Шотландияның тұңғыш реформаторы Патрик Гамильтон және оның шейіттігі

Scottish clergyman

Patrick Hamilton (1504 – 29 February 1528) was a Scottish churchman and an early Protestant Reformer in Scotland. He travelled to Europe, where he met several of the leading reformed thinkers, before returning to Scotland to preach. He was tried as a heretic by Archbishop James Beaton, found guilty and handed over to secular authorities to be burnt at the stake in St Andrews as Scotland's first martyr of the Reformation. In no other country in the world was the Reformation so complete or as thorough as in Scotland. This country was moved by the martyrdom of Patrick Hamilton in 1528. Hamilton began preaching in Scotland in 1527 and was invited as a friend by Archbishop Beaton to a conference in St. Andrews. Once there, he was charged with heresy and burned. After Hamilton's death, others who had New Testaments or who professed Reformed doctrines were burned or sentenced to severe punishments, and some fled the country. The clergy were held up to ridicule all over the land.

He was the second son of Sir Patrick Hamilton of Kincavil 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 learnt 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.

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 in Philip Melanchthon's Loci Communes, the first theological exposition of Martin Luther's scriptural study and teachings in 1521. On examination Hamilton expressed a belief in their truth and the council sentenced him to death on all thirteen charges. Hamilton was seized and allegedly surrendered to the soldiery based on an assurance that he would be restored to his friends without injury. However, after a debate with Friar Campbell, the council handed him over to the secular power to be burned at the stake outside the front entrance to St Salvator's Chapel in St Andrews. The sentence was carried out on the same day to avoid rescue by his uncle and preclude any attempted rescue by friends. He burned from noon to 6 p. m. and his last words were "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit". The spot is today marked with a monogram of his initials set into the cobblestones of the pavement of North Street. This spanned the reformation in Scotland.

Patrick's sister, Katherine Hamilton, was the wife of the Captain of Dunbar Castle and 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. A play about Katherine, with Patrick as a secondary character, was written by Rona Munro, and performed on tour in 2024.