Edinburgh Riot at St Giles' Cathedral, 1637
Who Fought
The congregation of St Giles', including market-women and members of the public, opposed the Dean of Edinburgh, James Hannay, and the officers of the church attempting to introduce the new Prayer Book under royal authority.
History & Significance
St Giles' Cathedral (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), also known as the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is one of three cathedrals in Edinburgh, Scotland. The existing building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel. St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation. The cathedral is administered by the Church of Scotland.
It was probably founded in the 12th century and dedicated to Saint Giles. The church was elevated to collegiate status by Pope Paul II in 1467. In 1559, the church became Protestant with John Knox, the foremost figure of the Scottish Reformation, as its minister. After the Reformation, St Giles' was internally partitioned to serve multiple congregations as well as secular purposes, such as a prison and as a meeting place for the Parliament of Scotland. In 1633, Charles I made St Giles' the cathedral of the newly created Diocese of Edinburgh. Charles' attempt to impose doctrinal changes on the presbyterian Scottish Kirk, including a Prayer Book causing a riot in St Giles' on 23 July 1637, which precipitated the formation of the Covenanters and the beginnings of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. St Giles' role in the Scottish Reformation and the Covenanters' Rebellion has led to its being called "the Mother Church of World Presbyterianism".
St Giles' is one of Scotland's most important medieval parish church buildings. The first church of St Giles' was a small Romanesque building of which only fragments remain. In the 14th century, this was replaced by the current building which was enlarged between the late 14th and early 16th centuries. The church was altered between 1829 and 1833 by William Burn and restored between 1872 and 1883 by William Hay with the support of William Chambers. Chambers hoped to make St Giles' a "Westminster Abbey for Scotland" by enriching the church and adding memorials to notable Scots. Between 1909 and 1911, the Thistle Chapel, designed by Robert Lorimer, was added to the church.
Since the medieval period, St Giles' has been the site of nationally important events and services; the services of the Order of the Thistle take place there. Alongside housing an active congregation, the church is one of Scotland's most popular visitor sites: it attracted over a million visitors in 2018.
Saint Giles is the patron saint of lepers. Though chiefly associated with the Abbey of Saint-Gilles in modern-day France, he was a popular saint in medieval Scotland. The church was first possessed by the monks of the Order of St Lazarus, who ministered among lepers; if David I or Alexander I is the church's founder, the dedication may be connected to their sister Matilda, who founded St Giles in the Fields.
The ground they fought on
The site of Edinburgh Riot at St Giles' Cathedral, 1637 lies on Inverclyde Group, bedrock that formed in the Osagean. The rock here is sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.
Lord Barrett of Newburgh, writing on 29 August 1637, recorded that the women of the congregation had beaten the officiants out of the church with their little stools, noting that it appeared to be the custom of the congregation to sit upon such stools; this account lends weight to the tradition surrounding Jenny Geddes, who according to some sources threw a folding "fald stool" or "creepie-stool", while others insist it was a larger three-legged cuttie-stool, the very type depicted on the sculpture later added to her memorial in St Giles'.
- No fatalities recorded. Officers summoned by the Provost ejected the rioters; the provost and magistrates were subsequently besieged in the City Chambers.
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