Editing John Knox (section)

==Early life, 1505–1546==
John Knox was born sometime between 1505 and 1515<ref name="birthnote">{{Harvnb|MacGregor|1957|pp=229–231}}; {{Harvnb|Ridley|1968|pp=531–534}}. Until [[David Hay Fleming]] published new research in 1904, John Knox was thought to have been born in 1505. Hay Fleming's conclusion was that Knox was born between 1513 and 1515. Sources using this date include {{Harvnb|MacGregor|1957|p=13}} and {{Harvnb|Reid|1974|p=15}}. Ridley notes additional research supports the later date which is now generally accepted by historians. However, some recent books on more general topics still give the earlier date for his birth or a wide range of possibility; for example: Arthur. F. Kinney and David. W. Swain (eds.)(2000), ''Tudor England: an Encyclopedia,'' p. 412 (between 1505 and 1515); M. E. Wiesner-Hanks (2006), ''Early Modern Europe, 1450–1789'', Cambridge University Press, p. 170 (1505?); and Michael. A. Mullet (1989), ''Calvin'', Routledge, p. 64 (1505).</ref> in or near [[Haddington, East Lothian|Haddington]], the [[county town]] of [[East Lothian]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|1974|p=15}}</ref> His father, William Knox, was a merchant.<ref name="Dawson 2015 14, 150">{{Harvnb|Dawson|2015|pp=14, 150}}</ref> All that is known of his mother is that her maiden name was Sinclair and that she died when John Knox was a child.<ref>{{Harvnb|MacGregor|1957|p=13}}</ref> Their eldest son, William, carried on his father's business, which helped in Knox's international communications.<ref name="Dawson 2015 14, 150" />

Knox was probably educated at the [[Knox Academy|grammar school in Haddington]]. At this time, the priesthood was the only path for those whose inclinations were academic rather than mercantile or agricultural.<ref>{{Harvnb|MacGregor|1957|p=16}}</ref> He proceeded to further studies at the [[University of St Andrews]] or possibly at the [[University of Glasgow]]. He studied under [[John Major (philosopher)|John Major]], one of the greatest scholars of the time.<ref>{{Harvnb|MacGregor|1957|pp=229–231}}. According to MacGregor, there is a "John Knox" recorded to have enrolled at the University of Glasgow in 1522. However, the name John Knox was quite common, and the identification of the Glasgow student as the future reformer cannot be made with certainty. John Major was known to have taught at the University of Glasgow and later at the University of St Andrews. Given the birth date calculated by Hay Fleming, he would have been too young to have attended Glasgow at the time when Major was teaching there. The time when Major was teaching at St Andrews is consistent both with Knox being of university age and with a statement made by [[Theodore Beza]] that Knox was taught by Major at St Andrews.</ref> Knox was ordained a Catholic priest in [[Edinburgh]] on Easter Eve of 1536 by [[William Chisholm (II)|William Chisholm]], [[Bishop of Dunblane]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Dawson|2015|p=19}}</ref>

Knox first appears in public records as a priest and a [[Notary public|notary]] in 1540. He was still serving in these capacities as late as 1543 when he described himself as a "minister of the sacred altar in the diocese of St Andrews, notary by apostolic authority" in a notarial deed dated 27 March.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ridley|1968|pp=19–21}}</ref> Rather than taking up parochial duties in a parish, he became [[tutor]] to two sons of [[George Douglas of Longniddry|Hugh Douglas]] of [[Longniddry]]. He also taught the son of [[John Cockburn of Ormiston]]. Both of these [[laird]]s had embraced the new religious ideas of the [[Reformation]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|1974|p=24}}; {{Harvnb|Ridley|1968|pp=26, 49}}</ref>