Friday, May 29, 2026

It is the 29th of May 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

It was on this day, 17 years ago, that I became a father for the first time- happy birthday, Coert! Stoked that he asked for a throwback Todd Gurley jersey for his birthday, and so certainly shall receive one.

 

In my life as a grad student in Scotland, a professor who led study abroad tours, and now as a podcaster turned sometimes tour guide (check out GTItours.org for my upcoming tours), I am sometimes asked if I have any “favorite” sites. Like with your own children, it’s unwise to rank them- but I have been enthralled with St. Andrew’s Castle, I used to live about 20 steps away from it- today just a shell of its old self, slowly falling into the North Sea- but there, under the castle, is the only remaining medieval system of siege warfare- the mine and countermine. And those, which you can still crawl through today, are related to the somewhat grisly story from Scottish and Church history that took place on this day in 1546- just steps away from where Beth Anne and I lived from 2002.

 

St. Andrews is named after the legend that St. Andrew’s bones, being sent from Rome during persecution, ran aground off the Scottish coast on their way to Scandinavia and were laid to rest at what became the seat of the medieval Scottish church. The seat of the medieval Catholic church would then become the center of the Reformation in Scotland, and much of that story dates to the events of this day, the castle and the mines.

 

The man at the center of the story- before John Knox- was Cardinal David Beaton. His resume reads like an exemplar of the excess of the late Medieval Catholic Church. He had risen in the church through nepotism, had served as a counselor to King James V, was a Papal Legate, and held multiple church offices, including that of Archbishop of St. Andrews. He was also unpopular with the locals, who were either suspicious of his French ties or those to the Pope. That he had a well-known mistress who lived at the castle and birthed many children only highlighted the hypocrisy. He would be famous for the public execution of George Wishart, a reforming preacher, and has been portrayed as an almost cartoonish villain with his famed “bottle dungeon” below the castle that could cause you to drown when the tide came in.

 

And so, it was on this, the 29th of May in 1546, that a number of local men, disguised as masons, made their way through the various gates (some were allegedly let in as Beaton’s mistress left through a side entrance). They were able to get most of the servants to flee and then took the cardinal, ran him through with a sword, and hung his body, naked and in the shape of the saltire cross, from the castle walls. Locals cheered and many, including the reformer John Knox, would take refuge inside the castle for over a year, hoping Henry VIII would come to their rescue. He died in early 1547, dashing those hopes. Meanwhile, the pro-Catholic crowd began to secretly burrow a mine from about where my apartment was, under the walls to both compromise the walls themselves, but also to pop up, Bugs Bunny style, inside the castle grounds. The men in the castle got wind of the plan and began to dig their own mines underground to intercept the other men. After a failed attempt, they succeeded, and a spectacular underground battle took place. The mines are still available to crawl through today. Google St. Andrews Castle, or check out one of the many YouTube videos that can give you the images and video.

 

Ultimately, French ships on the North Sea bombarded the castle later in 1547 (this is partially why it is ruined today), and the men, including John Knox, were imprisoned. But the Reformation fuse was lit- and the story of the Scots and the Presbyterians and Covenanter was on… and much of it began with the events of my son’s birthday- just 463 years prior with the killing of Cardinal David Beaton on this day in 1546.

 

This weekend on the show- get ready for a story that links Hudson Taylor, Dickens, Guinness, P.T. Barnum, Jack the Ripper, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the first modern charity scandal… and once we finish the walls here at the office, some video content will be coming your way.

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and 2 Timothy:

12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 29th of May 2026, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by the mine to my countermine- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man, Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.