Scottish reformer (c. 1514-1572), the principal architect of the Scottish Reformation and the Presbyterian tradition. Converted in the 1540s under the preaching of George Wishart (who was soon martyred), Knox served briefly as a French galley-slave after the fall of St Andrews Castle (1547-49), spent exile years in England under Edward VI, then in Geneva with Calvin — which he called "the most perfect school of Christ that ever was on the earth since the days of the apostles." He returned to Scotland in 1559 and preached at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, from 1560 until his death. His sermons converted the kingdom; his Book of Discipline structured the Church of Scotland; his History of the Reformation in Scotland is a primary source.
Knox's most famous adversary was Mary, Queen of Scots — the young Catholic monarch who returned from France in 1561 hoping to restore Roman Catholicism to Scotland. Knox preached against her in her own capital, was summoned to her palace multiple times to answer for it, and (according to his own account) did not flinch. Mary is said to have feared Knox's prayers more than all the armies of Europe. His uncompromising stance reflected a theology built on three convictions: (1) Scripture is the only rule for doctrine and worship (regulative principle); (2) Christ alone is head of the Church, not the crown; (3) the godly magistrate owes allegiance to Christ before Caesar. These convictions birthed Scottish Presbyterianism and eventually shaped the American founding through the Scots-Irish Presbyterians who colonized the Appalachian frontier. Knox was buried under what is now a parking lot behind St Giles' — marker no. 23 — a fate he would have laughed at. His influence is not in the ground.