Dominicans in the British Isles cannot boast of a long list of Reformation martyrs. Cromwell and his henchmen were largely quite successful at planting the right people in the right place to ensure acquiescence, and restricted the activities of what we would today call fundraising to such an extent that, when our houses began to be closed, leaving the religious life was actually a much more stable and viable option than struggling on until the bitter end.
There were some exceptions. The Prior of Newcastle preached against the Supremacy and the King’s new marriage, and fled to the still-safe haven of Edinburgh. The Reformation came later in Scotland, but with the Order of Preachers playing an even more chequered part. In 1539, five men were burned for heresy in Edinburgh, among them two Dominicans. John Knox was converted to Protestantism by Thomas Guilliame, a former Dominican, and inducted as a minister and preacher by another ex-Dominican, John Rough.
