¹ For example, the latest collection of Knox's writings: The Political Writings of John Knox, ed. M. A., Breslow, Cranbury, NJ 1985.Google Scholar

² As Breslow does not print any of the original sidenotes to the text, the best edition remains The Works of John Knox, ed. D., Laing, 6 vols, Edinburgh 1846–1864 (hereinafterWorks). Vol.iv contains all the 1558 tracts.Google Scholar

³ This phrase has been borrowed from Burns, J. H., ‘John Knox and Revolution’, History Today viii 566. The perceptive points which Professor Burns made in this article and his other writings on Knox (see below nn. 6, 44, 60) have not been properly appreciated.Google Scholar

⁴ The standard biographies of Knox cover his movements, though none of them produces a full and accurate itinerary of his exile: Percy, E., John Knox, London 1937 sections 3, 4;Google ScholarReid, W. S., Trumpeter of God, New York 1974, chs. 6-viii;Google ScholarRidley, J., John Knox, Oxford 1968 chs. 6-xvi.Google Scholar

⁵ These were his Declaration of the True Nature of Prayer; Exposition upon the Sixth Psalm; Godly Letter of Warning; Two Comfortable Epistles; and A Faithful Admonition, written between Jan. and Aug. 1554: Works, iii.

⁶ Knox had addressed a series of questions to Bullinger and Calvin on the matter of resistance: Works, iii. 217–26; Burns, J. H., ‘Knox and Bullinger’, Scottish Historical Review 35 1955, 90–91.Google Scholar

⁷ ‘Knox to Mrs Bowes, 4 Nov. 1555, Works, iv. 217-18.Google Scholar

⁸ John Knox–s History of the Reformation in Scotland, ed.W. C., Dickinson 2 vols, Edinburgh 1949 1123Google Scholar

⁹ ibid i. 131–6, at p. 133.

¹⁰ Works, iv. 297–347.

¹¹ For the debate see Jordan, C. ‘Women's rule in sixteenth-century British political thought’, Renaissance Quarterly 40 (1987)Google ScholarPhillips, J. E., –The background to Spenser's attitude toward women rulers’, Huntington Library Quarterly 1941–1942), 5–32; Scalingi, P. L., ‘The scepter and the distaff: the question of female sovereignty, 1516–1607’, The Historian 41 (1978), 59–75;Google ScholarGreaves, R. L., Theology and Revolution in the Scottish Reformation, Washington 1980, ch. viii and Mandy Shephard's forthcoming thesis.Google Scholar

¹² The ‘application’ of a text to the contemporary political situation was a feature of many Protestant sermons, particularly in King Edward's reign. See King, J. N., English Reformation Literature, Princeton 1982.Google Scholar

¹³ John Knox's History, ii. 15 and see below n. 74. In the 1550s when Knox used the Old Testament example of Jezebel it was always with reference to Mary Tudor.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Knox also wrote directly to Queen, Elizabeth, 20 07. 1559: Works, vi. 47–50. His letter was taken, carefully annotated and its main points refuted: BL Add. MS 32,091, fos 167–9.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Aylmer, J., An Harborowe for faithfull and trewe subiectes, Strasbourg 1559.Google Scholar sig. B2. The refutations of Knox fell into two categories, those written by contemporaries and fellow exiles within a few years of the appearance of the First Blast and those written considerably later, usually with the defence of Mary Queen of Scots in mind. Most of the first group defended Knox personally whilst attacking his views on female rule. Aylmer's book was written in the ‘more in sorrow than in anger’ style and he was at pains not to criticise Knox himself: Harborowe, sig. Lawrence, Bi. Humphrey also strove to exonerate Knox: De religionis conservation et reformatione vera, Basle, 1559, 100,Google Scholar trans, in Knappen, M., Tudor Puritanism, Chicago 1970 ed., 176–177.Google ScholarJohn, Foxe's letter to Knox is now lost, but the reply gives some indication of the criticism which he made of the First Blast: Works, 5. 5–6. John Jewel was rather harsher on Knox when he was defending the Protestant cause from Harding's attack in his Defence of the Apology in The Works of John Jewel, ed. J., Ayre, 4 vols, Cambridge 1845–, iv. 664–665. The most interesting refutation was by Richard Bertie, BL Add. MS 48,043, fos 1–9. I am most grateful to Mandy Shephard for discussions with her on the Bertie manuscript and for allowing me to read the relevant portions of her thesis in advance.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Although he valued Elizabeth as a person, Aylmer was not particularly complimentary about the capacity of women to rule. He argued that England was safe in female hands because it enjoyed a mixed monarchy and was governed by the laws and not solely by the monarch; Harborowe, sig. H3.Google Scholar

¹⁷ The joint statement of faith presented by the exiles to Elizabeth also declared that the principle of female rule was consonant with Scripture: Knappen, Tudor Puritanism, 172. However, despite the mild attacks, Knox wrote to Mrs Anne Locke on 6 Apr. 1559, ‘my First Blast hath blowne from me all my friends in England’: Works, vi. 14.. Calvin and Beza both felt that they were unfairly associated with the English exiles’ views and that in consequence Queen Elizabeth was suspicious of all their friendly gestures towards her: Zurich Letters, ed. Robinson, H., 2 vols, Cambridge 1842–1845, ii. 34–36, 131.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Works, vi. 48, and n. 14 above.Google Scholar

¹⁹ For a general discussion of these see Bowler, G., ‘Marian Protestants and the ideal of violent resistance to tyranny’, in Lake, P. and Dowling, M. (eds), Protestantism and the National Church, London 1987, 124–143.Google ScholarFor the way in which events in England affected the exiles see Peardon, B., ‘The politics of polemic: John Ponet's Short Treatise of Politic Power and contemporary circumstance, 1553–6’, Journal of British Studies 22 (1982), 35–49.Google Scholar

²⁰ For a full discussion of this pressure see Dawson, J., ‘Revolutionary conclusions: the case of the Marian exiles’, History of Political Thought xi (1990), 257–272.Google Scholar

²¹ For an example of some of the difficulties which might arise see Levin, C.‘Queens and claimants: political insecurity in sixteenth-century England’, in Sharistanian, J. (ed.), Gender, Ideology, and Action, New York, 1986, 41–66.Google Scholar

²² Stimulated by his dislike of Mary and her Catholic policies, Knox had been mulling over the question of female rule since 1554. It had been the subject of One of the famous questions which he had asked of Bullinger and Calvin that year. See above n. 6.Google Scholar

²³ For the consequences of Mary's marriage to Philip of Spain see Loades, D. M., The Reign of Mary Tudor (London, 1979), chs iv, 7.Google Scholar

²⁴ On 18 May 1559 Knox wrote to Foxe, ‘to me it is yneugh to say that black is not whit, and man's tryannye and foolishnes is not Goddes perfite ordinance’: Works, v. 5. For this general approach see Mason, R., ‘Knox, resistance and the moral imperative’, History of Political Thought i (1980), 411–36.Google Scholar

²⁵ Skinner, Q., ‘The origins of the Calvinist theory of revolution’, in Malament, B. C. (ed.), After the Reformation, Manchester 1980, 309–30.Google Scholar

²⁶ For Knox's polemical style see Murison, D., ‘Knox the writer’, in Shaw, D. (ed.), John Knox, Edinburgh 1975, 33–50.Google Scholar

²⁷ Works, iv. 473. There are assorted modern editions of the ‘First Blast’, none of which is as satisfactory as Laing's edition.Google Scholar

²⁸ Greaves, , Theology and Revolution, ch. 1;Google ScholarKyle, R., The Mind of John Knox, Lawrence, Kansas 1984, ch. ii.Google Scholar

²⁰ For example, Works, vi. 374–6, 383–4.Google Scholar

³⁰ 396.

³¹ The aphorism from Lewis, C. S. is cited in Rupp, E. G., ‘The Europe of John Knox’, in Shaw, Knox, 6–7.Google Scholar

³² Jordan, ‘Women's rule’, 426; and above n. 15.Google Scholar

³³ Kyle, R., ‘John Knox's methods of biblical interpretation: an important source of his intellectual radicalness’, Journal of Religious Studies 12 (1986), 57–70.Google Scholar

³⁴ Jordan, , ‘Women's rule’, 436.Google Scholar

³⁵ Works, iv. 416.Google Scholar

³⁶ Christopher Goodman had said, ‘it is lawful for the people, yea it is their duty to do it [punishment] themselves, as well as upon their own rulers and Magistrate as upon other of their brethren’: How Superior Powers Oght to Be Obeyd, Geneva 1558, 189–90;Google ScholarDawson, J. ‘Resistance and revolution in sixteenth-century thought: the case of Christopher Goodman’, in Berg, J. van and Hoftijzer, P. (eds.), Church, Change and Revolution (Publications of the Sir Thomas Browne Institute New Series, XII), Leiden 1991, 69–79.Google Scholar

³⁷ For the situation in Scotland see Donaldson, G., The Scottish Reformation, Cambridge 1960, ch. 2;Google ScholarCowan, I., The Scottish Reformation, London 1982, chs 5 vi;Google Scholar and for the composition of the Lords of the Congregation, Donaldson, G., All the Queen's Men, London 1983, chs. 2-iii.Google Scholar

³⁸ The First Band was signed on 3 Dec. 1557: John Knox's History, 1. 136–7.Google Scholar On the regent see Marshall, R., Mary of Guise, London 1977, chs 9-xi.Google Scholar

³⁹ The burning of Walter Myln (28 Apr. 1558) provoked Knox to harsh criticism of the regent and the archbishop of St Andrews: John Knox's History, i. 153 and the ‘Additions’ revealed a much sharper edge to his comments than in his original Letter to the Regent, Works iv, 431–460. Myln's execution was part of the hardening of the regent's attitude made possible by the celebration of Mary Queen of Scots’ marriage to the French dauphin on 24 Apr. 1558:Google ScholarWormald, J., Mary Queen of Scots, London 1988, 89.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Works, iv. 284-5. At the end of 1557 Knox wrote three letters to the Scottish Lords: 27 Oct., John Knox's History, i. 133-6; 1 Dec, Works, iv. 261-75; 17 Dec, ibid 276-86.

⁴¹ ibid 524. In the Appellation Knox even set out the rules for the disputation, 518–19.

⁴² John Knox's History, 1. 249–56.Google Scholar

⁴³ Works, 4. 285.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ See Burns, J. H., ‘The political ideas of the Scottish Reformation’, Aberdeen University Review 26 (1955-6), 256–8.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Works, 4. 480f.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ John Knox's History, 1. 138, ii. 246–254.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Works, 4. 523. Knox addressed ’his beloved brethren the Communaltie of Scotland’: p. 523.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ 534.

⁴⁹ 526–7Google Scholar

⁵⁰ 534.61Google Scholar

⁵³ For a full discussion of the covenant argument see Dawson, , –Resistance and revolution’ and idem, ‘The Early Career of Christopher Goodman and his place in the development of English Protestant Thought’, unpubl. PhD diss., Durham 1978.Google Scholar

⁵² Kingdon, R. M., Geneva and the Coming of the Wars of Religion in France, 1555–63, Geneva 1956;Google ScholarEire, C., ‘Prelude to sedition? Calvin's attack on Nicodemism and religious compromise’, Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 77 (1985), 120–45.Google ScholarThe setting up of a national synod in 1558 was an important step, especially as the Huguenots felt able to hold it in Paris where in the previous September there had been the incident at the Rue St Jacques. It had provoked a pamphlet war of which Knox's Apology was part: B. Diefendorf, ‘Prologue to massacre: popular unrest in Paris, 1557–1572’, American Historical Review xc (1985), 1067–91;Google ScholarKelley, D., The Beginning of Ideology, Cambridge 1981, ch. iii.Google Scholar

⁶³ For example in Knox's An Apology for the Protestants who are holden in Prison at Paris, Works, 4. 324-5.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ Mason, R., ‘Covenant and commonweal’, in Macdougall, N. (ed.), Church, Politics and Society, Edinburgh 1983, 97–126.Google ScholarI am grateful to Dr Mason for our discussions on this point. On Knox's obsession with idolatry seeGoogle ScholarR. Kyle, ‘John, Knox and the purification of religion: the intellectual aspects of his crusade against idolatry’, Archiv fiir Reformations-geschichte 77 (1986), 265–80. The general links between iconoclasm and resistance theories are discussed in Eire, C. M. N., War Against the Idols, Cambridge 1986, ch. 7.Google Scholar

⁵⁵ Works, iii. 199. This is found in A Godly Letter of Warning or Admonition to the Faithful in London, Newcastle and Berwick [1554], Works, iii. 157-216, which contains Knox's basic treatment of the covenant in relation to England: see Greaves, Theology and Revolution, ch. vi. On Knox's views about Scotland and the covenant in this period see R. Mason, ‘Kingship and Commonweal: political thought and ideology in Reformation Scotland’, unpubl. PhD diss., Edinburgh 1983, 289.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Works, iv. 507.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ This argument had been developed by Christopher Goodman, How Superior Powers.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Works, iv. 515.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ I am grateful to Professor Cameron, J. K. for this important suggestion. Traditionally the nobility had a major part to play during a regency in Scotland: Wormald, Mary Queen of Scots, 44–6.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ For the Scottish constitutional tradition see Mason, ‘Kingship’, pts 1 and n; Burns, J. H., ‘The Theory of Limited Monarchy in Sixteenth-century Scotland’, unpubl. PhD diss., Aberdeen 1952, and see above nn. 3, 44; Greaves, Theology and Revolution, sect. 3; Kyle, The Mind of John Knox. For the most comprehensive treatment of the European theory of inferior magistracy see R. Benert, ‘Inferior Magistrates in Sixteenth-Century Political Thought’, unpubl. PhD diss., Minnesota 1967, chs. i–iv.Google Scholar

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⁶⁴ Skinner, , Modern Political Thought, 2. 198–9.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Cargill-Thompson, , Political Thought, 104–5.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Skinner, , Modern Political Thought, 2. 201–38.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ The full title ran ‘The Appellation of John Knox from the cruell and most iniust sentence pronounced against him by the false bishoppes and clergie of Scotland, with his supplication and exhortation to the nobilitie, estates and communaltie of the same realme’: Works, 4. 465.Google Scholar

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⁷⁰ 469–72.Google Scholar

⁷¹ 473.

⁷² 472–9; Skinner, , Modem Political Thought, ii. ch. 1; Cargill-Thompson, Political Thought, ch. 6.Google Scholar

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⁷⁴ John Knox's History, 2. 15, and above n. 13. As late at 1571 Knox's attempts at compromise encouraged his enemies to charge him with inconsistency in attacking female rule and later supporting and praying for Queen Elizabeth; D. Calderwood, The History of the Kirk of Scotland, 8 vols, Edinburgh 1842–9, 8. 51-4.Google Scholar

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