Bruce the Reformer



Robert Bruce of Kinnaird - Also known as Bruce the Reformer was a major character in Scotland during the time of the Reformation.
He was born in 1554 or 56 and it is widely believed that he was born in Airth Castle.
He was the 2nd son of Sir Alexander Bruce of Airth and Janet Livinstone.

Sir Alexander was a rude, bluff baron who had embraced the Reformation while Janet Livingstone was from a Roman Catholic family who were strongly opposed to the Reformation. Indeed the Livingstone family were so highly thought of within Catholic circles that into their hands, a generation or two earlier, had been placed the education of Mary Queen of Scots, a responsibility they had discharged with great faithfulness.

Bruce the Reformer holds a unique place among his contemporaries. His career bridges the interval between Knox and Melville on the one side and Alexander Henderson on the other. Mellville was the master who gave impetus to his resolute career, Henderson ( the leader of the second Reformation ) was his most famous disiple. The Reformer repaired and restored the church in Larbert, at his own expence, which had been neglected and deserted before the reformation. He used this church to preach from when he fell foul of the governing bodies of the day for his "extreme" religeous views.

In his later years Bruce wrote that as early as the year 1571, when he was 17 years of age, he began to have deep, anxious reflections concerning sin and the way of salvation. He ultimately turned to Theology and he resolved to devote himself to it exclusively.

The young Bruce recieved no assistance in his chosen path. His mother was a devout Catholic and his father was at the time engrossed in other concerns about the estate. This in turn instilled in Bruce a forcefulness of character and gravity of demeanour and that along with the influence of his rank, led to Bruce being thrust early into positions of responsibility in the Church.

The claim of this family of Airth to high rank in Scotland could be established through both the male and the female lines. Sir Alexander Bruce, the laird of Airth, was directly descended from King Robert the Bruce and Janet Livingstone was a great granddaughter of King James 1 and Jane Beauforte his Queen.
Janet Livingstone's sister was Mary Livingstone, one of the "Four Mary's" maids of honour to Mary, Queen of Scots.

Bruce was presented, in 1587, to the General Assembly by Andrew Melville as a pupil of great promice, and, later that year, ascended to the pulpit of John Knox, now dead 15 years.
In 1589, having been elected Moderator of the Supreme Ecclesiastical Court, he accompanied the King during his visit to Denmark. In Denmark Bruce acted the part of Primate of the Church by placing the crown on the head of Queen Anne.
His influence was such that amongst all classes, both in Church and state, he was regarded as Regent of the Kingdom.
Bruce, along with Melville, was instrumental in obtaining that act of civil legislature by which, in 1592, Presbytery was established as the ecclesiastical government of Scotland.

At this time the Presbytery held a control over the religious matters of the realm that bordered on tyranny. King James VI however encouraged "the popish faction" and only Catholic domestics occupied the palace. "The Ministers," as the clergy in Scotland were called at the time were outraged and comlpained bitterly. The outcome of this disharmony with the crown resulted in Bruce being forced to flee to England.
He received a royal pardon in 1597 but he resolutely refused to be directed along the way that officialdom wished him to go and he was dismissed his post.
In 1600 Bruce was imprisoned in Airth Castle when he refused to admit any knowledge of a conspiracy against the King. In 1601 Bruce had an audiance with the King but he still denied any knowledge of the conspiracy. His pulpit was declared vacant and in 1603 he was summoned to witness his formal deposition from office of the ministry, by the General Assembly and informed that the King had prohibited him from preaching.
Robert Bruce of Kinnaird formerly Minister of Edinburgh, Died on the 13th August 1631.
It was said of him "Less violent than Melville, more enlightened than Knox, he viewed with a brighter and milder eye, the united interests of the Church and the nation." The fact that in his youth he had been so greatly sceptical as to doubt the existence of God seems to have strengthened his convictions in later life. He left a son and two daughters.

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