Thomas Bellenden or Bannatyne of Auchnoule (c. 1485 – c. 1547), courtier of James V of Scotland, Judge from 1535, Director of Chancery from 1538, Lord Justice Clerk from 1539, member of the royal council, ambassador to England, and Protestant sympathizer.
[2] Bellenden described the performance of an interlude at Linlithgow Palace before James, his wife Mary of Guise and his bishops and council on the feast of the Epiphany.
Bellenden said that after the play the King spoke to the churchmen in the audience asking them to reform their factions and manner of living, otherwise he would send six of them into England to his uncle, Henry VIII.
Bellenden said that James V intended to expel clergymen from royal appointments and he asked Eure to send him secretly copies of the English statutes that suppressed the Roman Catholic religion.
Thomas's sister Katherine Bellenden was also a courtier, connected with the royal wardrobe and worked with Janet Douglas, who was the wife of David Lindsay of the Mount, the diplomat, poet, and playwright.