Appointment of Gilbert Rule as Principal of Edinburgh University, 1690

The appointment of Gilbert Rule (c1629-1701) as Principal in 1690 signalled an attempt to turn Edinburgh University into a strict Presbyterian seminary. Rule scrutinized lecture notes taken by both staff and students for signs of doctrinal or moral deviancy. He further subjected staff members to lengthy examinations, resulting in the dismissal of the Professor of Hebrew and two regents, and the departure of David Gregory (1659-1708) for Oxford. He also served on Privy Council committees to restore the traditional, scholastic system of teaching philosophy at Scottish universities and to produce a doctrinally pure philosophy textbook on which a new pan-Scottish university curriculum might be formed.