Editing James Sharp (bishop)

{{short description|Scottish Church of Scotland bishop (1618-1679)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = 
| honorific-prefix = Most Reverend
| name = James Sharp
| title = 
| image = Archbishop Sharp by Sir Peter Lely.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Archbishop James Sharp by Peter Lely
| church = [[Church of Scotland]]
| archdiocese = [[Archbishop of St Andrews]]
| diocese = 
| see = 
| term = 1661 to 1679
| predecessor = [[John Spottiswoode]]
| successor = [[Alexander Burnet]]
| otherpost = 
| ordination = 
| ordinated_by = 
| consecration = 15 December 1661
| consecrated_by = [[Gilbert Sheldon]] <br/> [[George Morley (bishop)|George Morley]] {{sfn|Mullan|2004}}
| birth_name = James Sharp
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1618|5|4|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Banff Castle]]
| death_date = {{death date and age |1679|5|2|1618|5|4| df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Magus Muir]], [[Fife]]
| previous_post = 
| spouse = Helen Moncrieff (1622–1679)
| children = 7
| alma_mater = [[University of Aberdeen]]
}}

'''James Sharp''', or '''Sharpe''', (4 May 1618 – 3 May 1679) was a minister in the [[Church of Scotland]], or kirk, who served as [[Archbishop of St Andrews]] from 1661 to 1679. His support for [[Episcopal polity|Episcopalianism]], or governance by bishops, brought him into conflict with elements of the kirk who advocated [[Presbyterian polity|Presbyterianism]]. He was twice the target of assassination attempts, the second of which cost him his life.

==Biography==
James Sharp was born at [[Banff Castle]] on 4 May 1618, eldest son of William Sharp (1592–1638) and Isabel Leslie (1595-ca 1640). His father was [[property manager]], or factor, for the [[Earl of Findlater]]; his mother was the daughter of the Laird of Kininvie.{{sfn|Mullan|2004}} His younger brother, Sir William Sharp of Stonihill (1622–1685), was political agent to the [[John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale|Duke of Lauderdale]], Scottish [[Secretary of State (Kingdom of Scotland)|Secretary of State]] from 1661 to 1680.<ref>{{cite web |title=Notebook of William Sharp, St Leonard's College, St Andrews, 1643-1646 |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/e068ab84-ea6f-3013-b1c0-e1f9ee43779c |website=Archiveshub |access-date=15 December 2019}}</ref>

In April 1653, Sharp married Helen Moncrieff, daughter of the laird of Randerston. They had seven children.

==Background==
Whilst [[Presbyterian polity|Presbyterian]] or [[Episcopal polity|Episcopalian]] now implies differences in both governance and [[doctrine]], this was not the case in the 17th century. 'Episcopalian' meant governance by bishops, usually appointed by the monarch; ''Presbyterian'' implied rule by [[Elder (Christianity)|Elders]], nominated by their congregations. The [[Protestant Reformation]] created a [[Church of Scotland]], or 'kirk', that was Presbyterian in structure and [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] in doctrine.{{sfn|Mitchison|Fry|Fry|2002|pp=166-168}} When bishops were introduced to the Scottish system in 1584, they were doctrinal Calvinists, who opposed many practices of the [[Church of England]]; these differences explain the failure of attempts to unify the two churches.{{sfn|McDonald|1998|pp=75–76}}
[[File:Archbishop Sharp Memorial, Holy Trinity Church, St. Andrews.JPG|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Archbishop Sharp Memorial, Holy Trinity Church, St. Andrews]]
The 1638 [[National Covenant]] expelled bishops and established a [[Covenanter]] government, which ruled Scotland during the 1638 to 1651 [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]].{{sfn|Mackie|Lenman|Parker|1986|pp=205-206}} In 1647, Royalist defeat in the [[First English Civil War]] and from a Scottish point of view, the English Parliament's failure to uphold the treaty underpinning the alliance between the Scottish Covenanters and the English Parliamentarians, the Solemn League and Covenant or the agreed Westminster Confession of Faith, split the Covenanters into [[Engagers]] who sought a rapprochement with Charles I and the Kirk Party, which remained sceptical for the time being; both sides believed the institution of monarchy was divinely ordered, but differed over who held ultimate authority in clerical affairs.{{sfn|Macleod |2009|pp=5–19 passim}}

Attempts by the Engangers to restore [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], followed by the Kirk Party's Scottish coronoation & support for his son [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] in his first attempt to take the English throne, ended with incorporation into the [[Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland]] in 1652. The kirk split again, between a majority known as [[Resolutioners]], and 'Protestors', who blamed defeat on compromise with 'malignants.' Differences between the two were both religious and political, including church government, religious toleration and the role of law in a 'godly' society.{{sfn|Holfelder|1998|p=9}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/nov2001.html|title=Archbishop James Sharp Letterbook|website=special.lib.gla.ac.uk|access-date=4 May 2019}}</ref>

Since each split ended with the winners evicting the losers from their offices and ministries, it led to increasing bitterness. [[Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery|Lord Broghill]], head of the Council of State for Scotland, summarised the position by saying 'the Resolutioners love Charles Stuart and hate us, the Protesters love neither him nor us.' He fostered conflict between the two groups as deliberate policy.{{sfn|Dow|1979|p=192}}

==Career==
Sharp was educated at the local grammar school and in 1637, graduated from [[University of Aberdeen|King's College, Aberdeen]]. The university and Banff in general were centres of Episcopalian support and one of the few areas to oppose the 1638 National Covenant, which removed bishops from the kirk.{{sfn|Plant}} 
[[File:Covenanters in a Glen.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|An illegal field assembly or Conventicle; after 1660, Sharp was closely involved in suppressing Presbyterian dissidents]]
Sharp went to [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], allegedly seeking a position in the Church of England, but returned to Scotland and by 1642, was a regent at the [[University of St. Andrews|University of St Andrews]]. In 1648, he became minister for the parish of [[Crail]], then a delegate to the kirk's [[General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|General Assembly]] in 1650. He accompanied the Scottish army in its [[Third English Civil War|invasion of England]] and was captured at [[Battle of Worcester|Worcester]] in September 1651, before being released in 1652.{{sfn|Mullan|2004}}

The Protesters sent a delegation to argue their case before [[Second Protectorate Parliament|Parliament]] in 1656; Sharp was selected to represent the Resolutioners and spent most of the next four years in London. By 1659, plans were being made by [[George Monck]] to [[Stuart Restoration|restore Charles II]] to the thrones of England and Scotland. The Resolutioners wanted Charles to commit to a Presbyterian kirk; in May 1660, Sharp was sent to [[Breda]] to ensure he did so, but was unsuccessful in getting a response.{{sfn|Mullan|2004}}

In January 1661, Sharp was appointed Royal Chaplain, and returned to St Andrews as Professor of Divinity. The March 1661 [[Rescissory Act 1661|Rescissory Act]] returned the legal position in Scotland to that prevailing in 1633, removing the Covenanter reforms of 1638-1639. The restoration of bishops was confirmed by the Privy Council of Scotland on 6 September 1661.{{sfn|Mackie|Lenman|Parker|1986|pp=231-234}}

Sharp was appointed [[Archbishop of St Andrews]] and [[Primate of Scotland]] and consecrated at [[Westminster Abbey]] in December 1661. The kirk was restored as the national church, independent sects banned and all office-holders were required to renounce the Covenant; about a third of the clergy refused, around 270 in total, and lost their positions as a result.{{sfn|Mackie|Lenman|Parker|1986|pp=231-234}} Most occurred in the south-west of Scotland, an area particularly strong in its Covenanting sympathies; some took to preaching in the open fields, or [[conventicle]]s, which often attracted thousands of worshippers.{{sfn|Mitchison|Fry|Fry|2002|p=253}}

After his appointment to the [[Privy Council of Scotland]] in June 1663, Sharp assumed responsibility for these evictions, making him a target for Presbyterian radicals. At the same time, his lobbying to be made [[Lord Chancellor of Scotland|Lord Chancellor]] brought him into conflict with Lauderdale and other political leaders. He took an active role in suppressing the Covenanter-backed [[Battle of Rullion Green|Pentland Rising]] in November 1666; he is reported as having condemned to death eleven prisoners who surrendered on a promise of mercy, telling them "You were pardoned as soldiers, but you are not acquitted as subjects".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thereformation.info/james_sharp/|title=james_sharp|website=thereformation.info|access-date=4 May 2019}}</ref>

On 9 July 1668, [[James Mitchell (Covenanter)|James Mitchell]], a veteran of [[Battle of Rullion Green|Rullion Green]], tried to assassinate Sharp in [[Edinburgh]].{{sfn|Grant|1885|p=259}} He was seated in his coach on the [[Royal Mile]] near his house at Blackfriars Wynd waiting for Bishop [[Andrew Honeyman]] to join him. Mitchell fired his pistol at Sharp but hit Honeyman instead. Mitchell was imprisoned on the [[Bass Rock]] for this crime but was not executed until 1676.<ref>Cassells Old and New Edinburgh vol.2 Ch 31</ref>

Soon after, the government issued the first in a series of 'indulgences', allowing the readmission of evicted clergy, even without subscribing to episcopacy. The kirk split once again, this time between moderates, led by [[Robert Leighton (bishop)|Robert Leighton]], and 'hardline' Episcopalians under Sharp; over the next decade, policy alternated between persecution and reconciliation.{{sfn|Mackie|Lenman|Parker|1986|pp=237-238}} 
[[File:The Murder of Archbishop Sharpe.tiff|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Sharp was murdered by militant [[Covenanter]]s whilst en route from [[Edinburgh]] to [[St. Andrews]].]]
In 1678, Sharp's faction regained control and supported by the government, stepped up actions against non-conformists; 3,000 Lowland militia and 6,000 Highlanders, known as the "Highland Host", were billeted in the Covenanting shires, as a form of punishment. James Mitchell, who had been arrested in 1673, was executed in 1678, making him a Presbyterian folk hero; Sharp gave evidence at his trial and was accused of perjury.{{sfn|Mullan|2004}}

==Death==
On 2 May 1679, a group of nine Covenanters, led by [[David Hackston]] and his brother-in-law, [[John Balfour of Kinloch]], were waiting at [[Magus Muir]], hoping to ambush the Sheriff of [[Cupar]].{{sfn|Jardine|2018}} A Sharp appointee, the Sheriff was prominent in persecuting Covenanters but apparently heard about the proposed ambush and stayed home. Learning Sharp's coach was on the road, they intercepted it instead; Sharp was stabbed several times, in front of his daughter Isabella, before being killed by a shot to the chest. One of the group, James Russell, claimed he told Sharp he "...declared before the Lord that it was no particular interest, nor yet for any wrong that he had done to him, but because he had betrayed the church as Judas, and had wrung his hands, these 18 or 19 years in the blood of the saints, but especially at Pentland..."{{sfn|Russell|1817|p=396}}

Two of the nine, Hackston and Andrew Guillan, were eventually captured and executed; a third, William Dingwall, died at the [[Battle of Drumclog]] a month later.{{sfn|Mullan|2004}} The other six were never tried; Balfour escaped to Holland with George Fleming, but disappears from the records thereafter.{{sfn|Muir|2004}}

==Aftermath==
[[File:Archbishop Sharp Memorial, Magus Muir.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Memorial to Sharp, Magus Muir]]
Sharp was buried beneath an imposing black and white marble monument in the [[Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews]]. Designed by his son, Sir William, it has two main objectives; commemorating his father as a martyr, rather than a turncoat, and confirming his privileged status as archbishop.{{sfn|Armstrong}} When the tomb was opened in 1849, it was empty; the body was allegedly removed in 1725 and has never been found.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

On 25 December 1679, five Covenanters captured at [[Battle of Bothwell Bridge|Bothwell Bridge]], Thomas Brown, James Wood, Andrew Sword, John Weddell and John Clyde, were hanged for refusing to identify the perpetrators. Although not involved themselves, they were executed at Magus Muir; their bodies hung in chains until the flight of [[James II of England|James VII]] in 1688. A gravestone was erected over their burial place in 1728 and enclosed by a surrounding wall in 1877; the same year that a memorial to Sharp was built. Both are situated about {{Convert|0.5|mi|km}} south of the spot where the murder occurred.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

19th century Scottish histories portrayed Sharp as a despised turncoat; "For well concocted, cold blooded, systematic dissimulation, he stands almost without a match in History."{{sfn|Dodds|1868|p=99}} Even more recent writers suggest his death can be seen as deserved retribution for his actions.<ref>{{cite web |title=James Sharp, Minister of Crail, Archbishop of St Andrews |url=https://www.thereformation.info/james_sharp|website=The Reformation |access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref>

His most recent biographer, Julia Buckroyd, summarised his career as follows; "Sharp, who identified himself as a Scot and Presbytery, and who struggled to extricate Scotland from the Cromwellian union,...became identified as an agent of English, episcopal and political interests...an enemy of Scottish Presbyterianism and the rule of law."{{sfn|Duncan|1988|p=307}}

The 1688 [[Glorious Revolution in Scotland]] led to the Act of Settlement in 1690, which re-established the kirk on a Presbyterian basis. Episcopacy was immediately abolished since then, leading to the formation of the separate [[Scottish Episcopal Church]] in the same 1690.{{sfn|Mackie|Lenman|Parker|1986|p=253}}

==Family==
He  was  married  on  6  April  1653  to  Helen who was a daughter  of  William  Moncrieff  of  Randerston. Other relatives were: 
*Sir  William  of  Scotscraig, created  a  [[Bethune baronets|Baronet]]  1683,  died  January  1712
*John,  baptised  February  1665
*Isabella  (married, cont.  18  December  1679,  John  Cunningham  of  Barns)
*Catherine
*Margaret,  born  8  December  1664  (married  11  October  1683,  [[William Fraser, 12th Lord Saltoun]]),  died  1734
*Penelope (married  John  Dubh  Mackinnon  of  that  Ilk)
*Agnes,  buried  March  1666
*Robert, sheriff-clerk  of  Banff.{{sfn|Scott|1928}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Phoebe |title=Monument to Archbishop James Sharp |url=https://churchmonumentssociety.org/monument-of-the-month/the-monument-to-archbishop-james-sharp-d-1679-holy-trinity-church-st-andrews-fife |website=Church Monuments Society |access-date=16 December 2019}}
* {{cite book |last1=Dodds |first1=James |title=The Fifty Years' Struggle of the Scottish Covenanters 1638 to 1688 |date=1868 |publisher=Houlston And Sons }}
* {{cite book|last1=Dow|first1=F D|title=Cromwellian Scotland 1651-1660|date=1979|publisher=John Donald|isbn=978-0859765107|edition=1999}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Duncan |first1=Elmer D |title= The Life of James Sharp, Archbishop of St. Andrews, 1618 to 1679: A Political Biography. By Julia Buckroyd. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, LTD. 1987. 150 pp. $31.50|journal=  Journal of Church and State|date=1988 |volume=30 |issue=3 |page=607 |doi=10.1093/jcs/30.3.607}}
* {{cite book |last1=Grant |first1=James |title=Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh; Volume II |date=1885 |publisher=Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co }}
* {{cite thesis|last1=Holfelder|first1=Kyle|title=Factionalism in the Kirk during the Cromwellian Invasion and Occupation of Scotland, 1650 to 1660: The Protester-Resolutioner Controversy|type=PHD|date=1998|publisher=University of Edinburgh}}
* {{cite web |last1=Jardine |first1=Mark |title=The Torn Bible of the Covenanter and Assassin Balfour at RUSI |url=https://drmarkjardine.wordpress.com/2018/06/21/the-torn-bible-of-the-covenanter-and-assassin-balfour-at-rusi-history-scotland/ |website=Jardine's Book of Martyrs |date=21 June 2018 |access-date=12 April 2019}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mackie|first1=JD |last2=Lenman|first2=Bruce|last3=Parker|first3=Geoffrey|title=A History of Scotland |date=1986 |publisher=Hippocrene Books |isbn=978-0880290401 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Macleod |first=Donald | author-link = Donald Macleod (theologian) |date=Autumn 2009 |title=The influence of Calvinism on politics|journal=Theology in Scotland |volume=XVI |issue=2|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/30318219.pdf}}
* {{cite book|last1=McDonald|first1=Alan|title=The Jacobean Kirk, 1567–1625: Sovereignty, Polity and Liturgy|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=185928373X}}
* {{cite book|last1=Mitchison|first1=Rosalind|last2=Fry|first2=Peter|last3=Fry|first3=Fiona|title=A History of Scotland|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1138174146}}
* {{cite odnb|id=67514|title=Balfour, John, of Kinloch |last=Muir |first=Alison G|year=2004}}
* {{cite odnb|id=25211|title=Sharp, James |last=Mullan |first=David George|year=2004}}
* {{cite web|last1=Plant|first1=David|title=Scottish National Covenant|url=http://bcw-project.org/church-and-state/crisis-in-scotland/scottish-national-covenant|website=BCW Project|access-date=15 December 2019}}
* {{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=James, of Kettle |title=James Russell's Account of the murder of Archbishop Sharp 1679 |date=1817 |publisher=J. Ballantyne }}
* {{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Hew |title=Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation |date=1928 |publisher=Oliver and Boyd |location=Edinburgh |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fastiecclesiaesc07scot/page/326/mode/2up 326]-327 |volume=7 |url=https://archive.org/details/fastiecclesiaesc07scot |author-link=Hew Scott}}{{PD-notice}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite web |title=Magus Muir Memorial |url=https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2616715/magus-muir-memorial |website=Findagrave.com |access-date=16 December 2019}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.thereformation.info/james_sharp/|title=james_sharp|website=thereformation.info|access-date=4 May 2019}}
* {{cite web |title=James Sharp, Minister of Crail, Archbishop of St Andrews |url=https://www.thereformation.info/james_sharp|website=The Reformation |access-date=16 December 2019}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-rel|sc}}
{{succession box|title=[[Archbishop of St Andrews]]| years=1661&ndash;1679|
 before=[[John Spottiswoode]]|
 after=[[Alexander Burnet]]}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box|title=[[Chancellor of the University of St Andrews]]| years=1661&ndash;1679|
 before=[[John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun|The Earl of Loudoun]]|
 after=[[Alexander Burnet]]<br/>Archbishop of St Andrews}}
{{S-end}}

{{Bishops of St Andrews}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, James}}
[[Category:1618 births]]
[[Category:1679 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen]]
[[Category:Archbishops of St Andrews]]
[[Category:Assassinated Scottish people]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Scotland]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1661–1663]]
[[Category:Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1665]]
[[Category:Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1667]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1669–1674]]
[[Category:Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1678]]
[[Category:People from Banffshire]]
[[Category:Scottish Restoration bishops]]
[[Category:17th-century bishops of the Church of Scotland]]
[[Category:17th-century Scottish bishops]]
[[Category:People assassinated in the 17th century]]