Edinburgh-home of Knox

This old house (originally built in 1470) on the Royal Mile is now a museum. Apparently, John Knox lived on the second floor for a few years. They have displayed the first Scottish printing (1576) of an English language Bible. John Knox was a friend of John Calvin (a nod to our CRC friends).

There is a beautiful church up the street, St. Giles' Cathedral, where John Knox was the pastor. They have the very pulpit from which he preached his fiery sermons lambasting Mary Queen of Scots' determined faithfulness to the Roman Catholic Church. (Mary was at that time installed in Edinburgh Castle another couple blocks away.) Knox felt the RC Church was too focused on the wealthy and ignored the poor. He advocated for every parish church to have at least a primary school (for everyone).

St Giles is very grand and beautiful. Admission is free, although they do charge 2 Pounds for the privilege of taking photos. There is a lovely little chapel (Thistle Chapel), in which the Queen invests people into the Order of the Thistle. It is filled with beautiful carvings of angels: one of whom plays the bagpipes!