The Protestant Reformation of 1560 is largely said as being a watershed second in Scottish historical past. although, while the antecedents of the reform circulation were commonly explored, the particular strategy of developing a reformed church within the parishes within the many years following 1560 has been mostly missed. This ebook is helping treatment the placement through interpreting the root of the reformed church and the effect of Protestant self-discipline within the parishes of Fife. In early smooth Scotland, Fife used to be either a different and demanding area, containing a preponderance of coastal burghs in addition to St Andrews, the ecclesiastical capital of medieval Scotland. It additionally contained many rural and inland parishes, making it a great case examine for analysing the process non secular reform in various groups. however, the focal point is at the Reformation, instead of at the county, and the ebook continually locations Fife's event within the wider Scottish, British and eu context. in keeping with quite a lot of under-utilised assets, particularly kirk consultation mins, the study's concentration is at the grass-roots non secular lifetime of the parish, instead of the extra popular topics of church politics and theology. It evaluates the good fortune of the reformers in affecting either institutional and ideological switch, and offers an in depth account of the workings of the reformed church, and its effect on usual humans. In so doing it addresses vital questions concerning the timescale and geographical styles of reform, and the way such dramatic spiritual switch succeeded and continued with out violence, or certainly, frequent opposition.