Historic links with Scotland
A Hussite in Scotland
The earliest recorded contact between St Andrews and Central and Eastern Europe occurred in 1433, when Pavel Kravař (also known in Scotland as Paul Craw), an emissary of the Hussites in Bohemia, who were in open rebellion against the Catholic church, was burned at the stake for heresy in the centre of the town. This event is believed to have taken place close to the Mercat Cross, the former location of which, in today's Market Street, is marked by a cross of red stones set in the cobbled surface of the roadway. Pavel Kravař's ill-fated visit to St Andrews, then the ecclesiastical centre of Scotland and the home of its only university, was probably connected with Hussite attempts to gain allies at the Council of Basel, at which reconciliation was to be sought between the Hussites and the Catholic authorities.
Polish Army in Exile
A happier association with Central and Eastern Europe was established more recently, during the Second World War, when St Andrews and the surrounding area played hosts to the Polish Army in exile. In 1940, Polish units, evacuated from France, took over the coastal defences in parts of eastern Scotland. Poles became closely associated with the town and, at the end of the war, many settled and remained in the St Andrews area. A mosaic panel in the wall of the Town Hall expresses the gratitude of Polish soldiers for the hospitality received from the people of St Andrews. A bust of General Wladyslaw Sikorski, the Prime Minister of the Government-in-Exile and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish forces, whose headquarters were in the nearby city of Perth, stands in a St Andrews park.
