Explore · Interactive Timeline
From Kincavil to the first flame
Patrick Hamilton's life, the kingdom around him, and the legacy that followed.
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c. 1504
Patrick's life · Kincavil
A son is born to the house of Hamilton
Patrick is born to Sir Patrick Hamilton of Kincavil and Catherine Stewart, a family tied to the royal Stewarts.
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1513
Scotland & Europe · Edinburgh
An infant king
James IV falls at Flodden. His son James V becomes king at seventeen months old, and Scotland enters a long minority ruled by rival factions.
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1517
Patrick's life · Fearn Abbey
Abbot of Fearn
Patrick is named titular abbot of Fearn, an income that funds his studies abroad. The same year, in Wittenberg, Martin Luther publishes his theses.
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1520
Patrick's life · Paris
Paris. A scholar finds his voice.
Patrick graduates Master of Arts in Paris. At home, his father is killed in Edinburgh street fighting.
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1522
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1523
Patrick's life · St Andrews
St Andrews
Patrick returns to Scotland and joins the University of St Andrews.
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1525
Scotland & Europe · Edinburgh
Forbidden books
The Scottish Parliament forbids the import of Lutheran books into the kingdom.
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1527
Patrick's life · Marburg
Marburg. A conviction takes shape.
Patrick leaves for the Continent: Wittenberg and Marburg. He writes the theses later known as Patrick's Places.
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1527
Patrick's life · Kincavil
Home to Kincavil
Patrick comes home to Kincavil, preaches openly, and marries.
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29 Feb 1528
Patrick's life · St Andrews
St Andrews. The first flame.
Patrick is tried at St Andrews and put to death outside St Salvator's College. His death was intended to extinguish his message. Instead, it helped light a flame that would spread across a nation.
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1546
Legacy · St Andrews
The flame carried forward
George Wishart, another preacher of the reformed faith, dies at St Andrews. Among those who followed him was John Knox.
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1560
Legacy · Edinburgh
A nation reformed
The Scottish Parliament breaks with Rome. The movement Patrick's death helped ignite becomes the faith of the nation.
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Today
Legacy
The family behind the flame
Jaymes Hamilton, a direct descendant of the Hamilton line, plays Patrick. His father, Michael Hamilton, joins the cast: two generations of the family on screen.
Dates follow the historical record. Confirm against the production's script before launch.