About Mapping the Scottish Reformation

Mapping the Scottish Reformation (MSR) is a digital prosopography of the Scottish clergy between 1560 and 1689 that allows users to explore and visualize clerical careers during this essential period in Scottish history. Built with data from manuscripts held at National Records of Scotland (NRS), this is the first project to ever comprehensively chart the growth, movement, and networks of the Scottish clergy following the Reformation in 1560. For scholars and students of this era, such a resource provides crucial framing for inquiries into religious beliefs, political conflicts, and institutional change. For those interested in family history on both sides of the Atlantic, MSR offers unprecedented information on individuals whose outsized archival footprints make them critical figures for genealogical research.

This project started in 2017 with the Project Team’s Directors Michelle D. Brock (W&L University) and Chris R. Langley (Newman University). This website reflects the findings of Stage 1 of the project, which focused on the diverse and important presbyteries in the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. This stage was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Strathmartine Trust and supported by our wonderful Advisory Board and other generous collaborators. This pilot user interface was designed in collaboration with Hristo Meshinski, Stewart Cromar, and Ewan McAndrew of the University of Edinburgh.

We are in the process of expanding the scope of Mapping the Scottish Reformation; eventually, it will provide and visualize data on the careers of the clergy from all regions of Scotland. We welcome you to keep up with our progress on our blog and Twitter feed!

Our maps are interactive and the filters on the right hand side allow you to build powerful searches of our data, that you can then download for your own research. We really hope you enjoy using the website!

Michelle D. Brock & Chris R. Langley, Project Co-Directors