This week in Christian history: John Knox captured, Parliament acts to evangelize America
John Knox captured – July 31, 1547
This week marks the anniversary of when John Knox, the preacher who was crucial to bringing the Protestant Reformation to Scotland, was captured and forced to become a galley slave.
Knox had moved to St. Andrew’s Castle in Scotland and joined a group of reformers earlier that year. There, he preached his first sermon despite being hesitant to do so.
Amid violent tensions between Protestants and Catholics, a French fleet arrived in the area and laid siege to the castle, eventually conquering the settlement.
“Promises were given to spare their lives, and an offer made to enter the service of the French king, but if declined, then they were to be conveyed to any country they wished,” wrote the Rev. David T. Myers in 2017 for the “This Day in Presbyterian History” devotional.
“Upon arrival in France, immediately the terms of surrender were annulled, and they became prisoners of war. John Knox became a galley slave for nineteen months.”
