John Knox descendant inspired by 'misogynistic' writings of reformer to create play of life of Bloody Mary

Lucy Beresford-Knox's Fringe play BURN: Reclaiming “Bloody" Mary I From Centuries of Misogynistic Myth, will be performed minutes from the historic Edinburgh house associated with the Protestant reformer.

Knox's opposition to Mary's Catholic reign formed the bedrock of his most infamous 1558 treatise, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, where he argued that female rule was unnatural and contrary to God.

Ms Beresford-Knox said: “John Knox’s writings about women in power provided some of the most misogynistic and vitriolic source material for this play. Whilst the events that inspired Burn took place over 500 years ago, the questions it asks about gender and reputation remain as relevant today as they have ever been.”

She first became aware of her personal connection to John Knox while studying history at Oxford University.

She said: “I studied the mid Tudors, as it was called, when I was at university, and part of what I studied was the rhetoric around the Tudors that came from John Knox, the reformer. I remember thinking that, the misogyny that came out of him was so vile and I thought, ‘Who is this Knox?’

“That was when I thought about the surname and went, ‘hang on a minute’. I looked into it, and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I'm descended from a misogynist’.”

She added: “It's an interesting connection to have, and it's interesting to have written something that effectively I'm certain he would have hated.”

She said Mary has been recorded in history as “barren and bitter”, with her history recorded through her identity as a woman.

“She was the first woman to really try and rule as both a monarch and a woman, and yet everything that was written about her was so gendered in its nature. The fact that she then, throughout history, is known as Bloody Mary, the only thing people know about her is she burned Protestants at the stake, and she wasn't a very nice woman.”

Knox focused specifically on Mary in his work The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, written in 1558, when he targeted Mary and famously declared that elevating a woman to be allowed to rule was "repugnant to nature”.

Ms Beresford-Knox said: “Everything he wrote about women in power was misogynist. He said Mary Tudor was unworthy of the name of woman, the famous quote was to serve and obey man, not to rule and command and this play is basically giving Mary Tudor the opportunity to tell her own story, tell why she became the historical villain that she has become in history and take back her own power.

“For a man who didn't want her to have any power or any legitimacy, he didn't believe in women being on the throne, he said that about Mary Queen of Scots and he said that about Elizabeth I as well, I'm delighted to be giving a woman a chance to really claim that back in this play.”

Burn will be performed at Paradise in the Vault from 8 to 15 August.