A real difference in historical interpretation occurs during the 1970s, as we see historians looking outwards. They are no longer interested in the central government but in local cities and place more emphasis on the role of the population. Most notably, in the writings of Steven G. Ellis and W. Stanford Reid, emphasis is placed on the impact of the English Reformation on the British Isles and the different strands of reform that developed. As a different strand of reformed thought developed in Scotland, the evidence shows that the population was heavily involved in encouraging reform in the towns. For example, Edinburgh has often been seen as the political capital of the Scottish government and a city dominated by merchants without the possibility of strong Protestant currents. Through trade in France and the Netherlands, these bourgeois merchants had been exposed to ideas of reform. Through this and the influence of John Knox, Reid argues that Edinburgh became a powerful seat of Scottish popular reform during the period 1555–1572. In the formative years of 1555 to 1560, the population was involved in Protestant acts, such as the burning of icons, the attack on a royal procession on St. Giles' Day, and the refusal to participate in the mass. The arrival of John Knox from Geneva not only angered the Queen Regent, Marie de Guise, but also secured the basis for popular reform in Edinburgh. This reform was further accelerated under the appointment of Knox as minister of St. Giles Church. Knox was obviously highly regarded due to the amount of money he received and was more than willing to take on Queen Mary Stuart, who had returned from France, which the merchant council really preferred. When Knox was expelled from the city by a Marian army, ...... middle of paper ...... the First Henrician Reformation. American Historical Review 19, 4 (1976): 807-830. Haigh, Christopher. “The continuity of Catholicism in the English Reformation.” Past and Present, 93 (1981): 37-69.---. “Success and failure of the English Reformation”. Past and Present 173 (2001): 28-49.Reid, W. Stanford. “The Arrival of the Reformation in Edinburgh.” Church History 42, 1 (1973): 27-44. Ryrie, Alec. The Gospel and Henry VIII: Evangelicals in the Early English Reformation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. PDF e-book. Shagan, Ethan H. Popular Politics and the English Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. PDF e-book. Simon, Joan. “The Reformation and English Education.” Past and Present, 11 (1957): 48-65. Smith, Lacey Baldwin. “Henry VIII and the Protestant Triumph.” American Historical Review 71. No. 4 (1966): 1237-1264.