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| Signed | 1 May 1650 (1650-05-01) |
|---|---|
| Location | Breda,Dutch Republic |
| Parties | Charles II;Kingdom of Scotland |
| Language | English |
TheTreaty of Breda (1650) was signed on 1 May 1650 betweenCharles II, exiled king ofEngland,Scotland andIreland, and the ScottishCovenanter government. Under its terms, they agreed to install Charles II as King of England as well as Scotland, while Charles undertook to establish aPresbyterian form for theChurch of England, and guarantee the rights of theChurch of Scotland.
The Scots had previously allied with EnglishRoyalists to restoreCharles I to the throne in the 1648Second English Civil War. Following their defeat, Charles wasexecuted in January 1649, leading to the establishment of theCommonwealth of England. For various reasons, the Scots objected to the execution, and the Treaty of Breda led to theAnglo-Scottish War (1650–1652). This time, defeat meant Scotland was incorporated into the Commonwealth.
Although Scotland regained its independence after the 1660Stuart Restoration, his experience of the alliance meant Charles II remained hostile to Presbyterianism throughout his reign,[why?] and restoredbishops to the Church of Scotland in 1662.[1]
Victory in the 1639 and 1640Bishops' Wars confirmedCovenanter control ofScotland, and established aPresbyterian-structuredChurch of Scotland, or "kirk". Thereafter, their main political objective was to preserve this achievement, and one way of doing so was to support their English allies in creating a closely-alignedChurch of England. This required theRoyalists to be defeated in theFirst English Civil War, and led to the 1643Solemn League and Covenant. Under its terms, theParliament of England agreed to "preserve" a Presbyterian kirk and "reform" the Church of England in accordance with "best practice", in return for Scottish military support.[2]
However, the pact had limited support in England, particularly from religiousIndependents likeOliver Cromwell, who opposed anystate religion, especially one so highly regulated as the kirk.[3] Disproportionately well-represented in theNew Model Army, by 1646 the Scots and their English allies viewed them as more dangerous than their Royalist opponents. In May 1646,Charles I tried to take advantage of these divisions by surrendering to the Scots atNewark-on-Trent, hoping they would give him better terms than Parliament.[4]
His refusal to convert to Presbyterianism led to a stalemate between Charles and the Scots, who in 1647 handed him over to Parliament in exchange for £400,000.
However, they were excluded from negotiations by the victorious English Parliament and by 1647, they despaired of achieving their political goals – the establishment ofPresbyterianism in the Three Kingdoms and asserting the civil authority of theScots Parliament and the General Assembly of the ScottishKirk (Presbyterian Church). They even suspected that the Parliamentarians would annex Scotland and impose their own "Independent" religious settlement. For this reason, one faction of the Covenanters, theEngagers, signed a secret deal with Charles I called the "Engagement". However, they were defeated in an attempted invasion of England and even came to blows with fellow Covenanters who wanted a more forthright deal with the King.
WhenCharles I was executed in 1649, the radical Covenanters, or "Kirk Party", moved to do a new deal with Charles II, the son of the dead King, who was in exile inBreda. The treaty basically granted everything the Kirk Party wanted. Charles II undertook to establish Presbyterianism as the national religion and to recognise the authority of the Kirk's General Assembly in civil law in England as it already was in Scotland. Charles also took theSolemn League and Covenant oath of 1643.
Charles wascrownedKing of Scots inScone in January 1651, but by then the terms agreed at Breda were already a dead letter. The army associated with the Kirk Party underDavid Leslie was destroyed byOliver Cromwell at theBattle of Dunbar in September 1650 and the English ParliamentarianNew Model Army had taken Edinburgh and much of Lowland Scotland. Even a subsequent rapprochement between moderate and radical Covenanters and their former enemies, the Scottish Royalists, was not enough to restore Charles' throne. He fled the country for France after his defeat at thebattle of Worcester in September 1651.
Under theCommonwealth of England, Scotland was annexed, its legislative institutions abolished and Presbyterianism dis-established. There was freedom of religion under the Commonwealth, except forRoman Catholics, but the edicts of the Kirk's assemblies were no longer enforced by law, as previously.
After being restored to his throne in 1660 King Charles completely reneged on the Treaty of Breda, seeking to restore an Episcopalian church structure in Scotland.