On the quadrennial feast day of St. Patrick Hamilton
Most martyrs have a feast day every year. But Hamilton- who took six hours to die because the wood that was used was green- was unfortunate in another respect: he died on February 29, 1528. Thus, the anniversary of his martyrdom only occurs once every four years!
Hamilton was born in 1504, the grandson of King James II of Scotland. In the year that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, 1517, Hamilton began a career in the Church, starting out as a titular abbot (one wonders whether family connections might have played a role). Because the role was titular- he received the income from the position without being required to perform its duties, a common thing in the Middle Ages- he was able to afford to study at the University of Paris, where he first was exposed to the teachings of Luther.
From there, he went to Leuven, where Erasmus was holding forth. Returning to Scotland, he became a member of the faculty at St. Andrew's, where he composed a Mass which, as precentor (worship coordinator) at the Cathedral, he was permitted to conduct there.
By this time Hamilton was a convinced Lutheran. Cardinal James Beaton, the archbishop of St. Andrew's and an avid persecutor of Protestants, heard of this and ordered his arrest. Hamilton fled to the Continent, where he studied at the University of Marburg.
Returning home to Scotland, he began openly preaching his beliefs and married. His high birth made it necessary for Beaton to proceed with caution, and some time elapsed before he moved against Hamilton. During that time, Hamilton published his Loci Communes, or, as it became known in English, Patrick's Places, which introduced Luther's teachings and particularly the distinction between Law and Gospel into Scottish theology.
He was summoned before a council of bishops presided over by Beaton to answer charges of heresy based upon propositions he had endorsed from Phillip Melanchthon's Loci. He confessed his belief in Melancthon's assertions, was subsequently convicted on all thirteen charges and surrendered peacefully, being assured that he would shortly be released safely into the custody of friends.
Instead, he was forced to participate in a mock debate with a friar named Campbell and sent to the stake. The fire was lit at noon. Bags of gunpowder had been tied to his body to give him a relatively quick death, but these exploded without doing more than inflict severe burns. The fire burned slowly, due to the greenness of the wood, and at one point Hamilton cried out, "For God's sake, more fire!"
It wasn't until six that evening that, his body blackened and blistered, he died, calling out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" During the six hours that intervened, he had been mocked by onlookers and taunted to renounce his faith and call out, "Salve Regina!" to the Virgin Mary. But despite his lengthy and nearly unbelievable agony, he would not deny his faith, and in fact, died so bravely that Alexander Ales, who had been appointed to convince Hamilton of the error of his beliefs, instead was converted to Lutheranism!
Hamilton's death had a similar effect on many others who witnessed it, and news of his death and its manner had the result of spreading the teachings of the Reformation throughout Scotland. One Catholic leader urged that if other Protestants were to be burned in Scotland, the executions be conducted in cellars because "the reek (smoke) of Master Patrick Hamilton infected all whom it blew upon."
John Knox, the Calvinist theologian most closely associated with the Reformation in Scotland and the founding of the Scottish Presbyterian Church which eventually became dominant in that country, praised Hamilton highly and did not hesitate to give him credit for the rapid spread of Reformation doctrines in Scotland.
But Hamilton is little known outside its borders. Doubtless the fact that the anniversary of his death only occurs every four years is a factor in his obscurity. So, too, is the fact that Calvinism, rather than Lutheranism, eventually became the dominant form taken by the Reformation in Scotland. But I, as a Lutheran of Scots-Irish blood, have always been fascinated by a man who deserves to be ranked among the Reformation's most influential advocates and most fruitful witnesses.
And for the blessed Patrick
The grandson of a king,
And child of One far greater
Our thankful praise we bring.
Though dreadful was his suffering
And terrible his pain,
His witness meant that many
With Christ on high might reign.
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