ABSTRACT
Two renegade Dominican friars, both of them from the government's stable of reforming chaplains, were encouraged to begin the reformation of the religious life of Aberdeen with the support, both verbal and financial, of the town council. Aberdeen did not seem ripe for reformation in 1560, and such reformation as there was came about largely through the pressure of external circumstances. It was characteristic of the Reformation in Aberdeen to have been slow to take initiatives. David Mar, a Protestant sympathiser, had chosen the moment to associate Aberdeen with the Reformation with great care. It was not until the beginning of March 1560 that the first tentative steps were taken to associate Aberdeen with the Congregation. The Reformation actually offered the council the opportunity of extending their control over the burgh; they had no intention of relinquishing any more of such control than was strictly necessary; it was also clear that they intended to control pace and direction of reformation.
