On 11 December, a renunciation of the treaty was passed by parliament and resulted in the English King Edward's declaration of war on Scotland that lasted nearly eight years and came to be known as the Rough Wooing.

Shortly before embarking for France to attend the Queen's wedding to the Dauphin in 1558, Reid made out his last will and testament that allowed for a college to be established in Edinburgh that was to consist of grammar, arts and law schools with all necessary accommodation.

Reid's ship was wrecked near Boulogne but both he and his fellow commissioner, the Earl of Rothes, survived to witness the royal marriage at Nôtre-Dame Cathedral.

[2]Elizabeth Schanwell had at least three siblings—John who became abbot of Couper Angus, William who was a secular cleric, and Robert who in 1501 was Vicar of Kircaldy, and Dean of the faculty of arts at St Andrews University from 1512 to 1517.

[17] The abbey of Kinloss, founded by King David I in 1151,[18] is situated only a few miles from Elgin Cathedral where Robert Reid was its subdean and official, was governed by Abbot Thomas Crystall since his appointment on 13 January 1500.

[19] Crystall performed numerous charitable acts in the distribution of alms and even provided impoverished ladies with money as dowries to enable suitable marriages.

[22] Rome was sacked on 6 May 1527 by the forces of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, resulting in Pope Clement VII's imprisonment in the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Abbot-elect Reid faced a winter journey to meet the Pope, probably in the furtherance of his position at Kinloss, and left Elgin, ostensibly for Rome, sometime after 10 November 1527 but it may have been in Orvieto that he met the Pontiff.

Following his studies at Turin, the Piedmontese Ferrerio arrived in Paris in 1525 where he became a companion of not only Richardson but other Scottish scholars such as Hector Boece, George Buchanan and William Gordon.

[26][19] One of Reid's first acts as abbot was to prosecute the nearby burgh of Forres to retrieve lands at Burgie and convert all of the abbey estates into a barony.

to his dear son Robert Reid, Elect of Orkney, greetings....For some time now We have reserved to Our ordination and disposition the appointments of all of the churches vacant, declaring that henceforth it is invalid and idle for anyone, relying on any authority, knowingly or ignorantly, to call this in question......We appoint you and prefer you to the office of bishop to the pastorate, cure, and administration of that church, and commit to you full powers in both spiritual and temporal matters.Given at Rome, at Santa Maria [Maggiore], 16th October,1541, in the seventh year [of Our pontificate.

This charter stipulated that the income from the prebend of St John was to be used for the upkeep of the cathedral building and its contents but this was disregarded by Reid—other appropriations to finance this overhaul of the chapter were enforced.

To get ready for the divine services the chaplains and the choristers were re-housed and the subdean was allocated chambers that were better suited to his role of enforcing overall discipline when the provost was absent.

[4] The new College of Justice held its inaugural meeting on 27 May 1532 when Abbot Reid was admitted as a senator in place of his uncle, Robert Schanwell.

"[37] King James authorised William Stewart, Bishop of Aberdeen and Reid to negotiate a peace treaty with Henry VIII of England in February 1533 but it was 2 August 1534 before it was finally concluded.

[38] Ferrerio later wrote that Bishop Stewart and Abbot Reid were the only men capable of getting a "peace surpassing all expectation from an angry nation" (England).

It was agreed to send the bishop to meet Arran to call for the cardinal's release and for the ceasing of the circulation of English-language versions of the New Testament, all of which were turned down.

[4] Reid continued to represent Beaton in his dealings with Arran who, with parliament, affirmed the treaties of Greenwich by which Queen Mary would, when she reached the age of ten, marry Prince Edward of England.

[4] The pro-English lords led by the earls of Lennox and Angus met with Reid on 13 January 1544 and agreed to Beaton's terms allowing for a meeting with Regent Arran.

[45] Following the death of Abbot Alexander Mylne in 1548, Reid was appointed the Lord President of the College of Justice, appearing for the first time on 24 February 1549.

[46] The strategic Broughty Castle at the mouth of the River Tay had been in English hands since September 1547 but in February 1550 it had been retaken by a Joint French and Scottish force.

[47][48] The military successes in 1549 and 1550 prompted Reid, in his role as President of the College of Justice, to ensure that foreigners (i.e. the English) did not take their money with them but should spend it on Scottish goods.

[49] In the years 1550 to 1552, Reid was engaged in many legal and monetary matters but diplomatic duties were called on in 1552 when he was appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the young King Edward to end hostilities, define the border, the return of hostages and prisoners, and the exchange of criminals, among other things.

This was resisted by the Scottish nobles but after an overwhelming French defeat by Spain at St Quentin, in Picardy on 10 August 1557, the marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots and the Dauphin now took on greater urgency.

[61] Reid arrived at Dieppe at the end of August and started for home, only to be driven back in a gale, but by this time the bishop and four other commissioners were very ill.