1512 - 1550

1512
Henry Balnaves is born. His stubborn resistance to any attempt to restore Catholicism to Scotland leads to the dismissal of Mary, Queen of Scots, and to the subsequent further troubled course of Scottish history.

1513
At the Battle of Flodden Field, the Scottish army is decimated by the English forces of the Earl of Surrey. King James IV, King of Scots (who had married Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII) is killed. The repercussions will last for centuries. As James V is still a baby, Queen Margaret assumes the Regency.

Gavin Douglas, author of "King Hart", abandons his literary career after the sad Battle of Flodden. His translations of Virgil's "Aeneid" show that "Scottish" (rather than "Inglis") is perfectly capable of rendering the classics.

1514
When Queen Margaret marries the Earl of Angus, Albany becomes Regent, but after a series of plots against his rule is foiled, Margaret is forced to flee to England. A peace treaty between Scotland and England is concluded.

1528
Patrick Hamilton becomes Scotland's first Protestant martyr when he is burned alive by Bishop Beaton at St. Andrew's. The incident does much to further the hatred of all things Catholic in many areas of Scotland.

1542
The sad story of James IV's attempted invasion of England and his attempts to restore Catholicism to Scotland come to an end when his son James V is defeated by an English army at the Battle of Solway Moss.

Mary, Queen of Scots, the daughter of James V and Mary of Guise, is born at Linlithgow, as her father lay dying. She becomes queen six days later at Scone. Marie de Guise repudiates the proposed marriage of Henry's son Edward to the infant princess Mary and thus provokes an invasion by troops of Henry VIII with orders to "put all to fire and sword."

1544
Zealous Protestant reformer John Knox arrives in Scotland with Protestant leader George Wishart carrying a Bible and a two-handed sword to begin his task of converting the Scots through his "rough wooing."

1546
The burning at the stake of George Wishart by Bishop Beaton will become one of the deciding factors in the cause of John Knox in the latter's desire for revenge against the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Scotland and his desire to establish Protestantism. Bishop Beaton will be murdered at St. Andrew's two months later and Knox sent to a slave galley for his part in the assassination.

1547
The attempts of Mary de Guise to stamp out Protestantism in Scotland and show her resistance to the young English King Edward VI (who has succeeded Henry VIII) are destroyed at the Battle of Pinkie.

1548
Mary, Queen of Scots goes to France as the future bride of the Dauphin.

1550
English troops leave Scotland when the Treaty of Boulogne restores peace between England and France. John Knox is winning thousands of converts.