Alexander Leighton (c. 15701649) was a Scottish medical doctor and puritan preacher and pamphleteer best known for his 1630 pamphlet that attacked the Anglican church and which led to his torture by King Charles I. Early life Leighton was born in Scotland about 1570. The Dictionary of National Biography states that he was descended from an ancient family possessed of the estate of Ulysham (Ulishaven) near Montrose. Although his father was a Roman Catholic, Leighton himself became a Presbyterian and a strong opponent of Catholicism. Medical career Leighton studied at the University of St Andrews (MA, 1587) and Leiden University (MD), where he studied under Professor van Herne. He worked as a medical doctor, but records show that he was prohibited from practice in 1619 and again in 1626. It is unknown whether these judgements were influenced by his religious views, though they predated the publication in 1628 of the pamphlet for which he was tortured. On 17 September 1619, Leighton was summoned to a censorial hearing, which took place on 24 September 1619. The charge was that he had caused the death of a patient, along with other crimes which were taken into account. He was found guilty and barred from further practice. The entry reads: He was found guilty and prohibited from practice for a second time on 7 July 1626, when he "confessed to having practiced for 11 years". On 5 January 1627, he was arrested for debt. He wished to be licensed and was asked what he would pay as a fine for previous practice. He reluctantly agreed to pay twenty shillings. After this, he moved to Holland for a period between one and three years, during which he published his controversial manuscript. Religious controversy Leighton published his controversial pamphlet Zion's plea against Prelacy: An Appeal to Parliament in 1628 in Holland. In this publication, he criticised the church, and in particular the Bishops who then ruled the Church of Scotland, condemning them as "antiChristian and satanic". He branded Queen Henrietta Maria herself as "the daughter of Heth" (a Canaanite and an idolatress), He was sentenced by Archbishop William Laud's High Commission Court to public whipping, to having the letters 'SS' branded on him (for 'Sower of Sedition'), and having one of his ears cut off and his nose slit. Medical records say that, "since he had been censured by the Star Chamber on religious grounds