THE REFORMATION IN THE BURGH OF ST ANDREWS : PROPERTY, PIETY AND POWER Elizabeth Rhodes A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2013 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/4476 This item is protected by original copyright The Reformation in the Burgh of St Andrews: Property, Piety and Power Elizabeth Rhodes This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 4 September 2013 Abstract This thesis examines the impact of the Reformation on the estates of ecclesiastical institutions and officials based in St Andrews. It argues that land and wealth were redistributed and power structures torn apart, as St Andrews changed from Scotland’s Catholic ecclesiastical capital to a conspicuously Protestant burgh. The rapid dispersal of the pre-Reformation church’s considerable ecclesiastical lands and revenues had long-term ramifications for the lives of local householders, for relations between religious and secular authorities, and for St Andrews’ viability as an urban community. Yet this major redistribution of wealth has had limited attention from scholars. The first part of this study considers the role played by the Catholic Church in St Andrews before the Reformation, and the means by which it was financed, examining the funding of the city’s pre-Reformation ecclesiastical foundations and officials, and arguing that (contrary to some traditional assumptions) the Catholic Church in St Andrews was on a reasonably sound financial footing until the Reformation. The second section considers the immediate disruption to St Andrews’ religious lands and revenues caused by the burgh’s public conversion to Protestantism, and then explores the more planned reorganisation of the 1560s. The disputes and difficulties triggered by the redistribution of ecclesiastical wealth are examined, as well as the longer term impact on St Andrews of the treatment of church revenues at the Reformation. Evidence for this study is chiefly drawn from the extensive body of manuscripts concerning St Andrews held by the National Library of Scotland, the National Records of Scotland, and the University of St Andrews Special Collections. ii 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Elizabeth Rhodes, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 71,900 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2009 and as a candidate for the degree of PhD in History in September 2009; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2009 and 2013. Date signature of candidate 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in History in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date signature of supervisor 3. Permission for electronic publication: In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: (i) Access to printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St Andrews. Date signature of candidate signature of supervisor iii Acknowledgements In the course of writing this thesis I received help from many people. First and foremost, my supervisor, Professor Roger Mason, advised, inspired, and guided me throughout my doctoral research. I could not have asked for a more patient or supportive academic mentor and I should like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to him. I am also grateful to my funders, the Burnwynd Trust and the Schools Competition Act Settlement Trust. Without their assistance it would not have been possible for me to undertake post-graduate study. During my research I benefitted from the counsel and encouragement of many current and former members of the University of St Andrews, both in the School of History and in other departments. Such a large number of academics and administrators aided me in the compilation of this thesis that it is impossible to list them all. However, I should like to specially mention the insights proffered by John McCallum regarding the establishment of Protestantism in Fife. My fellow post-graduate students at St Andrews also gave vital practical and intellectual support. Notably, Cynthia Fry, Claire Hawes, Claire McLoughlin, and Elizabeth Tapscott provided me with friendship and new perspectives on Scottish history. In addition, I am grateful to Wayne Cuthbertson for the loan of numerous books, John Condren for discussing the structure of this thesis, and Nadja Kundmueller for her calmness and kindness during the final few months of my doctoral study. Many scholars outside of the University of St Andrews were also extremely helpful. I should like to especially thank Thomas Green for sharing with me material concerning iv disputes dealt with by the commissary courts, and Professor Christopher Wickham for allowing me to read relevant extracts from his forthcoming book on the city of Rome. I could not have completed my research without the assistance of archivists at the National Library of Scotland, the National Records of Scotland, and the University of St Andrews Special Collections. Particular thanks go to Norman Reid, Rachel Hart, and the rest of the team at St Andrews, who not merely tracked down manuscripts and gave palaeographical advice, but who initially highlighted to me the potential of the documentation regarding sixteenth-century St Andrews. I should also like to acknowledge my debt to the modern residents of St Andrews and the surrounding area, many of whom provided valuable insights and encouragement. I am especially grateful to David and Jane Watkinson, and Kenneth Dalton for showing me round their homes in the town centre, and to Margaret Beckett, and Colin and Anne Edgar for their hospitality and willingness to discuss early modern history. Finally, I should like to thank the staff and students of Andrew Melville Hall, my friends, and my family, who in their different ways have all supported my research. v Contents Conventions 1 Abbreviations 2 Introduction 4 Part 1 – Pre-Reformation Chapter 1 – Burgh and Church 16 Chapter 2 – Ecclesiastical Income 32 Chapter 3 – The Expansion of Church Estates 44 Chapter 4 – Administration, Secularization and Alienations 61 Part 2 – Post-Reformation Chapter 5 – The Reformation Crisis 85 Chapter 6 – Settlement of the 1560s 117 Chapter 7 – Conflict and Disintegration 141 Chapter 8 – Legacy 161 Conclusion 180 Appendix 1 – Tables 184 Appendix 2 – Maps 200 Appendix 3 – Overview of St Andrews Church Estates 203 Bibliography 220 vi Conventions Sixteenth century sources are frequently inconsistent in their spelling of the names of places and people. In this thesis names have been standardised in line with modern usage, except for quotations where the original spelling has been retained. A number of sources also make heavy use of abbreviation. For ease of reading these abbreviations have been silently expanded. Where texts make use of the letters thorn and yog these have been rendered as ‘th’ and ‘y’. Otherwise quotations are as in the original. Any words that have been inserted into texts are denoted by square brackets. Outside quotations dates are given in the New Style with the year starting on 1 January. Sums of money are given in Scottish pounds, shillings and pence, unless specifically stated to be in another currency. It should be noted that the value of Scottish money depreciated significantly during the sixteenth century. Up until 1560 the Scots pound was worth roughly a fourth of the pound Sterling, but by 1603 it was worth only a twelfth.1 1 A.J.S. Gibson and T.C. Smout, Prices, Food and Wages in Scotland, 1550-1780 (Cambridge, 1995), pp. 5-6. 1 Abbreviations ACTB Gordon Donaldson (ed.), Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices 1561-1572 (Edinburgh, 1949). ALC Robert Kerr Hannay (ed.), Acts of the Lords of Council in Public Affairs, 1501-1554 (Edinburgh, 1932). ALHT Thomas Dickson, James Balfour Paul and Charles Thorpe McInnes (eds), Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (13 vols, Edinburgh, 1877-1978). AM The Unabridged Acts and Monuments Online or TAMO (Sheffield, 2011). Available from: http://www.johnfoxe.org BA James Kirk (ed.), The Books of Assumption of the Thirds of Benefices: Scottish Ecclesiastical Rentals at the Reformation (Oxford, 1995). CRB J.D. Marwick (ed.), Records of the Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland (5 vols, Edinburgh, 1866-1885). ERS John Stuart, George Burnett, A.J.G. Mackay and G.P.