to preach and dispute, perhaps in order to provide material for accusation.
With the publication of Patrick’s Places in 1528, he introduced into Scottish theology Martin Luther
's rediscovery of the distinction of Law and Gospel
.
. On examination Hamilton maintained their truth, and the council condemned him as a heretic on all thirteen charges. Hamilton was seized, and, it is said, surrendered to the soldiery on an assurance that he would be restored to his friends without injury. However, the council convicted him, after a sham disputation with Friar Campbell, and handed him over to the secular power, to be burned at the stake
as a heretic, outside the front entrance to St Salvator's Chapel
in St Andrews. The sentence was carried out on the same day to preclude any attempted rescue by friends. He burned from noon to 6 PM. His last words were "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit". The spot is today marked with a monogram
of his initials set into the cobblestones.
His courageous bearing attracted more attention than ever to the doctrines for which he suffered, and greatly helped to spread the Reformation in Scotland
. It was said that the "reek of Master Patrick Hamilton infected as many as it blew upon". His fortitude during martyrdom won over Alexander Ales
, who had undertaken to convert him, to the Lutheran cause. His martyr
dom is unusual in that he was almost alone in Scotland during the Lutheran stage of the Reformation. His only book, Loci communes, known as "Patrick's Places", set forth the doctrine of justification by faith and the contrast between the gospel and the law in a series of clear-cut propositions. It is to be found in John Foxe
's Acts and Monuments
.
By a tradition of superstition, students at the University of St Andrews
prefer not to step on the monogram of Hamilton's initials outside St Salvator's Chapel
for fear of failing their degree.
, was also a committed Protestant. In March 1539 she was forced in exile to Berwick upon Tweed for her beliefs. She had been in England before and met the Queen, Jane Seymour
.
According to the historian John Spottiswood, Katherine was brought to trial for heresy before James V at Holyroodhouse in 1534, and her other brother James Hamilton of Livingston fled. The King was impressed by her conviction shown in her short answer to the prosecutor. He laughed and spoke to her privately, convincing her to abandon her profession of faith. The other accused also recanted for the time.
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...
churchman and an early Protestant Reformer
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in Scotland. He travelled to Europe, where he met several of the leading reforming thinkers, before returning to Scotland to preach. He was tried as a heretic by Archbishop James Beaton
James Beaton
Dr. James Beaton was a Scottish church leader, the uncle of Dr. David Cardinal Beaton and the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland....
, and burned at the stake in St Andrews.
Early life
He was the second son of Sir Patrick HamiltonPatrick Hamilton (nobleman)
Sir Patrick Hamilton was a Scottish nobleman. He was an illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, and a younger brother of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran...
and Catherine Stewart, daughter of Alexander, Duke of Albany
Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany
Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany was the second son of King James II of Scotland, and his Queen consort Mary of Gueldres, daughter of Arnold, Duke of Gelderland.-Biography:...
, second son of James II of Scotland
James II of Scotland
James II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...
. He was born in the diocese of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, probably at his father's estate of Stanehouse
Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire
Stonehouse is a rural village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on Avon Water in an area of natural beauty and historical interest, near to the Clyde Valley. It is also situated on the A71 trunk road between Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, close to the towns of Hamilton, Larkhall and...
in Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
, and was most likely educated at Linlithgow
Linlithgow
Linlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal....
. In 1517 he was appointed titular Abbot
Abbot of Fearn
The Abbot of Fearn was the head of the Premonstratensian monastic community of Fearn Abbey, Easter Ross. The Abbey was founded by canons from Whithorn Priory in Galloway, with the patronage of Fearchar mac an t-Sagairt, mormaer/earl of Ross. The foundation took place in the 1220s, according to the...
of Fearn Abbey
Fearn Abbey
Fearn Abbey - known as "The Lamp of the North" - has its origins in one of Scotland's oldest pre-Reformation church buildings. Part of the Church of Scotland and located to the southeast of Tain, Ross-shire, it continues as an active parish church .The original Fearn Abbey was established in either...
, Ross-shire
Ross-shire
Ross-shire is an area in the Highland Council Area in Scotland. The name is now used as a geographic or cultural term, equivalent to Ross. Until 1889 the term denoted a county of Scotland, also known as the County of Ross...
. The income from this position paid for him to study at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, where he became a Master of the Arts in 1520. It was in Paris, where Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
's writings were already exciting much discussion, that he first learned the doctrines he would later uphold. According to sixteenth century theologian Alexander Ales
Alexander Ales
Alexander Ales was a Scottish theologian of the school of Augsburg.-Life:Originally Alexander Alane, he was born at Edinburgh. He studied at St Andrews in the newly-founded college of St Leonard's, where he graduated in 1515...
, Hamilton subsequently went to Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, attracted probably by the fame of Erasmus, who in 1521 had his headquarters there.
Return and flight
Returning to Scotland, Hamilton selected St AndrewsSt Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
, then the Scottish capital of the church and of learning, as his residence. On June 9, 1523 he became a member of St Leonard's College, part of 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 October 3, 1524 he was admitted to its faculty of arts, where he was first a student of, and then a colleague of the humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
and logician John Mair
John Mair
John Mair was a Scottish philosopher, much admired in his day and an acknowledged influence on all the great thinkers of the time. He was a very renowned teacher and his works much collected and frequently republished across Europe...
. At the university Hamilton attained such influence that he was permitted to conduct, as precentor
Precentor
A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is "præcentor", from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" ....
, a musical mass of his own composition in the cathedral.
The reforming doctrines had now obtained a firm hold on the young abbot, and he was eager to communicate them to his fellow-countrymen. Early in 1527 the attention of James Beaton
James Beaton
Dr. James Beaton was a Scottish church leader, the uncle of Dr. David Cardinal Beaton and the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland....
, Archbishop of St Andrews, was directed to the heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
preaching of the young priest, whereupon he ordered that Hamilton should be formally tried. Hamilton fled to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, enrolling himself as a student, under Franz Lambert of Avignon, in the new University of Marburg, opened on May 30, 1527 by Philip of Hesse
Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse
Philip I of Hesse, , nicknamed der Großmütige was a leading champion of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany....
. Among those he met there were Hermann von dem Busche
Hermann von dem Busche
Hermann von dem Busche was a German humanist writer, known for his Vallum humanitatis . He was a pupil of Rudolph von Langen...
, one of the contributors to the Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum
Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum
The Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum was a celebrated collection of satirical Latin letters which appeared 1515-1519 in Hagenau, Germany...
, and probably William Tyndale
William Tyndale
William Tyndale was an English scholar and translator who became a leading figure in Protestant reformism towards the end of his life. He was influenced by the work of Desiderius Erasmus, who made the Greek New Testament available in Europe, and by Martin Luther...
, translator of the Bible.
Late in the autumn of 1527 Hamilton returned to Scotland, living up to his convictions. He went first to his brother's house at Kincavel, near Linlithgow, where he preached frequently, and soon afterwards he married a young lady of noble rank; her name is unrecorded. David Beaton, avoiding open violence through fear of Hamilton's high connections, invited him to a conference at St Andrews. The reformer, predicting that he was going to confirm the pious in the true doctrine by his death, accepted the invitation, and for nearly a month was allowed to preach and dispute, perhaps in order to provide material for accusation.
With the publication of Patrick’s Places in 1528, he introduced into Scottish theology Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
's rediscovery of the distinction of Law and Gospel
Law and Gospel
In Christianity the relationship between God's Law and the Gospel is a major topic in Lutheran and Reformed theology. In these traditions, the distinction between the doctrines of Law, which demands obedience to God's ethical will, and Gospel, which promises the forgiveness of sins in light of the...
.
Trial and martyrdom
At length, he was summoned before a council of bishops and clergy presided over by the archbishop. There were thirteen charges, seven based on the doctrines affirmed in the Loci CommunesLoci Communes
Loci Communes or Loci communes rerum theologicarum seu hypotyposes theologicae was a work by the Lutheran theologian Philipp Melancthon published in 1521...
. On examination Hamilton maintained their truth, and the council condemned him as a heretic on all thirteen charges. Hamilton was seized, and, it is said, surrendered to the soldiery on an assurance that he would be restored to his friends without injury. However, the council convicted him, after a sham disputation with Friar Campbell, and handed him over to the secular power, to be burned at the stake
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
as a heretic, outside the front entrance to St Salvator's Chapel
St Salvator's Chapel
St Salvator's Chapel is one of two collegiate chapels belonging to the University of St Andrews, the other being St Leonard's Chapel. It was founded in 1450, built in the Late Gothic architectural style, and refurbished in the 1680s, 1860s and throughout the 20th century...
in St Andrews. The sentence was carried out on the same day to preclude any attempted rescue by friends. He burned from noon to 6 PM. His last words were "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit". The spot is today marked with a monogram
Monogram
A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a...
of his initials set into the cobblestones.
His courageous bearing attracted more attention than ever to the doctrines for which he suffered, and greatly helped to spread the Reformation in Scotland
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...
. It was said that the "reek of Master Patrick Hamilton infected as many as it blew upon". His fortitude during martyrdom won over Alexander Ales
Alexander Ales
Alexander Ales was a Scottish theologian of the school of Augsburg.-Life:Originally Alexander Alane, he was born at Edinburgh. He studied at St Andrews in the newly-founded college of St Leonard's, where he graduated in 1515...
, who had undertaken to convert him, to the Lutheran cause. His martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
dom is unusual in that he was almost alone in Scotland during the Lutheran stage of the Reformation. His only book, Loci communes, known as "Patrick's Places", set forth the doctrine of justification by faith and the contrast between the gospel and the law in a series of clear-cut propositions. It is to be found in John Foxe
John Foxe
John Foxe was an English historian and martyrologist, the author of what is popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, , an account of Christian martyrs throughout Western history but emphasizing the sufferings of English Protestants and proto-Protestants from the fourteenth century through the...
's Acts and Monuments
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, more accurately Acts and Monuments, is an account from a Protestant point of view of Christian church history and martyrology...
.
By a tradition of superstition, students 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...
prefer not to step on the monogram of Hamilton's initials outside St Salvator's Chapel
St Salvator's Chapel
St Salvator's Chapel is one of two collegiate chapels belonging to the University of St Andrews, the other being St Leonard's Chapel. It was founded in 1450, built in the Late Gothic architectural style, and refurbished in the 1680s, 1860s and throughout the 20th century...
for fear of failing their degree.
Katherine Hamilton
Patrick's sister, the wife of the Captain of Dunbar CastleDunbar Castle
Dunbar Castle is the remnants of one of the most mighty fortresses in Scotland, situated over the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian.-Early history:...
, was also a committed Protestant. In March 1539 she was forced in exile to Berwick upon Tweed for her beliefs. She had been in England before and met the Queen, Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution for trumped up charges of high treason, incest and adultery in May 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of...
.
According to the historian John Spottiswood, Katherine was brought to trial for heresy before James V at Holyroodhouse in 1534, and her other brother James Hamilton of Livingston fled. The King was impressed by her conviction shown in her short answer to the prosecutor. He laughed and spoke to her privately, convincing her to abandon her profession of faith. The other accused also recanted for the time.