How John Knox's Preaching Sparked a Riot

In the spring of 1559, Scotland stood at a crossroads. Religious tension had simmered for years, fanned by the growing influence of Protestant ideas from Europe and fueled by disillusionment with the Catholic Church. But it took one sermon—delivered by a firebrand preacher named John Knox—to ignite the spark that set an entire nation ablaze.

The place: St. John’s Kirk, Perth.
The date: May 11, 1559.
The result: a full-scale riot that destroyed centuries-old religious sites and marked the tipping point for the Reformation in Scotland.