scotianostra:Burnings are like buses, you wait ages for one and then two come along one after the ot
scotianostra:Burnings are like buses, you wait ages for one and then two come along one after the other, you would think by this time 18 years and a day after the attempts to burn Patrick Hamilton they would have refined the process but no, on March 1st 1546, George Wishart was burnt at the stake as a heretic by Cardinal Beaton. Born c1513, Wishart was a close friend and mentor of John Knox, and was the first to translate the Helvetic Confession into English. He was hanged by the neck before the burning but not enough to kill him, the captain of the guard gave Wishart bags of gunpowder to hide in his clothing in order to ease his suffering on the pyre. The executioner fell prostrate before him, asking forgiveness, which Wishart granted. When the burning began the gunpowder exploded but did not kill him straight away and his agony was prolonged. Cardinal Beaton famously watched the execution from his window, turning many Scots against him, and on 29 May, a Protestant gang, enraged by the execution of Wishart, broke into the Cardinal’s residence and murdered him. The Martyrs Memorial at St Andrews was erected to the honour of George Wishart, Patrick Hamilton, and other martyrs of the Reformation era -- source link