107-633: Biggar Museum Trust (BMT) is an independent charity based in and around the town of Biggar in South Lanarkshire , Scotland . The late Brian Lambie began a remarkable collection of artefacts from the area over some 40 years, and with a number of others created BMT, which became responsible for a number of museums. It became apparent to the Trustees that the buildings were not able to meet modern requirements, were difficult to access, and expensive to maintain and develop. In 2010 an opportunity arose to acquire
214-558: A burgh . The market place remains the central focus of the town. The kirk was rebuilt as a Collegiate church in 1546 for Malcolm, 3rd Lord Fleming , the last to be established before the Reformation of 1560. The Flemings found themselves on the wrong side in the 16th century, when they supported Mary, Queen of Scots . Their lands remained in the Fleming family until the 18th century when the male line of succession ended. The lands passed into
321-535: A superintendent . This plan was complicated by the conversion of three bishops to Protestantism, who were allowed to remain in their posts. Few superintendents were appointed and temporary commissioners were nominated to fill the gaps. In 1576, when the General Assembly considered the structure of the Kirk, it recognised five offices: archbishops, bishops, superintendents, commissioners, and visitors. Beside these posts
428-510: A church at Biggar since the 6th or 7th century, although the first stone kirk was built in 1164, on the site of the existing kirk. In the 14th century, the Fleming family were given lands in the area by Robert the Bruce , whose cause they had supported. The Flemings built Boghall Castle, visible as a ruin until the early 20th century, but now only represented by a few mounds. The town continued to grow as an important market town, and in 1451 it became
535-509: A combination of kirk funds, contributions from local heritors or burgh councils and parents that could pay. They were inspected by kirk sessions, who checked for the quality of teaching and doctrinal purity. There were also large number of unregulated "adventure schools", which sometimes fulfilled a local need and sometimes took pupils away from the official schools. Outside of the established burgh schools, masters often combined their positions with other employment, particularly minor posts within
642-497: A key location close to two of Scotland's great rivers, the Clyde flowing to the west, and the Tweed flowing to the east. Stone and Bronze-age artefacts have been found in the area but the strongest evidence of settlement occurs on the hills surrounding the town. One of these is Bizzyberry Hill where Iron Age remains dating back almost 2,000 years have been found. The present day A702 follows
749-473: A laird's family, or kin group and social networks, who continued to attend the Catholic Church, Protestants began to develop a series of privy kirks (secret churches), whose members increasingly turned away from existing church structures. Their organisation was sufficient in 1555 for Knox to return to Scotland. He administered a Protestant communion and carried out a preaching tour of the privy kirks. He urged
856-500: A large site in the centre of the town, and a project to create a new museum to bring the collections together and meet current requirements and visitor aspirations. The cost of the project was £2.2 million, of which more than half was raised from within the town and scattered rural community of the area. Together with funding from the Clyde Wind Farm Community Fund, South Lanarkshire LEADER, Museums Galleries Scotland, and
963-551: A medium. The anonymous The Maner of the Cyring of ane Play (before 1568) and Philotus (published in London in 1603), are isolated examples of surviving plays. The later is a vernacular Scots comedy of errors, probably designed for court performance for Mary, Queen of Scots or James VI. The same system of professional companies of players and theatres that developed in England in this period
1070-511: A network of ministers, a parish-based school system, university education and poor relief. This proposal for the use of church wealth was rejected. Instead, an Act of Council kept two-thirds of the Church's assets in the hands of its existing holders, while the remaining third was divided between the Crown and the reformist measures. The educational programme, was abandoned, ministers remained poorly paid, and
1177-399: A number of private trusts. The new museum was designed to meet high standards and is fully accessible, with a dedicated parking area for cars and a coach. Biggar & Upper Clydesdale Museum opened to visitors on 28 July 2015. It has a historical gallery illustrating the history of the area from early times up to the 20th century, a street of shops recreated from the town and furnished from
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#17328511942141284-635: A parliament, although it was not to touch the issue of religion. The Parliament of Scotland met in Edinburgh 1 August 1560. Fourteen earls, six bishops, nineteen lords, twenty-one abbots, twenty-two burgh commissioners and over a hundred lairds, claimed the right to sit. Ignoring the provisions of the Treaty of Edinburgh, on 17 August, Parliament approved a Reformed Confession of Faith (the Scots Confession ), and on 24 August it passed three Acts that abolished
1391-515: A result, in 1536 the first provincial church council called since 1470 failed to achieve major reforms or a united front against heresy. After the execution of Patrick Hamilton , the Crown prosecuted some men and a small number of executions followed in the 1530s and 1540s, but there was no systematic persecution, as the king was not interested in wide-scale bloodletting. An increasing number of lairds and nobles began to favour reform, particularly in Angus ,
1498-515: A revised version. The result of the delay was that the document, known as the First Book of Discipline , was considered not by the full Parliament, but only by a thinly-attended convention of nobles and about 30 lairds in January 1561 and then only approved individually and not collectively. The Book proposed a programme of parish-based reformation that would use the resources of the old Church to pay for
1605-583: A series of provincial councils (in 1549, 1552, probably in 1556 and in 1559), modelled on the contemporaneous Council of Trent . These blamed the advance of the Protestant heresies on "the corruption of morals and the profane lewdness of life in churchmen of all ranks, together with crass ignorance of literature and of the liberal arts". In 1548, attempts were made to eliminate concubinage , clerical pluralism , clerical trading, and non-residence, and to prohibit unqualified people from holding church offices. Further,
1712-559: A small business which eventually grew into the largest truck company in the British Empire. The company still exists as part of the Leyland DAF group. The archives of Albion motors can still be found in Biggar. In the summer of 1940 several thousands of Polish soldiers were stationed here, having been evacuated after the collapse of France. The singer Richard Tauber , whose wife Diana Napier
1819-650: A target of missionary work. Their effectiveness was limited by rivalries between different orders at Rome. The initiative was taken by a small group of Scots connected with the Crichton family , who had supplied the bishops of Dunkeld . They joined the Jesuit order and returned to attempt conversions. Their focus was mainly on the court, which led them into involvement in a series of complex political plots and entanglements. The majority of surviving Scottish lay followers were largely ignored. The humanist concern with widening education
1926-615: A third of nobles and gentry were still Catholic in inclination. In most of Scotland, except for the Outer Hebrides , Catholicism became an underground faith in private households, connected by ties of kinship. This reliance on the household meant that women often became important as the upholders and transmitters of the faith, such as in the case of Lady Fernihurst in the Borders. They transformed their households into centres of religious activity and offered places of safety for priests. Because
2033-708: A year while under siege , before they were defeated with the help of French forces. The survivors, including chaplain John Knox , were condemned to be galley slaves, helping to create resentment of the French and martyrs for the Protestant cause. In 1547, the English under Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset renewed their invasion and defeated the Scots at Pinkie , occupied south-east Scotland with forts at Lauder , Haddington and an outpost at Dundee . This occupation (1547–1549) encouraged
2140-699: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to a museum in the United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Biggar, Scotland Biggar ( Scottish Gaelic : Bigear [ˈpikʲəɾ] ) is a town, parish and former burgh in South Lanarkshire , Scotland , in the Southern Uplands near the River Clyde on the A702 . The closest neighbouring towns are Lanark , Peebles and Carluke . Biggar occupies
2247-675: Is run by the Purves Puppets family. Biggar Corn Exchange , now also used as a theatre, was completed in 1861. Ian Hamilton Finlay 's home and garden at Little Sparta is nearby in the Pentland Hills . The town hosts an annual arts festival, the Biggar Little Festival. The town has traditionally held a huge bonfire at Hogmanay . Biggar was the birthplace of Thomas Gladstones , the grandfather of William Ewart Gladstone . Hugh MacDiarmid spent his later years at Brownsbank, near
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#17328511942142354-651: Is set here. The town was once served by the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway , which ran from the Caledonian Railway (now the West Coast Main Line ) at Symington to join the Peebles Railway at Peebles. The station and signal box are still standing but housing has been built on the line running west from the station and the railway running east from the station is a public footpath to Broughton, part of
2461-697: The Earl of Bothwell , who was implicated in Darnley's murder. Opposition to Bothwell led to the formation of a coalition of nobles, who styled themselves as the Confederate Lords. Michael Lynch describes the events of 1567 as "second Reformation crisis". Mary and Bothwell confronted the Lords at Carberry Hill on 15 June 1567, but their forces melted away. He fled and she was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle . Ten days after
2568-755: The Lords of the Congregation gained control of government. Under their guidance, the Scottish Reformation Parliament passed legislation that established a Protestant creed , and rejected Papal supremacy , although these were only formally ratified by James VI and I in 1567. Directed by John Knox , the new Church of Scotland adopted a Presbyterian structure and largely Calvinist doctrine . The Reformation resulted in major changes in Scottish education, art and religious practice. The kirk itself became
2675-937: The missal used in St Nicholas church in Aberdeen . New cults of devotion related to Jesus and the Virgin Mary began to reach Scotland in the 15th century, including the Five Wounds , the Holy Blood , and the Holy Name of Jesus . New religious feasts arose, including celebrations of the Presentation , the Visitation , and Mary of the Snows . In the early 14th century, the Papacy managed to minimise
2782-477: The "special daughter of the see of Rome". It was run by special councils made up of all the Scottish bishops, with the bishop of St Andrews emerging as the most important figure. The administration of parishes was often given to local monastic institutions in a process known as appropriation . By the time of the Reformation in the mid-16th century 80% of Scottish parishes were appropriated, leaving few resources for
2889-826: The 1480s. In most Scottish burghs there was usually only one parish church, in contrast to English towns where churches and parishes tended to proliferate. As the doctrine of Purgatory gained importance in the late Middle Ages, the number of chapelries, priests, and masses for the dead prayed within them, designed to speed the passage of souls to Heaven, grew rapidly. The number of altars dedicated to saints, who could intercede in this process, also increased dramatically. St. Mary's in Dundee had perhaps 48 such altars and St Giles' in Edinburgh more than 50. The number of saints celebrated in Scotland also proliferated, with about 90 being added to
2996-641: The 17th century, with parishioners in Aberdeen reproved for parading and dancing in the street with bells at weddings and Yule in 1605, Robin Hood and May plays at Kelso in 1611 and Yuletide guising at Perth in 1634. The Kirk also allowed some plays, particularly in schools, when they served their own ends for education, as in the comedy about the Prodigal Son permitted at St. Andrews in 1574. More formal plays included those of James Wedderburn , who wrote anti-Catholic tragedies and comedies in Scots around 1540, before he
3103-450: The Baptist's at Perth on 11 May on Christ cleansing the temple . The congregation responded by stripping the shrines, images and altars of the church and then sacked the local friaries and Carthusian house. The regent responded by sending troops to restore order and Glencairn led a force to defend the town's new Protestant status. A royal delegation, including Argyll and James Stuart persuaded
3210-461: The Biggar Country Path network. This town has two schools, one primary, and one secondary. The secondary school, Biggar High School , also admits pupils from surrounding small towns and villages. Biggar Primary is a small school, located on South Back Road, with a current roll of 238 pupils. The High School, located on John's Loan and adjacent to the primary, shares its sports facilities with
3317-477: The Church and rejected its doctrine on the Eucharist . Despite evidence of the burning of heretics and some popular support for its anti-sacramental elements, it probably remained a small movement. From the 15th century, Renaissance humanism encouraged critical theological reflection and calls for ecclesiastical renewal in Scotland. As early as 1495 some Scots were in contact with Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536),
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3424-650: The Church was underfunded. The Scots Confession was produced by Knox and five colleagues in four days. Its structure parallels that of the Apostles' Creed , with 25 chapters based around themes of the Father, Son, Church and Consummation. It remained the standard of the Kirk until it was replaced by the Westminster Confession , negotiated with English Parliamentary allies during the English Civil War and adopted by
3531-486: The Continent were recruited to the new Scottish universities founded at St Andrews , Glasgow , and Aberdeen . These international contacts helped integrate Scotland into a wider European scholarly world and were one of the most important ways in which the new ideas of humanism entered Scottish intellectual life. By 1497 the humanist and historian Hector Boece , who was born in Dundee and studied at Paris, returned to become
3638-514: The Elphinstone family in 1735 on the marriage of the heiress Lady Clementina Fleming to Charles, Lord Elphinstone . Biggar Gas Works opened in 1836, producing gas from coal. In 1973, with the introduction of natural gas , the works closed. Biggar had its own railway station on the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway between 1860 and 1953. In 1899 farmers, Thomas Blackwood Murray and Norman Fulton, located in Biggar founded Albion Motors as
3745-479: The English ambassador at Antwerp noted that Scottish merchants were taking William Tyndale 's New Testament to Edinburgh and St. Andrews. In 1528 the nobleman Patrick Hamilton , who had been influenced by Lutheran theology while at the universities of Wittenberg and Marburg , became the first Protestant martyr in Scotland. He was burned at the stake for heresy outside St Salvator's College at Saint Andrews . Hamilton's execution inspired more interest in
3852-550: The Highlands there were shortages and very few spoke the Gaelic of the local population. The universities were unable supply sufficient trained ministers over a generation and many (over three-quarters in 1574) held the junior post of readers, rather than qualified ministers. The bulk of these were former Catholic clergy. The untidy system of thirteen medieval dioceses was to be replaced by ten more rational districts, each to be overseen by
3959-498: The King's Party fought a civil war on behalf of the regency against Mary's supporters. This ended, after English intervention, with the surrender of Edinburgh Castle in May 1573. In 1578, a Second Book of Discipline was adopted, which was much more clearly Presbyterian in outlook. In England, Mary became a focal point for Catholic conspirators and was eventually executed for treason in 1587 on
4066-493: The Kirk in 1647. The Confession was strongly Calvinist in tone. It emphasised the "inscrutable providence" of God, who had determined all things. It stressed the extreme depravity of mankind, who deserved eternal damnation and the mercy of God in selecting a portion of humanity for salvation through grace alone. It denied transubstantiation , but retained the real presence in the Eucharist . It largely avoided negative emotive condemnations of Catholicism, focusing on setting out
4173-598: The Kirk, such as clerk. At their best, the curriculum included catechism , Latin , French , Classical literature and sports. Scotland's universities underwent a series of reforms associated with Andrew Melville, who returned from Geneva to become principal of the University of Glasgow in 1574. A distinguished linguist, philosopher and poet, he had trained in Paris and studied law at Poitiers , before moving to Geneva and developing an interest in Protestant theology. Influenced by
4280-451: The Lords in July, and Mary moved her base to Dunbar . The arrival of French reinforcements of 1,800 men forced the Lords onto the defensive and they abandoned the capital. The Lords appealed for help from England and Mary from France. English agents managed the safe return of Earl of Arran , the eldest son and heir of Chatelherault, allowing him to accept the leadership of the Lords. In October
4387-549: The Mearns , Fife and within the University of St Andrews. Leading figures included Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn and John Erskine of Dun . In 1541 Parliament passed legislation to protect the honour of the Mass, prayer to the Virgin Mary , images of the saints, and the authority of the pope. James V died in 1542, leaving the infant Mary, Queen of Scots as his heir, with
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4494-462: The Netherlands-born leading figure in the northern humanist movement. They were also in contact with Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples (c. 1455 – 1536), a French humanist and scholar who like Erasmus argued strongly for reform of the Catholic Church by the elimination of corruption and abuses. Scottish scholars often studied on the Continent and at English universities. Humanist scholars trained on
4601-576: The Reformation took over the existing structures and assets of the Church, any attempted recovery by the Catholic hierarchy was extremely difficult. After the collapse of Mary's cause in the civil wars in the 1570s, and any hope of a national restoration of the old faith, the hierarchy began to treat Scotland as a mission area. The leading order of the Counter-Reformation , the newly founded Jesuits , initially took relatively little interest in Scotland as
4708-523: The University of Glasgow. Another major figure was Archibald Whitelaw, who taught at St. Andrews and Cologne, becoming a tutor to the young James III and royal secretary in 1462–1493. Robert Reid , Abbot of Kinloss and later Bishop of Orkney , was responsible in the 1520s and 1530s for bringing the Italian humanist Giovanni Ferrario to teach at Kinloss Abbey . Ferrario established an impressive library and wrote works of Scottish history and biography. Reid
4815-460: The West Highlands, where there had been a hereditary caste of monumental sculptors, the uncertainty and loss of patronage caused by the rejection of monuments in the Reformation meant that they moved into other branches of the Gaelic learned orders or took up other occupations. The lack of transfer of carving skills is noticeable in the decline in quality when gravestones were next commissioned from
4922-419: The acts that Parliament had passed and the new kirk existed in a state of legal uncertainty. The Lords had intended Parliament to consider a Book of Reformation , which they had commissioned and was largely the work of Knox. They were unhappy with the document and established a committee of "six Johns", including Knox, John Winram , John Spottiswood , John Willock , John Douglas , and John Row , to produce
5029-418: The anti-Aristotelian Petrus Ramus , he placed an emphasis on simplified logic and elevated languages and sciences to the same status as philosophy, allowing accepted ideas in all areas to be challenged. He introduced new specialist teaching staff, replacing the system of "regenting", where one tutor took the students through the entire arts curriculum. Metaphysics were abandoned and Greek became compulsory in
5136-652: The border to lay siege to the French in Leith . Mary of Guise fell ill and died in June. With no sign of reinforcements, the French opened negotiations. Under the Treaty of Edinburgh (5 July 1560) both the French and English removed their troops from Scotland, leaving the Protestant Lords in control of the country. The Lords accepted Mary Queen of Scots and her husband, now Francis II of France , as monarchs and were given permission to hold
5243-437: The burgh to open its gates, but the heavy handed treatment by the regent's forces led to a breakdown in negotiations. Argyll and Stuart changed sides and the Lords of the Congregation now began raising their followers for an armed conflict. A series of local reformations followed, with Protestant minorities gaining control of various regions and burghs, often with the support of local lairds and using intimidation, while avoiding
5350-404: The clergy were enjoined to scriptural reflection, and bishops and parsons instructed to preach at least four times a year. Monks were to be sent to university, and theologians appointed for each monastery, college, and cathedral. But in 1552, it was acknowledged that little had been accomplished. Attendance at Mass was still sparse and "the inferior clergy of this realm and the prelates have not, for
5457-507: The collection, and a special exhibition room which can house items loaned from national collections. BMT is also responsible for Biggar also contains The Puppet Theatre and the Corn Exchange Theatre and Art Gallery. Biggar has strong connections with William Wallace , with a small bridge in the town being associated with him, although his connection to Lanark is better known. This article about an organisation in Scotland
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#17328511942145564-466: The confrontation at Carberry Hill, the General Assembly met in Edinburgh with the aim of rooting out "superstition and idolatry". The Reformation settlement of 1567 was much more firmly Calvinist than that of 1560. The Assembly set out a programme of reform that included the ratification of the legislation of 1560, better provision of the ministry, new resources and manpower for the parishes, a purge of
5671-464: The corruption and unpopularity of the late Medieval Scottish church. Since the late 20th century, research has indicated the ways in which it met the spiritual needs of different social groups. Historians have discerned a decline of monastic life in this period, with many religious houses maintaining smaller numbers of monks. Those remaining often abandoned communal living for a more individual and secular lifestyle. The rate of new monastic endowments from
5778-413: The corruption of church and state, and which is the only complete play to survive from before the Reformation. George Buchanan (1506–1582) was major influence on Continental theatre with plays such as Jepheths and Baptistes , which influenced Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine and through them the neo-classical tradition in French drama, but his impact in Scotland was limited by his choice of Latin as
5885-465: The creation of Catholic martyrs, to carry out a "cleansing" of friaries and churches, followed by the appointment of Protestant preachers. Such reformations occurred in conservative Aberdeen and the ecclesiastical capital of St. Andrews together with other eastern ports. In June, Mary of Guise responded by dispatching a French army to St. Andrews to restore control, but it was halted by superior numbers at Cupar Muir and forced to retreat. Edinburgh fell to
5992-399: The encouragement of Calvin, he had written his own Book of Common Order and it was this that was printed and approved by the General Assembly of 1562. Enlarged, it was reprinted with the Confession and the Psalms in metre in 1564 , and it remained the standard until replaced with the Westminster Directory in 1643. A Gaelic translation of the Book of Common Order was produced in 1563,
6099-474: The existing church helped keep the political nation unified. But the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the dauphin in 1558 heightened fears that Scotland would become a French province. Reformers were given hope by the accession, in England, of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth in 1558, which created a confessional frontier in Great Britain. The Church responded to some of the criticisms being made against it. John Hamilton , Archbishop of St Andrews , instigated
6206-406: The existing regime. On 1 January 1559 the anonymous Beggars' Summons was posted on the doors of friaries, threatening friars with eviction on the grounds that their property belonged to the genuine poor. This was calculated to appeal to the passions of the populace of towns who appeared to have particular complaints against friars. Knox returned to Scotland and preached at the church of St. John
6313-407: The first book printed in Gaelic, but there would be no Gaelic Bible until the 18th century. The First Book of Discipline envisaged the establishment of reformed ministers in each of approximately 1,080 parishes. By the end of 1561, 240 of these places had been filled. By 1567 there were about 850 clergy and by 1574 there were just over 1,000. These were mainly concentrated in the south and east. In
6420-416: The first principal at the new university of Aberdeen. The continued movement of scholars to other universities resulted in a school of Scottish nominalists at Paris by the early 16th century, the most important of whom was John Mair , generally described as a scholastic . His Latin History of Greater Britain (1521) was sympathetic to the humanist social agenda. In 1518 he returned to become Principal of
6527-529: The first year, followed by Aramaic , Syriac and Hebrew , launching a new fashion for ancient and biblical languages. Glasgow had probably been declining as a university before his arrival, but students now began to arrive in large numbers. He assisted in the reconstruction of Marischal College , Aberdeen , and to do for St Andrews what he had done for Glasgow, he was appointed Principal of St Mary's College, St Andrews , in 1580. The University of Edinburgh developed out of public lectures that were established in
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#17328511942146634-408: The independence of the Kirk. By 1600 he had appointed three parliamentary bishops. By the end of his reign there were 11 bishops and diocesan episcopacy had been restored, although there was still strong support for Presbyterianism within the Kirk. Although officially illegal, Roman Catholicism survived in parts of Scotland. The hierarchy of the Church played a relatively small role and the initiative
6741-477: The king in key positions, including James IV 's (r. 1488–1513) illegitimate son Alexander Stewart , who was nominated as Archbishop of St. Andrews at the age of 11. This practice strengthened royal influence but it also made the Church vulnerable to criticisms of venality and nepotism . Relationships between the Scottish Crown and the Papacy were generally good, with James IV receiving tokens of papal favour. Traditional Protestant historiography tended to stress
6848-412: The late King James V, Lord James Stewart (later the Earl of Moray), and Lord John Erskine . In 1557 a "first bond" was signed by Argyll, Glencairn, Morton, Lorne, and Erskine, for mutual support against "Sathan and all wicked power that does intend tyranny and truble against the foresaid congregation." This group, which eventually became known as 'the Lords of the Congregation ', was a direct challenge to
6955-499: The lower ranks of the profession, leading to frequent complaints about their standards of education or abilities. Although there is little clear evidence that standards were declining, this was expressed as one of the major grievances of the Reformation. Heresy, in the form of Lollardry , began to reach Scotland from England and Bohemia in the early 15th century. Lollards were followers of John Wycliffe (c. 1330 –84) and later Jan Hus (c. 1369 –1415), who called for reform of
7062-432: The match, an action later known as the "rough wooing", which devastated south-east Scotland. In 1546, George Wishart , a preacher who had come under the influence of Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli , was arrested and burnt at the stake in St. Andrews on the orders of Cardinal Beaton. Wishart's supporters, who included a number of Fife lairds, assassinated Beaton soon after and seized St. Andrews Castle, which they held for
7169-421: The members to reject Nicodemism , by which they held Protestant convictions, but attended Catholic services. Despite being offered protection by the Earl of Argyll , he returned to Geneva in 1556. In the absence of a leading clerical figure, the leadership of the movement was taken by the few nobles who had embraced Protestantism and a new generation that included Argyll's son Lord Lorne , the illegitimate son of
7276-435: The most part, attained such proficiency in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures as to be able by their own efforts rightly to instruct the people in the Catholic faith and other things necessary to salvation or to convert the erring." Protestantism continued to expand in this period and became more distinct from those who wanted reform within the existing church. Originally organised as conventicles that consisted of members of
7383-437: The new faith in simple language. It saw the Kirk as a "catholik" community of, "the elect of all nations, realms, nations, tongues, Jews and Gentiles". In 1581, as part of a reaction to the perceived threat of Catholicism, the court signed a King's , or Negative Confession , probably commissioned by James VI, that much more harshly denounced Catholicism. The Reformation saw a complete transformation of religious observance. In
7490-415: The new ideas. The Archbishop of St Andrews was warned against any further such public executions as "the reek [smoke] of Maister Patrik Hammyltoun has infected as many as it blew upon". After entering his personal reign in 1528, James V avoided pursuing the major structural and theological changes to the church undertaken by his contemporary Henry VIII in England. In exchange for his loyalty to Rome, he
7597-582: The new kirk to local lairds, who were able to take on the dignity and authority of an elder . In the 1560s the majority of the population was probably still Catholic in persuasion, and the Kirk would find it difficult to penetrate the Highlands and Islands, but began a gradual process of conversion and consolidation that, compared with reformations elsewhere, was conducted with little persecution. The monasteries were not dissolved but allowed to die out with their monks, and before 1573 no holders of benefices were turned out, even for refusing to conform. The focus on
7704-483: The nobility also declined in the 15th century. In contrast, the burghs saw the flourishing of mendicant orders of friars in the later 15th century, who, unlike the older monastic orders, placed an emphasis on preaching and ministering to the population. The order of Observant Friars were organised as a Scottish province from 1467, and the older Franciscans and the Dominicans were recognised as separate provinces in
7811-463: The old faith in Scotland. Under these, all previous acts not in conformity with the Reformed Confession were annulled. The sacraments were reduced to two ( Baptism and Communion ) to be performed by reformed preachers alone. The celebration of the Mass was made punishable by a series of penalties (ultimately death) and Papal jurisdiction in Scotland was repudiated. The Queen declined to endorse
7918-468: The only person to partake legally in Catholic services and did not attempt to re-impose Catholicism on her subjects, thus angering the chief Catholic nobles. Her six-year personal reign was marred by a series of crises, largely caused by the intrigues and rivalries of the leading nobles. The murder of her secretary, David Riccio , was followed by that of her unpopular second husband Lord Darnley , father of her infant son, and her abduction by, and marriage to,
8025-575: The orders of her kinswoman Elizabeth I. James was Calvinist in doctrine, but strongly supported episcopacy and resisted the independence, or even right to interfere in government, of the Kirk, which became associated with the followers of Andrew Melville , known as the Melvillians. He used his powers to call the General Assembly where he wished, limiting the ability of more radical clergy to attend. He paid for moderate clergy to be present, negotiated with members, and manipulated its business in order to limit
8132-491: The parish church as the centre of worship meant the abandonment of much of the complex religious provision of chapelries, monasteries and cathedrals, many of which were allowed to decay or, like the Cathedral at St Andrews, were mined for dressed stone to be used in local houses. When her husband Francis II died in 1560, Mary, now 19, elected to return to Scotland to take up the government. She gained an agreement that she would be
8239-555: The parish clergy. In 1472 St Andrews became the first archbishopric in the Scottish church, to be followed by Glasgow in 1492. The collapse of papal authority in the Papal Schism (1378–1418) allowed the Scottish Crown to gain effective control of major ecclesiastical appointments within the kingdom. This de facto authority over appointments was formally recognised by the Papacy in 1487. The Crown placed clients and relatives of
8346-455: The place of the many holy days and festivals of the Catholic Church and the occasional observance of the Mass, the single surviving holy day was Sunday and regular attendance and participation was required of the laity. Latin was abandoned in favour of the vernacular. Congregational psalm singing replaced the elaborate polyphony of trained choirs. An emphasis was put on the Bible and the sermon, which
8453-522: The primary school when the occasion demands it. The annual primary Sports Day is held on the High School playing field. In 2007 local estate agent John Riley, encouraged a group of Biggar residents to launch the Carbon Neutral Biggar project, with the stated aim of becoming the first carbon neutral town in Scotland. The launch of the project, covered in both local and national media, took place at
8560-487: The problem of clerical pluralism , by which clerics held two or more livings , which elsewhere resulted in parish churches being without priests, or served by poorly-trained and paid vicars and clerks. The number of poor clerical livings and a general shortage of clergy in Scotland, particularly after the Black Death , meant that in the 15th century the problem intensified. As a result, parish clergy were largely drawn from
8667-465: The prohibition against reading the Bible in the vernacular . A planned marriage between Mary and Edward , the son of Henry VIII of England, which had been agreed under the Treaty of Greenwich (1543), led to a backlash in Scotland and a coup led by Cardinal Beaton . He repudiated the reforming policies, and all consideration of an English marriage for the Queen, angering the English. They invaded to enforce
8774-450: The prospect of a long minority. At the beginning of Mary's reign, the Scottish political nation was divided between a pro-French faction, led by Cardinal Beaton and by the Queen's mother, Mary of Guise , and a pro-English faction, headed by Mary's prospective heir James Hamilton, Earl of Arran . Initially Arran became Regent, backed by the small "evangelical party" at court, who favoured religious reform. The act of Parliament of 1543 removed
8881-459: The reforming cause. The English supplied books and distributed Bibles and Protestant literature in the Lowlands . Several earls pledged themselves 'to cause the word of God to be taught and preached'. To counter the English, the Scots secured French help, the price of which was the betrothal of the infant Queen to the French dauphin , the future Francis II . She departed for France in 1548, where she
8988-562: The regent was declared "suspended" and replaced by a "great council of the realm". Mary of Guise's forces continued to advance, once again threatening St. Andrews. The situation was transformed by the arrival of the English fleet in the Firth of Forth in January 1560, and the French retreated to the stronghold of Leith near Edinburgh. The English and the Lords agreed further support by the Treaty of Berwick in February 1560 and an English army crossed
9095-564: The route of a Roman road , which linked the Clyde Valley with Musselburgh . In the 12th century, in return for the promise of support, King David I gave the lands of Biggar to Baldwin, a Fleming leader. He built a motte and bailey castle, which can still be seen north-west of the High Street. The first permanent crossing of the Biggar Burn was also built. It is thought that there has been
9202-525: The start of the 17th century. According to N. Prior, the nature of the Scottish Reformation may have had wider effects, limiting the creation of a culture of public display and meaning that art was channelled into more austere forms of expression with an emphasis on private and domestic restraint. The loss of ecclesiastical patronage that resulted from the Reformation, meant that native craftsmen and artists turned to secular patrons. One result of this
9309-639: The subject of national pride, and many Scots saw their country as a new Israel. Christianity spread in Scotland from the 6th century, with evangelisation by Irish-Scots missionaries and, to a lesser extent, those from Rome and England. The church in Scotland attained clear independence from England after the Papal Bull of Celestine III ( Cum universi , 1192), by which all Scottish bishoprics except Galloway became formally independent of York and Canterbury . The whole Ecclesia Scoticana , with individual Scottish bishoprics (except Whithorn/Galloway), became
9416-545: The teachers in the universities and schools, and a closer relationship with parliament. A parliament was called in December, which allowed the acts passed by the Reformation Parliament to be ratified. The subsequent religious settlement would be worked out over the 1570s against a background of civil war and unstable regencies. In July 1567, Mary was forced to abdicate in favour of her 13-month-old son James VI . James
9523-584: The town in the 1540s on law, Greek, Latin and philosophy, under the patronage of Mary of Guise . The "Tounis College" become the University of Edinburgh in 1582. The results of these changes were a revitalisation of all Scottish universities, which were now producing a quality of education the equal of that offered anywhere in Europe. Medieval Scotland probably had its own Mystery plays , often performed by craft guilds , like one described as ludi de ly haliblude and staged at Aberdeen in 1440 and 1445 and which
9630-637: The town's annual eco forum in May 2007. The group has formed links with the town of Ashton Hayes in Cheshire , which has a similar group working toward carbon neutral status for the town. The new Biggar & Upper Clydesdale Museum run by the Biggar Museum Trust opened in 2015 and the Biggar Gasworks Museum is the only preserved gas works in Scotland. Additionally, Biggar has Scotland's only permanent puppet theatre, Biggar Puppet Theatre, which
9737-441: The town. The town of Biggar is 200 metres (660 ft) above sea level. Biggar has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ). Camps Reservoir is a nearby weather station situated at an elevation of 295 m (968 ft). Scottish Reformation Electors of Saxony Holy Roman Emperors Building Literature Theater Liturgies Hymnals Monuments Calendrical commemoration The Scottish Reformation
9844-632: The treasury and the Great Seal , and the French ambassador Henri Cleutin sometimes attended the Privy Council . At first Mary of Guise cultivated a policy of limited toleration of Protestants, hoping to gain their support for her pro-French policies and against England, which from 1553 was under the rule of the Catholic Mary Tudor , who married the future Philip II of Spain in 1554. Hopes for reform of
9951-612: The way for the Castalian poets of James VI's adult reign. Scotland's ecclesiastical art paid a heavy toll as a result of Reformation iconoclasm , with the almost total loss of medieval stained glass and religious sculpture and paintings. The only significant surviving pre-Reformation stained glass in Scotland is a window of four roundels in the Magdalen Chapel of Cowgate , Edinburgh , completed in 1544. Wood carving can be seen at King's College, Aberdeen and Dunblane Cathedral . In
10058-460: Was a system of church courts of kirk sessions and presbyteries , which dealt with discipline and administration. Some local sessions had existed before 1560, moderators emerged in 1563, but the presbytery not until 1580. By the 1590s Scotland was organized into about 50 presbyteries with about 20 ministers in each. Above them stood a dozen or so synods and at the apex the general assembly. The system of kirk sessions gave considerable power within
10165-608: Was able to appoint his many illegitimate children and favourites to office in the Church, particularly David Beaton who became a Cardinal in 1538 and Archbishop of Saint Andrews in 1539. James increased crown revenues by heavily taxing the church, taking £72,000 in four years. The results of such appointments and taxation undermined both the status and finances of the Church. The Church was also divided by jurisdictional disputes between Gavin Dunbar , Archbishop of Glasgow and James Beaton , Archbishop of St. Andrews until his death in 1539. As
10272-649: Was absent in Scotland, but James VI signalled his interest in drama by arranging for a company of English players to erect a playhouse and perform in 1599. The Kirk also discouraged poetry that was not devotional in nature. Nevertheless, poets from this period included Richard Maitland of Lethington (1496–1586), who produced meditative and satirical verses; John Rolland (fl. 1530–1575), who wrote allegorical satires and courtier and minister Alexander Hume (c. 1556 –1609), whose corpus of work includes nature poetry and epistolary verse . Alexander Scott 's (?1520–82/3) use of short verse designed to be sung to music, opened
10379-635: Was forced to flee into exile. These included the Beheading of Johne the Baptist and the Historie of Dyonisius the Tyraonne , which were performed at Dundee. David Lyndsay (c. 1486 –1555), diplomat and the head of the Lyon Court , was a prolific poet and dramatist. He produced an interlude at Linlithgow Palace for the king and queen thought to be a version of his play The Thrie Estaitis in 1540, which satirised
10486-482: Was left to lay leaders. Where nobles or local lairds offered protection it continued to thrive, as with Clanranald on South Uist , or in the north-east where the Earl of Huntly was the most important figure. In these areas Catholic sacraments and practices were maintained with relative openness. Members of the nobility were probably reluctant to pursue each other over matters of religion because of strong personal and social ties. An English report in 1600 suggested that
10593-456: Was often longer than an hour, although many parishes, which had no minister, would have had only a "readers service", of psalms, prayers and Bible readings. The Geneva Bible was widely adopted. Protestant preachers fleeing Marian persecutions in England had brought with them Edward VI 's second Book of Common Prayer (of 1552), which was commended by the Lords of the Congregation. Knox initially supported it, but before leaving Geneva, and with
10700-401: Was probably connected with the feast of Corpus Christi , but no texts are extant. Legislation was enacted against folk plays in 1555, and against liturgical plays ("clerk-plays or comedies based on the canonical scriptures") in 1575 by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Attempts to ban folk plays were more leniently applied and less successful that once assumed. They continued into
10807-425: Was shared by the Protestant reformers, with a desire for a godly people replacing the aim of having educated citizens. The First Book of Discipline set out a plan for a school in every parish, but this proved financially impossible. In the burghs the old schools were maintained, with the song schools and a number of new foundations becoming reformed grammar schools or ordinary parish schools. Schools were supported by
10914-513: Was the flourishing of Scottish Renaissance painted ceilings and walls, with large numbers of private houses of burgesses, lairds and lords gaining often highly detailed and coloured patterns and scenes, of which over 100 examples survive. These were undertaken by unnamed Scottish artists using continental pattern books that often led to the incorporation of humanist moral and philosophical symbolism, with elements that call on heraldry, piety, classical myths and allegory. The earliest surviving example
11021-629: Was the process whereby Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church , and established the Protestant Church of Scotland . It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation . From the first half of the 16th century, Scottish scholars and religious leaders were influenced by the teachings of the Protestant reformer, Martin Luther . In 1560, a group of Scottish nobles known as
11128-466: Was to be brought up a Protestant and the government was to be run by a series of regents, beginning with Moray, until James began to assert his independence in 1581. Mary eventually escaped and attempted to regain the throne by force. After her defeat at the Battle of Langside in May 1568, by forces loyal to the King's Party, led by Moray, she took refuge in England, leaving her son in their hands. In Scotland,
11235-485: Was to be raised and educated. At this point, "the policy of Henry VIII had failed completely". French ascendancy was made absolute over the next decade. In 1554, Arran was given the title Duke du Châtellerault and removed from the regency in favour of Mary of Guise (the Queen Mother). During her regency (1554–1560), the Queen's mother ensured the predominance of France in Scottish affairs. She put Frenchmen in charge of
11342-444: Was to leave sufficient endowment in his will, for the foundation of Edinburgh University. James McGoldrick suggests that there was a circle of "Erasmian-type scholar-reformers" at the royal court in the first decade of the sixteenth century. From the 1520s the ideas of Martin Luther began to have influence in Scotland, with Lutheran literature circulating in the east-coast burghs. In 1525 Parliament banned their importation. In 1527,
11449-750: Was working with the Polish Red Cross, put on a special performance of the operetta The Land of Smiles during a two-week run in Glasgow. Later the Polish soldiers moved to the east coast of Scotland to defend the coast and to train for their deployment as the 1st Polish Armoured Division in Normandy, Belgium and the Netherlands. The fictional Midculter, which features in Dorothy Dunnett 's Lymond Chronicles novels,
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