Dean Thomas Forret
DEAN THOMAS FORRET
Every Sunday, Dean Thomas Forret preached from the Gospel, something that was normally only done by the friars. In retaliation, the friars accused him of showing the mysteries of scripture to the common people, reading the Bible in the common tongue, and making clergy detestable in the sight of the people.
The bishop of Dunkeld called in Dean Forret and advised him not to preach to the people every Sunday. If he wanted to do that, he should become a friar.
Dean Forret replied that preaching the Gospel once a week was barely enough, but the bishop maintained that they were not ordained to preach, admitting that even he didn’t know the Old and New Testaments himself, being content to know his Mass book and pontifical. At this time, nothing was done to Dean Forret, even though he stood his ground and refused to stop preaching the Bible.
Shortly afterward, Dean Forret was arrested, along with two friars named Keillor and Beveridge, a priest named Duncan Simpson, a gentleman named Robert Forrester, and three or four others from the town of Stirling. Accused of being chief heretics and teachers of heresy, none of them was given the opportunity to recant. The main charges against them were that they were present at the marriage of a priest and ate meat at the wedding, which was held during Lent. In February 1538 or 1539, they were all burned in Edinburgh.