What is Scalan and why did it come about? The following is the first of several short instalments which should lead us towards a better...

I would like to conclude these posts on Saint John Ogilvie with three observations: Miscarriage of Justice? If Saint John was standing...

He wanted John Ogilvie to answer specific questions, the King’s Questions. He wanted answers, good answers, and it was a life or death...

The King’s Questions, as we will see, were obsessed with the King’s jurisdiction in spiritual matters – in other words what Henry VIII...

King James VI and I actually styled himself “King of Great Britain and Ireland” and this betrayed his misunderstanding that he was...

One of James' agents in Scotland was John Spottiswoode. He was born at Mid Calder, West Lothian, in 1565, a son of the manse. After...

Saint John did get across the channel to France, presumably with some kind of passport or safe conduct document, without which there was...

Despite the Gunpowder plot, James still had a hankering for reaching some accommodation with his Catholic subjects. He really hoped that...

The future James VI, King of Scots, was born on 19 June 1566, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry, Lord Darnley, King Consort. The...

There was quite a distinct contrast between how the Reformation was played out in Scotland and England. In England, the monarch always...