{"id":2265,"date":"2024-09-13T15:51:22","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T14:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/edinburghuniversityarchives\/?p=2265"},"modified":"2024-09-13T15:51:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T14:51:28","slug":"a-murder-in-the-archives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/edinburghuniversityarchives\/2024\/09\/13\/a-murder-in-the-archives\/","title":{"rendered":"A Murder in the Archives"},"content":{"rendered":"

It began as a simple cataloguing exercise.\u00a0 I noticed that a significant document in University of Edinburgh’s history had no representation in our online catalogue and set out to remedy this by creating a basic catalogue entry that could be elaborated on in due course.\u00a0 With a handy ‘caption card’ shelved alongside it, this was not a task that would take very long – or so I thought.\u00a0 I was soon in the midst of a famous murder!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The item in question was described, wrongly as it turned out, as the Clement Litill Charter.\u00a0 Litill, an Edinburgh merchant, had bequeathed a collection of 276 books<\/a> to the ‘Town and Kirk of Edinburgh’ which effectively laid the foundation for Edinburgh University Library two years before the Charter which established the University itself and three years before the University opened its doors. It marks a foundational milestone in our history<\/p>\n

As it turned out, the document was not a charter.\u00a0 In fact there were three documents but with the third appearing to largely a wrapper for the other two.\u00a0 Of the other two, one was a document which was identified as having been drawn up by Alexander Guthrie, the Town Clerk, extracted from the Town Council minutes. As such, it was important to be as precise as possible about who Guthrie was.<\/p>\n

\"Litill<\/a><\/p>\n

Investigation of online sources, including a digitised copy of the Roll of Edinburgh Burgesses and Guild Bretheren, 1406-1700<\/a>, identified three successive generations of Alexander Guthries who had served as Town Clerk. Which one was it?<\/p>\n

Colleagues at Edinburgh City Archives were able to provide a list of Town Clerks and their appointment dates.\u00a0 In 1580, the second Alexander Guthrie<\/a> took up office but it was unclear if he was in post by 14 October, when these documents were drawn up.\u00a0 At this point there was contradictory information as to who preceded him; the entry for the earlier Alexander Guthrie<\/a> did not fully agree with the Edinburgh City Archives list. To try and better understand this discrepancy, I began to read the DNB article more fully and realised I was right in the middle of a key event in the history of the Scottish Reformation.<\/p>\n

The article in question was written by Prof. Michael Lynch and identifies the eldest Alexander Guthrie as a ‘civic administrator and religious activist’, but that is only the start of the story. His wife, Janet Henderon or Henryson, “was one of the group of wives of influential burgesses with whom John Knox corresponded while in exile in Geneva. She was addressed as his ‘beloved sister’ in a letter of March 1558”.\u00a0 Guthrie himself worked closely with John Knox on consolidating the Reformation in Edinburgh. Unusually, he held both burgh and political office simultaneously.\u00a0 As Lynch notes,<\/p>\n

His connections with Edinburgh’s legal establishment and with key protestant dissidents within the royal administration were demonstrated by the appearance in court as one of his sureties of Patrick Bellenden of Stenness, brother of the justice clerk John Bellenden of Auchnoull. In 1556 Guthrie had acted as godfather to one of the children of another influential legal family, the Bannatynes, which was in turn closely connected to the Bellendens.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guthrie had suffered arrest for his activities during the Reformation crisis of 1559-60 but faced arrest again in 1566 when he was implicated in the murder of David Rizzio (or Riccio).\u00a0 He fled alongside fellow conspirators, was outlawed and lost his position as Town Clerk. This was a revelation.\u00a0 I had not come across Guthrie in any of the many lists of conspirators in academic and other accounts of this incident.\u00a0 Yet, as Lynch points out, \u201cThe fact that he was among the last of the Riccio conspirators to be granted a remission, in December 1566, when he was also restored to office, confirms his prominence in the affair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sir<\/a>

Sir William Allan, The Murder of David Rizzio (Scottish National Gallery)<\/p><\/div>\n

For those unfamiliar with the Rizzio murder, a quick summary.\u00a0 David Rizzio was secretary and possibly a lover of Mary Queen of Scots.\u00a0 On the evening of 9 March 1566, royal guards at the Palace of Holyroodhouse were overpowered by rebels who seized control of the palace.\u00a0 Rizzio was seized from the supper room, taken through adjacent rooms and stabbed 57 times.\u00a0 His body was then thrown down a staircase. (Read more on Wikipedia<\/a>)<\/p>\n

This is not the only high-profile murder of a royal figure in Edinburgh in this period, nor of one with a University connection.\u00a0 In February of the following year, Mary’s husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who some thought was involved in Rizzio’s murder died as the result of an explosion in Kirk O’ Field House (roughly where our Old College quad is now situated) on.\u00a0 Suspicion fell on Mary and her future husband, the Earl of Bothwell.\u00a0 They were tried but acquitted. (Read more on Wikipedia<\/a>)<\/p>\n

But was Guthrie restored to office? This is where Lynch\u2019s account and the Edinburgh City Archives list part company.\u00a0 His successor in 1566, David Chalmer(s), is recorded on the list with Chalmers then being succeeded by the second Alexander Guthrie in 1580.\u00a0 It may be the case that it was later determined that the elder Guthrie did not require to be reappointed to office \u2013 we can but speculate.<\/p>\n

In terms of our archives, what is the significance of all of this?\u00a0 First, on the basis of current information, it is unclear which Alexander Guthrie drew up this document.<\/p>\n

Second and more importantly, it helps situate the bequest of Littill\u2019s books within the context of the time, this context being not just a backdrop but essential to understanding the significance of these events in the foundation of the University.\u00a0 Regardless of which Alexander Guthrie was involved, these were people working at the highest political levels within Edinburgh and Scotland.\u00a0 William Litill, who was responsible for honouring his brother Clement\u2019s wishes, went on to become the city\u2019s Lord Provost.\u00a0 The bequest was more than a beneficial transaction and those involved in seeing it fulfilled an executed were at the heart of the political turmoil of the period.<\/p>\n

\"Book

Book stamp, Litill bequest<\/p><\/div>\n

Postscript<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an aside, the elder Guthrie<\/a> features in elsewhere in our catalogue, in relation to two documents in the Laing collection.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n