'Melvillian' Reform in the Scottish Universities

The sixteenth century witnessed the renewed expression of the twin ideals of educational progress and ecclesiastical reform. These two themes of renaissance and renewal helped shape the humanist tradition, and they were seen to represent much that was fundamental to the Christian life. Melville's ecclesiastical policies have been subjected to criticism that an examination of his educational reforms has gone almost by default. The twin themes of educational and ecclesiastical renewal were certainly central to, and no less dominant in, Melville's outlook. In education, Melville's innovations ought to be accorded a rather greater significance, for, unlike the Church, the reformation of the Scottish universities, intended in 1560, had come to very little in the years immediately after 1560. For more than three decades, Melville remained the dominant figure in Scottish theological education, and for a spell the universities were headed by men sympathetic to the Melvillian cause. Keywords: ecclesiastical renewal; educational reforms; humanist tradition; Melvillian; Scottish universities; theological education

Art history · Criticism · Humanism · Political science · Sociology · Spell · The Renaissance · Theology · Classics · History · Law · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Philosophy · Scottish History and National Identity

• Early Polemic by Andrew Melville

  Steven Reid, Steven John Reid•Renaissance and Reformation•2006

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