George Wishart

George Wishart

George Wishart (c. 1513 – 1 March 1546) was a Scottish religious reformer and Protestant martyr.

He belonged to a younger branch of the Wisharts of Pitarrow near Montrose. He may have graduated M.A., probably at King's College, Aberdeen, and was certainly a student at the University of Leuven, from which he graduated in 1531. He taught the New Testament in Greek as schoolmaster at Montrose, until investigated for heresy by the Bishop of Brechin in 1538. He fled to England, where a similar charge was brought against him at Bristol in the following year by Thomas Cromwell. Under examination by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer he recanted some utterances. In 1539 or 1540 he may have visited Germany and Switzerland, but by 1542 he had entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he studied and taught.

In 1543 he returned to Scotland, in the train of a Scottish embassy which had come to London to consider the treaty of marriage between Prince Edward (later Edward VI of England) and the infant Mary I of Scotland. He returned to Montrose, where again he taught Scripture.

He may have been the "Scottish man called Wishart" implicated in a 1544 English plot against Cardinal David Beaton. Roman Catholic historians such as Alphons Bellesheim and Anglicans such as canon Dixon have accepted the identification; others are sceptical. There are plenty of other contenders for the designation, including George Wishart, Baillie of Dundee, who allied himself with Beaton's murderers; and Sir John Wishart (d. 1576), afterwards a Scottish judge.

His career as an itinerant preacher began in 1544, from when he travelled Scotland from east to west. The story has been told by his disciple John Knox. He went from place to place, in danger of his life, denouncing the errors of the Papacy and the abuses in the church at Montrose, Dundee (where he escaped an attempt on his life), Ayr, in Kyle, at Perth, Edinburgh, Leith, Haddington (where Knox accompanied him) and elsewhere.

At Ormiston in East Lothian, in December 1545, he was seized by the Earl of Bothwell on the orders of Cardinal Beaton, and transferred by order of the privy council to Edinburgh castle on 19 January 1546. Thence he was handed over to Beaton, who had a "show trial", with John Lauder prosecuting Wishart. Execution by burning at the stake followed at St Andrews on 1 March 1546. Foxe and Knox attribute to him a prophecy of the death of the Cardinal, who was assassinated on 29 May following, partly in revenge for Wishart's death.

Wishart's preaching in 1544–45 helped popularize the teachings of Calvin and Zwingli in Scotland. He translated into English the first "Helvetic Confession of Faith" in 1536. At his trial he refused to accept that confession was a sacrament, denied free will, recognized the priesthood of all believing Christians, and rejected the notion that the infinite God could be "comprehended in one place" between "the priest's hands". He proclaimed that the true Church was where the Word of God was faithfully preached and the two dominical sacraments rightly administered.

The Martyrs Memorial at St Andrews was erected to the honour of George Wishart, Patrick Hamilton, and other martyrs of the Reformation era.

References

*
* Foxe's "Acts and Monuments"; Hay Fleming's "Martyrs and Confessors of St Andrews"; Cramond's "Truth about Wishart" (1898); and Dict. of Nat. Biogr. vol. lxii. (248-251, 253-254).
* Cameron M, et al (eds), "Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology" (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993).
* Ryrie, Alec, "The Origins of the Scottish Reformation" (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006)

External links

* [http://www.stirnet.com/HTML/genie/british/ww/wishart1.htm Stirnet Genealogy: 'Wishart1'] (George is listed as son of Sir James Wyschart of Pittarrow and Elizabeth Learmont)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • George Wishart — (* 1513; † 1546) war ein schottischer religiöser Reformator und protestantischer Märtyrer. George Wishart wurde etwa 1513 als Sohn von James Wyshart und Elizabeth Learmont geboren. Er studierte alte Sprachen an der Universität von Aberdeen und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • George Wishart — (vers 1513 – 1er mars 1546) fut un prédicateur protestant écossais, confident et mentor de John Knox. Il était un membre de la célèbre famille Pitarrow. Il embrassa, dans un voyage en Allemagne, la doctrine de Luther. De reto …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Wishart — is a surname, and may refer to* Arthur Wishart, Canadian politician * Bridget Wishart, English performance artist * Craig Wishart, Zimbabwean cricketer * David Wishart, Scottish author * George Wishart, Scottish Protestant of the sixteenth… …   Wikipedia

  • Wishart — ist der Name folgender Personen: Betty Wishart (* 1947), US amerikanische Komponistin und Musikpädagogin George Wishart (1513–1546), schottischer Reformator John Wishart (1898–1956), schottischer Mathematiker und Statistiker Robert Wishart (auch …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • George Rudé — (February 8, 1910–January 8, 1993) was a British Marxist historian, specializing in the French Revolution and history from below, especially the importance of crowds in history.ummaryBorn in Oslo, Norway, the son of Jens Essendrop Rude, a… …   Wikipedia

  • George Turnbull — (July 11, 1698 1748) was a Scottish philosopher, theologian, teacher, writer on education and an early but little known figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He taught at Marischal College, Aberdeen, worked as a tutor and became an Anglican… …   Wikipedia

  • George Padmore — George Padmore, geboren als Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse (* 28. Juli 1902[1], in Tacarigua, Arouca District, Trinidad; † 23. September 1959 in London) war ein Westindischer Publizist, kommunistischer Politiker und ein Vordenker des Panafrikanismus …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wishart distribution — Probability distribution name =Wishart type =density pdf cdf parameters = n > 0! deg. of freedom (real) mathbf{V} > 0, scale matrix ( pos. def) support =mathbf{W}! is positive definite pdf =frac{left|mathbf{W} ight|^frac{n p 1}{2… …   Wikipedia

  • George Orwell — Eric Blair redirects here. For the politician, see Eric Blair (Ontario politician). George Orwell Orwell s press card portrait, taken in 1933 Born Eric Arthur Blair 25 June 1903( …   Wikipedia

  • Wishart, George — ▪ Scottish religious reformer born c. 1513, Pitarrow, Scot. died March 1, 1546, Edinburgh       an early martyr of the Reformation in Scotland.       While a teacher of Greek at Montrose, Wishart was accused of heresy and went to Cambridge (1538) …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”