Life

He was born about 1568, was educated at the university of St. Andrews, where he took the degree of M.A. in 1583, and was ordained minister of Alford, Aberdeenshire in 1593. When the proceedings of the synod

Synod

A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...

s of Aberdeen and Moray against George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly

George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly

George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly was a Scottish nobleman who took a leading role in the political and military life of Scotland in the late 16th century and around the time of the Union of the Crowns.-Biography:...

 were interfered with by the privy council, he was sent by them to London to seek redress from the king, James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

. He went to court in March 1605, was graciously received by the king, and succeeded in the object of his mission.

In July 1605 he was appointed moderator of the Aberdeen assembly, which was held contrary to the king's orders; and when he and others were summoned before the privy council to answer for their disobedience, they declined its jurisdiction, as the matter was spiritual, and offered to submit their conduct to the judgment of the church. For this Forbes and five others were imprisoned in Blackness Castle

Blackness Castle

Blackness Castle is a 15th century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of...

 (the so-called "warded minsters", who included also John Welsh of Ayr

John Welsh of Ayr

John Charles Welsh was a Scottish Presbyterian leader.He was born in Dumfriesshire and, after a wayward youth, attended the University of Edinburgh and obtained his MA in 1588. He became a minister in Selkirk, and prior to 1596 and leaving Selkirk, Rev. Welsh married Elizabeth, a daughter of John...

, and other participants in the assembly, namely Andrew Duncan, Robert Dury, John Sharp, and Alexander Strachan.). They were tried for high treason

High treason

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...

, found guilty by a packed jury, and banished from the king's dominions for life.

The exiles sailed from Leith

Leith

-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

 for Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 on 7 November 1606. On reaching France Forbes visited James Boyd of Trochrig at Saumur Academy, and then went to the Academy of Sedan

Academy of Sedan

The Academy of Sedan was a Huguenot academy in Sedan, founded in 1579 and suppressed in 1681. It was one of the main centres for the production of Reformed pastors in France for a hundred years.-History:...

. For some years he travelled, visiting the reformed churches and universities. In 1611 he was settled as pastor of a British congregation at Middelburg

Middelburg

Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...

. He was offered release from banishment on conditions which he could not accept. In 1616 he was in London for several months, and saw the king, who promised to revoke his sentence of exile, but the promise was not fulfilled.

After a ministry of ten years at Middelburg, he became pastor of the British church at Delft

Delft

Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....

. In 1628 Charles I of England

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, influenced by William Laud

William Laud

William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...

, began to interfere with the worship and discipline of the English and Scottish churches in the Netherlands, and Forbes was ultimately removed from his charge. He died in 1634, aged about sixty-six.

Works

He was the author of:

• The Saint's Hope, and infallibleness thereof, Middelburg, 1608.
• Two sermons, Middelburg, 1608.
• A Treatise tending to the clearing of Justification, Middelburg, 1616.
• A Treatise how God's Spirit may be discerned from Man's own Spirit, London, 1617.
• Four sermons on 1 Tim. vi. 13-16, 1635.
• A sermon on 2 Tim. ii. 4, Delft, 1642.
• Certain Records touching the Estate of the Kirk in 1605 and 1606, Edinburgh, Wodrow Society, 1846.

Family

He was the third son of William Forbes of Corse, Aberdeenshire. an early adherent of the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, and Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Strachan of Thornton. Patrick Forbes

Patrick Forbes

Patrick Forbes was a late 16th century and early 17th century Scottish churchman. Born in 1564, he was the oldest son of Elizabeth Strachan and her husband William Forbes, Laird of Corse. He attended the High School of Stirling, the University of Glasgow and then the University of St Andrews...

, the eldest son, became bishop of Aberdeen, William, the second, founded the family of Craigievar, and Arthur

Sir Arthur Forbes, 1st Baronet

Sir Arthur Forbes, 1st Baronet of Castle Forbes, County Longford, Ireland took part in the Scottish Plantation of Ireland, and died in a duel at Hamburg, Germany. His son was created Earl of Granard.-Family:...

, the fourth, that of the Earls of Granard in Ireland.

He married Christian, daughter of Barclay of Mathers. Two of his sons were colonels in the Dutch service, one of whom afterwards fought on the side of the covenanters, a third, Patrick

Patrick Forbes (bishop of Caithness)

-Life:Forbes was the third son of John Forbes, minister of Alford, Aberdeenshire, and afterwards of Delft. He studied at the university and King's College of Aberdeen, of which his uncle, the bishop, was chancellor, and took his degree in 1631. Returning to Holland he became an army chaplain...

, became bishop of Caithness, and a fourth minister of Abercorn. His three daughters married in Scotland.

Further reading

• Chris de Jong. John Forbes (c.1568-1634), Scottish minister and exile in the Netherlands. Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis, 69 (1989), 17-53. ISSN 00282030.