John Howieson ca.1530-1618
John HOWIESON or HOWISON ca.1530-1618
Biographical Note
Born in 1530, likely the son of a Burgess of Glasgow. He was educated at the University of Glasgow. In 1576, he was ordained minister and appointed to the charge of Kelso. He served as minister of Cambuslang from 1579.In July 1586, he married Agnes Coluines. In 1613, he mortified 10,000 merks in support of a bursar at the University of Glasgow.
Howieson opposed the Episcopal government of the reformed Church of Scotland. He was detained in prison on several occasions for actions relating to his opposition. He was the Moderator of the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1582, when it met to oppose the appointment of Robert Montgomerie as the new Archbishop of Glasgow. His refusal to submit to the authority of the archbishop resulted in his removal from the pulpit and brief imprisonment.
Books
Howieson left a bequest of 124 books to the University of Glasgow, which it received in 1619. It was a significant gift, described by John Durkan as “the most considerable augmentation of the library’s resources,” and included the first donated copies of Calvin (Durkan, p.111). Robert Boyd (1578-1627), the principal of Glasgow University, thought Howieson’s books were old-fashioned, but remarkable for their age.
The majority of Howieson’s gift were books in favour of Presbyterian and Calvinist interpretations of Church doctrine. Consequently, many were authored by continental reformers, and the collection is rich in the imprints of the presses of Basel, Geneva and Zurich. The donation included several works by the Swiss reformer Rudolf Gwalther (1518-1586), as well as the English puritan John Northbrooke(fl. 1567–1578?).
A notable number of books in Howieson’s library were responses to the work of Cardinal Bellarmine (1542-1621), an important scholar of the counterreformation, who defended papal power. An example of this is Ad Roberti Bellarmini Dispvtationes theologicas de rebus in religione controuersis responsio (Genevae, 1596-98) by the French, Calvinist scholar Lambert Daneau (1530-1590). These were likely used by Howieson in his own scholarly endeavours, which included an unpublished MS in 3 volumes, replying to the work of Bellarmine.
A number of his books previously belonged to the minister of Perth, Patrick Galloway, whose charge Howieson briefly filled in 1584. An example of this is In Evangelium Iesu Christi secundum Marcum homiliae… (Zurich, 1573) by Rudolf Gwalther, which is inscribed by both men. There are also books with the provenance of John Sangster (d.1609), minister of Glasford, and later Blantyre.
Characteristic Markings
Howieson’s books are typically bound in limp vellum and stamped with MIH. He regularly inscribed his books, in various forms. These include “JHowiesonne” and “Maister John Howiesonn minister at Cambuslang.” (Example: Sp Coll Bl6-g.15).
Sources
- Durkan, John. “The early history of Glasgow University Library: 1475-1710” The Bibliotheck; a Scottish Journal of Bibliography and Allied Topics 8: 4 (1977) 102-126
- John Howieson, University of Glasgow Story.
- Munimenta Alme Universitatis Glasguensis. Records of the University of Glasgow, from its foundation till 1727. Ed. Cosmo Innes. Glasgow, The Maitland Club, 1854. Volume 3
- Scott, Hew et al. Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation, 9 vols, new edn. Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1915–61. Volume 3.