Covenanter

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The Covenanters are a Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century.

They derive their name from the Scots term covenant for a band or legal document. There were two important covenants in Scottish history, the National Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant.

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Beginnings

The Covenanters are so named because in a series of bands or covenants they bound themselves to maintain the Presbyterian doctrine and polity as the sole religion of their country. The first "godly band" is dated December 1557; but more important is the covenant of 1581, drawn up by John Craig in consequence of the strenuous efforts that the Roman Catholics were making to regain their hold upon Scotland, and called the King's Confession or National Covenant. Based on the Confession of Faith of 1560, this document denounced the Pope and the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church in no measured terms. It was adopted by the General Assembly, signed by King James VI and his household, and enjoined on persons of all ranks and classes, and was again subscribed in 1590 and 1596.

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Upheaval and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

In 1637, Scotland was in a state of turmoil. King Charles I and William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, met with a reverse in their efforts to impose the English liturgy on the Scots when Jenny Geddes started a turmoil in St Giles Cathedral; and fearing further measures on the part of the king, it occurred to Archibald Johnston (Lord Warriston) to revive the National Covenant of 1581.

Additional matter intended to suit the document to the special circumstances of the time was added, and the covenant was adopted and signed by a large gathering in the churchyard of Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, on 28 February 1638, after which copies were sent throughout the country for additional signatures. The subscribers engaged by oath to maintain religion in the state in which it existed in 1580, and to reject all innovations introduced since that time, while professed expressions of loyalty to the king were added. The General Assembly of 1638 was composed of ardent Covenanters, and in 1640 the covenant was adopted by the Scottish Parliament, and its subscription was required from all citizens. Before this date, the Covenanters were usually referred to as Supplicants, but from about this time the former designation began to prevail. The Covenanters raised an army to resist Charles I's religious reforms, and defeated him in the Bishops Wars. The crisis this caused the Stuart monarchy helped to spark the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which included the English Civil War, the Scottish Civil War and Irish Confederate Wars.

For the following ten years of civil war in Britain, the Covenanters were the de facto government of Scotland. In 1642, the Covenanters sent an army to Ulster in Ireland to protect the Scottish settlers there from the Irish Catholic rebels who had attacked them after the Irish Rebellion of 1641. The Scottish army remained in Ireland until the end of the civil wars, but was confined to its garrison around Carrickfergus after its defeat at the battle of Benburb in 1646.

A further Covenanter military intervention began in 1643. The leaders of the English parliament, worsted in the English Civil War, implored the aid of the Scots, which was promised on condition that the Scottish system of church government was adopted in England. After some haggling, a document called the "Solemn League and Covenant" was drawn up. This was practically a treaty between England and Scotland for the preservation of the reformed religion in Scotland, the reformation of religion in England and Ireland "according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed churches" and the extirpation of popery and prelacy. It did not explicitly mention Presbyterianism, and included some ambiguous formulations that left the door open to independence. It was subscribed by many in both kingdoms and also in Ireland, and was approved by the English parliament, and with some slight modifications by the Westminster Assembly of Divines. This agreement meant that the Covenanters sent another army south to England to fight on the Parliamentarian side in the First English Civil War. The Scottish armies in England were instrumental in bringing about the victory of the English Parliament over the King.

In turn, this sparked the outbreak of the Scottish Civil War of 1644–1647, as Scottish Royalist opponents of the Covenanters took up arms against them. Royalism was most common among Scottish Roman Catholics and Anglicans, who were opposed to the Covenanters' imposition of their religious settlement on the country. The covenanters' enemies, led by James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, were aided by an Irish expeditionary force and Highland clans led by Alasdair MacColla and won a series of victories over hastily raised Covenanter forces in 1644-45. However, the Scottish Royalists were ultimately defeated in 1646 due to their own disunity and the return of the main Covenanter armies from England. The Scottish Civil War was a bitter episode in Scottish history, exposing the religious divisions between Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Catholics, political divisions between Royalists and Covenanters and cultural divisions between the Highlands and the Lowlands.

The end of the first civil wars in Scotland and England left the Covenanters hopeful that their Solemn League and Covenant would be implemented in the Three Kingdoms. However, Charles I refused to accept it when he surrendered himself to the Scots in 1646. In return for a large cash payment from the English Parliament, the Covenanters handed the king over to his English enemies. However, many Covenanters, led by James Hamilton, were suspicious of their English allies' intentions and opened secret negotiations with Charles I. He made important concessions to them in the "Engagement" made with the Scots in December 1647. This was rejected by the militant Covenanters known as the Kirk Party, who wanted the King to endorse their agenda explicitly before an alliance could be reached. A Scottish army invaded England in support of the Engagement, but was routed at the Battle of Preston (1648), leaving the Kirk Party in the ascendant.

The Covenanters' insistence on dictating the future of both Scotland and England eventually led to all-out war with their erstwhile allies, the English Parliament, and to the Scots signing an alliance with Charles II known as the Treaty of Breda (1650). Charles II, before landing in Scotland in June 1650, declared by a solemn oath his approbation of both covenants, and this was renewed on the occasion of his coronation at Scone in the following January.

However, the Covenanters were utterly defeated in the 1650–52 by the forces of the English Parliament under Oliver Cromwell. Scotland was occupied by the New Model Army and the Covenanters were sidelined. From 1638 to 1651 the Covenanters, led by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, had been the dominant party in Scotland, directing her policy both at home and abroad. Their power, however, which had been seriously weakened by Cromwell's victory at Dunbar in September 1650, was practically destroyed after the Battle of Worcester and the English occupation of Scotland. Under Cromwell's Commonwealth, Scotland was annexed by England and the General Assembly of the Kirk lost all civil power.

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Restoration and the "Killing Time"

Worse was to come for the Covenanters when Charles II was Restored nine years later. Firmly seated upon the throne, Charles renounced the covenants, which in 1662 were declared unlawful oaths, and were to be abjured by all persons holding public offices. Argyll himself was executed for treason, episcopacy was restored, James Sharp was appointed Archbishop of St Andrews and Primate of Scotland, the court of high commission was revived, and ministers who refused to recognize the authority of the bishops were expelled from their livings. Archbishop Sharp survived an assassination attempt in 1668, but was killed by another group of Covenanters in 1679.

During the "Killing Time" that followed, the Covenanters continued to cling tenaciously to their standards of faith. Rebel ministers began to preach at secret 'conventicles' in the fields, as a period of persecution marked by savage hatred and great brutality began. Oppressive measures were directed against the Covenanters, who first took up arms about 1665, and the struggle soon assumed the proportions of a rebellion, particularly following the battle of Drumclog in 1679. Despite such isolated successes, the covenanters fared badly due to fractured leadership; in general they were worsted and were treated with great barbarity. The forces of the crown under John Graham of Claverhouse and others were sent against them, and the rebellion was crushed at the battle of Bothwell Brig later that year.

Through this period of repression, the Covenanters held their cherished covenants with a zeal that persecution only intensified; in 1680 the more tenacious members of the party signed a document known as the Sanquhar Declaration, and were afterwards called Cameronians after their leader, Richard Cameron. They renounced their allegiance to King James and were greatly disappointed when their standards found no place in the religious settlement of 1689, continuing to hold the belief that the Solemn League and Covenant should be made obligatory upon the entire nation.

The Covenanters have a martyrology of their own, and the halo of romance has been cast around their exploits and their sufferings. Their story, however, especially during the time of their political predominance, is part of the general History of Scotland.

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See also

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External links

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Reference

  • Tales of the Covenanters: Rev. Andrew Thompson. A romantic account of the exploits of the Covenanter ministers during the period of their persecution.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition{{#if:{{{article|}}}| article {{#if:{{{url|}}}|[{{{url|}}}}} "{{{article}}}"{{#if:{{{url|}}}|]}}{{#if:{{{author|}}}| by {{{author}}}}}}}, a publication now in the public domain.fr:Covenanter ja:国民盟約 ru:Ковенантер

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