Patrick Hamilton
(1503—1528)

Lutheran martyr

Scotland’s first Protestant martyr. A Catholic cleric who turned Lutheran during his stays on the continent, he wrote his own interpretation of Luther’s works, known as Patrick’s Places. Hamilton was asked by Archbishop Beaton to preach in St Andrews in 1528 but there he was seized, tried and convicted of heresy. On 29 February he was burned at the stake, his body taking six hours to burn. Ultimately, his death did more to publicise Lutheranism than his life would have done.