; from 1605-1614, Boyd taught at the Protestant University The Reformation in Scotland created a national
Church of Scotland or kirk that was
Calvinist in doctrine and
Presbyterian in structure. Many Scots studied or taught in French
Huguenot universities and in May 1597, Boyd did the same; he spent most of the next three years in
Bordeaux and
Thouars, until he was offered the position of Professor of Philosophy at the university of
Montauban in 1600. He still wanted to preach and in 1604 became minister for the Reformed Church in
Verteuil-sur-Charente; however, his scholastic reputation was such he was persuaded in 1605 to accept a position as Professor of Philosophy at the
Academy of Saumur, then Professor of Divinity in 1608. Saumur was the centre of
Amyraldism, a distinctive form of
Calvinism taught by
Moses Amyraut but inspired by
John Cameron (1580–1625), a Scot from Glasgow. , 1572; the
French Wars of Religion meant Protestants throughout Europe viewed Catholicism as a deadly threat. This was a period of intense conflict over religion; the 1562-1598
French Wars of Religion caused around three million deaths from war and disease, surpassed only by those of the 1618-1648
Thirty Years' War, one of the most destructive conflicts in recorded history, with an estimated eight million, mostly inhabitants of the
Holy Roman Empire. In Britain, similar arguments over religious practices would ultimately lead to the 1638-1652
Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
James VI, the son of
Mary Queen of Scots was brought up in
Stirling under the tutelage of
George Buchanan. Like most Scots, James was a Calvinist but he favoured rule by bishops or
Episcopalian governance as a means of control; when he also became King of England in 1603, creating a unified Church of Scotland and England was the first step towards a centralised, Unionist state. However, the
Church of England was very different from the kirk in both governance and doctrine and even Scottish bishops viewed many English practices as essentially Catholic. Despite his father being an archbishop, Boyd was opposed to any form of Episcopalianism; in 1610, he visited Scotland and in a letter dated 12 July to a colleague in France, wrote that James' decision
to establish the Episcopall hierarchy throu all his countreys (sic) would
...force in Popery, Atheisime, ignorance and impiety. Although friends and relatives urged him to return to Scotland, Boyd decided to remain in France but in 1614, James asked him to become
Principal at the
University of Glasgow and he felt obliged to accept. , ca 1650; Boyd was Principal 1615-1621 Shortly after his arrival in Glasgow, religious tensions were raised by the public execution on 10 March 1615 of the
Jesuit convert,
John Ogilvie. Ogilvie, who was ostensibly tried for treachery, was of particular concern since he came from an upper class, Calvinist Scots family and studied at the Protestant
University of Helmstedt before his conversion. His execution fed into the debate over James' proposed reforms or the
Five Articles of Perth, which reflected long-standing divisions over the Scottish Reformation. The article which caused the greatest objection was kneeling during the
Eucharist, which some viewed as idolatry. Even those who did not argued Olgivie's case showed the danger of conversion to Catholicism, even for the educated devout. In 1618, the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland reluctantly approved the Articles but Boyd was one of those who opposed them and they were widely resented. In March 1620,
John Fergushill and 48 other ministers were summoned to appear before the Scottish High Commission, an ecclesiastical court of bishops and sympathetic ministers established to enforce the Articles. The accused were found guilty but all denied the authority of the Court to discipline them; Fergushill was a long-standing family connection whom Boyd had mentored since 1604 and he wrote a letter to the Court on his behalf, urging clemency. - Tounis College renamed King James's College in 1617, c. 1647 This made Boyd an obvious target and in 1621, he was forced to resign from Glasgow University; in October 1622, he was offered the position of Principal at
Edinburgh University and Minister at
Greyfriars Kirk. Both appointments were blocked by James; Edinburgh was the most important outlet in Scotland for public information and the kirk there was under huge pressure to appoint only ministers willing to conform. At the time of the previous minister's resignation, the
Earl of Abercorn was absent from Paisley, and for some time Mr. Boyd, though strongly urged thereto by
Lord Ross of Hawkhead and others, hesitated to allow himself to be appointed minister of the town. He was related to the Abercorns, and some years previously had been a frequent visitor at the Place of Paisley, but was far from sure as to how his acceptance of the appointment would be taken by the Earl and his mother, Marion Boyd, the Dowager Countess, who had recently become a Catholic. Her son
Claud Hamilton, with some others, broke into Boyd's house, throwing his books and household contents into the street. Later, when Boyd was leaving, "the rascally women of the town not only upbraided Mr. Robert with opprobrious speeches, and shouted and hoyed him, but likewise cast stones and dirt at him." The Privy Council had these outrages before them, but nothing was done except to exact a pledge from the Abercorn family to offer no further hindrance to the minister. There were calls to summon several of the women before Presbytery but nothing came of it. Shaken by this and suffering from ill-health, Boyd retired once more to Trochrig; he died in January 1627 while visiting Edinburgh. ==Works==