Covenanters[a] were members of a 17th-centuryScottish religious and political movement, who supported aPresbyterianChurch of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes withJames VI and his sonCharles I over church organisation anddoctrine, but expanded into political conflict over the limits of royal authority.
In 1638, thousands of Scots signed theNational Covenant, pledging to resist changes in religious practice imposed by Charles. This led to the 1639 and 1640Bishops' Wars, which ended with the Covenanters in control of the Scottish government. In response to theIrish Rebellion of 1641, Covenanter troops were sent toIreland, and the 1643Solemn League and Covenant brought them into theFirst English Civil War on the side ofParliament.
As theWars of the Three Kingdoms progressed, many Covenanters came to view Englishreligious Independents likeOliver Cromwell as a greater threat than the Royalists, particularly their opposition tostate religion. During the 1648Second English Civil War, a Covenanter faction known asEngagers allied with Scots and English Royalists. A Scottish army invaded England, butwas defeated. TheKirk Party now gained political power, and in 1650,agreed to provideCharles II with Scottish military support to regain the English throne, then crowned himKing of Britain in 1651. Scotland lost the subsequentAnglo-Scottish War of 1650 to 1652 and was absorbed into theCommonwealth of England. The Kirk lost its position as thestate church, and the rulings of itsassemblies were no longer enforced by law.
Following the 1660Stuart Restoration, theParliament of Scotland passed laws reversing reforms enacted since 1639. Bishops were restored to the Kirk, whileministers and other officeholders were obliged to take theOath of Abjuration rejecting the 1638 Covenant. As a result, many Covenanters opposed the new regime, leading to a series of plots and armed rebellions. After the 1688Glorious Revolution in Scotland, the Church of Scotland was re-established as a wholly Presbyterian structure and most Covenanters readmitted. Dissident minorities persisted in Scotland, Ireland, andNorth America, which continue today as theReformed Presbyterian Global Alliance.
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The 16th centuryScottish Reformation resulted in the creation of a reformedChurch of Scotland, informally known as theKirk, which wasPresbyterian in structure, andCalvinist in doctrine. In December 1557, it became thestate church of Scotland, and in 1560, theParliament of Scotland adopted theScots Confession which rejected manyCatholic teachings and practices.[1]
The Confession was adopted byJames VI, and re-affirmed first in 1590, then in 1596. However, James argued that as king, he was also head of the church, governing throughbishops appointed by himself.[2][b] When James became king of England in 1603, he saw a unified Church of England and Scotland as the first step in creating a centralised, unionist state.[5] Although both churches shared much of the same doctrine, even Scottish bishops rejected manyChurch of England practices as little better than Catholic.[6]
By 1630, Catholicism was largely confined to the aristocracy and remote, Gaelic-speaking areas of theHighlands and Islands but opposition to it remained widespread in Scotland.[7] Many Scots fought in theThirty Years' War, one of the most destructive religious conflicts in European history, while there were close economic and cultural links with the ProtestantDutch Republic, thenfighting for independence from CatholicSpain. Lastly, the majority of kirk ministers had been educated in French Calvinist universities, most of which were suppressed in theHuguenot rebellions of the 1620s.[8]
These links, combined with a general perception that Protestant Europe was under attack, meant heightened sensitivity around religious practice. In 1636, Charles I replaced the existing ScottishBook of Discipline with a newBook of Canons, and excommunicated anyone who denied Royal supremacy in church matters.[9] When a revisedBook of Common Prayer was introduced in 1637, it caused anger and widespread rioting across Scotland, perhaps the most famous sparked whenJenny Geddes threw a stool at the minister inSt Giles Cathedral.[10] More recently, historians likeMark Kishlansky have argued she was part of a series of carefully planned and co-ordinated acts of protest, the origin being as much political as it was religious.[11]
Supervised byArchibald Johnston andAlexander Henderson, in February 1638 representatives from all sections of Scottish society agreed to aNational Covenant, pledging resistance to liturgical "innovations". Covenanters believed they were preserving a divinely ordained form of religion which Charles was seeking to alter, although debate as to what exactly that meant persisted until finally settled in 1690.[12] While the National Covenant said nothing about bishops, they were expelled from the kirk when theGeneral Assembly of the Church of Scotland met inGlasgow in December 1638.[13]
Support for the Covenant was widespread except inAberdeenshire andBanff, centre of Episcopalian resistance for the next 60 years.[14]The Marquess of Argyll and six other members of theScottish Privy Council had backed the Covenant;[15] Charles tried to impose his authority in the 1639 and 1640Bishop's Wars, with his defeat leaving the Covenanters in control of Scotland.[16] When theFirst English Civil War began in 1642, the Scots remained neutral at first but sent troops toUlster to support their co-religionists in theIrish Rebellion; the bitterness of this conflict radicalised views in Scotland and Ireland.[17]
Since Calvinists believed a "well-ordered" monarchy was part of God's plan, the Covenanters committed to "defend the king's person and authority with our goods, bodies, and lives". The idea of government without a king was inconceivable.[18] This view was generally shared by EnglishParliamentarians, who wanted to control Charles, not remove him, but both they and theirRoyalist opponents were further divided over religiousdoctrine. In Scotland, near unanimous agreement on doctrine meant differences centred on who held ultimate authority in clerical affairs. Royalists tended to be "traditionalist" in religion and politics but there were various factors, including nationalist allegiance to the Kirk. Individual motives were very complex, and many fought on both sides, includingMontrose, a Covenanter general in 1639 and 1640 who nearlyrestored Royalist rule in Scotland in 1645.[19]
The Covenanter faction led by Argyll saw religious union with England as the best way to preserve a Presbyterian Kirk and in October 1643, theSolemn League and Covenant agreed a Presbyterian Union in return for Scottish military support.[20] Royalists and moderates in both Scotland and England opposed this on nationalist grounds, while religiousIndependents likeOliver Cromwell claimed he would fight, rather than agree to it.[21]
The Covenanters and their English Presbyterian allies gradually came to see the Independents who dominated theNew Model Army as a bigger threat than the Royalists and when Charles surrendered in 1646, they began negotiations to restore him to the English throne. In December 1647, Charles agreed to imposePresbyterianism in England for three years and suppress the Independents but his refusal to take the Covenant himself split the Covenanters intoEngagers and Kirk Party fundamentalists orWhiggamores. Defeat in theSecond English Civil War resulted in the execution of Charles in January 1649 and the Kirk Party taking control of the General Assembly.[22]
In February 1649, the Scots proclaimedCharles II "King of Great Britain".[23] Under the terms of theTreaty of Breda, the Kirk Party agreed to restore him to the English throne and in return he accepted the Covenant. Defeats atDunbar andWorcester resulted with Scotland being incorporated into theCommonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1652.[24]
After defeat in 1651, the Covenanters split into two factions. Over two-thirds of the ministry supported the Resolution of December 1650 re-admitting Royalists and Engagers and were known as "Resolutioners". "Protestors" were largely former Kirk Party fundamentalists or Whiggamores who blamed defeat on compromise with "malignants". Differences between the two were both religious and political, including church government, religious toleration and the role of law in a godly society.[25]
Following the events of 1648–51, Cromwell decided the only way forward was to eliminate the power of the Scottish landed elite and the Kirk. The Terms of Incorporation published on 12 February 1652 made a new Council of Scotland responsible for regulating church affairs and allowed freedom of worship for all Protestant sects. Since Presbyterianism was no longer the state religion, kirk sessions and synods functioned as before but its edicts were not enforced by civil penalties.[26]
Covenanters were hostile to sects like theCongregationalists andQuakers because they advocated separation of church and state. Apart from a small number of Protestors known as Separatists, the vast majority refused to accept these changes, and Scotland was incorporated into the Commonwealth without further consultation on 21 April 1652.[27]
Contests for control of individual presbyteries made the split increasingly bitter and in July 1653 each faction held its own General Assembly in Edinburgh.Robert Lilburne, English military commander in Scotland, used the excuse of Resolutioner church services praying for the success ofGlencairn's rising to dissolve both sessions. The Assembly would not formally reconvene until 1690, the Resolutioner majority instead meeting in informal "Consultations" and Protestors holding field assemblies orconventicles outside Resolutioner-controlled kirk structures.[28]
Whenthe Protectorate was established in 1654,Lord Broghill, head of the Council of State for Scotland summarised his dilemma; "the Resolutioners love Charles Stuart and hate us, while the Protesters love neither him nor us."[29] Neither side was willing to co-operate with the Protectorate except inGlasgow, where Protestors led byPatrick Gillespie used the authorities in their contest with local Resolutioners.[30]
Since the Resolutioners controlled 750 of 900 parishes, Broghill recognised they could not be ignored; his policy was to isolate the "extreme" elements of both factions, hoping to create a new, moderate majority.[31] He therefore encouraged internal divisions within the Kirk, including appointing Gillespie Principal of theUniversity of Glasgow, against the wishes of theJames Guthrie andWarriston-led Protestor majority. The Protectorate authorities effectively became arbitrators between the factions, each of whom appointed representatives to argue their case in London; the repercussions affected the Kirk for decades to come.[32]
After theRestoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Scotland regained control of the Kirk, but theRescissory Act 1661 restored the legal position of 1633 and removing the Covenanter reforms of 1638–1639. The Privy Council of Scotland restored bishops on 6 September 1661.James Sharp, leader of the Resolutioners, becameArchbishop of St Andrews;Robert Leighton was consecratedBishop of Dunblane, and soon an entire bench of bishops had been appointed.[33]
In 1662, the Kirk was restored as the national church, independent sects banned, and all office-holders required to renounce the 1638 Covenant; about a third, or around 270 in total, refused to do so and lost their positions as a result.[33] Most occurred in the south-west of Scotland, an area particularly strong in its Covenanting sympathies; the practice of holding conventicles outside the formal structure continued, often attracting thousands of worshippers.[34]
The government alternated between persecution and toleration; in 1663, it declared dissenting ministers "seditious persons" and imposed heavy fines on those who failed to attend the parish churches of the "King's curates". In 1666, a group of men from Galloway captured the local military commander, marched on Edinburgh and were defeated at theBattle of Rullion Green. Around 50 prisoners were taken, while a number of others were arrested; 33 were executed and the resttransported to Barbados.[35]
The Rising led to the replacement of theDuke of Rothes as King's Commissioner byJohn Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale who followed a more conciliatory policy. Letters of Indulgence were issued in 1669, 1672 and 1679, allowing evicted ministers to return to their parishes, if they agreed to avoid politics. A number returned but over 150 refused the offer, while many Episcopalians were alienated by the compromise.[36]
The outcome was a return to persecution; preaching at a conventicle was made punishable by death, while attendance attracted severe sanctions. In 1674,heritors and masters were made responsible for the "good behaviour" of their tenants and servants; from 1677, this meant posting bonds for those living on their land. In 1678, 3,000 Lowland militia and 6,000 Highlanders, known as the "Highland Host", were billeted in the Covenanting shires, especially those in the South-West, as a form of punishment.[37]
The assassination of Archbishop Sharp by Covenanter radicals in May 1679 led to a revolt that ended at theBattle of Bothwell Bridge in June. Although battlefield casualties were relatively few, over 1,200 prisoners were sentenced to transportation, the chief prosecutor beingLord Advocate Rosehaugh.[38] Claims of undocumented, indiscriminate killing in the aftermath of the battle have also been made.[39]
Defeat split the movement into moderates and extremists, the latter headed byDonald Cargill andRichard Cameron who issued theSanquhar Declaration in June 1680. While Covenanters previously claimed to object only to state religious policy, this renounced any allegiance to either Charles, or his Catholic brotherJames. Adherents were known asCameronians, and although a relatively small minority, the deaths of Cameron, his brother and Cargill gained them considerable sympathy.[40]
The 1681 Scottish Succession and Test Acts made obedience to the monarch a legal obligation, "regardless of religion", but in return confirmed the primacy of the Kirk "as currently constituted". This excluded the Covenanters, who wanted to restore it to the structure prevailing in 1640.[41] A number of government figures, includingJames Dalrymple,chief legal officer, andArchibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, objected to inconsistencies in the Act and refused to swear.[c] Argyll was convicted of treason and sentenced to death, although he and Dalrymple escaped to theDutch Republic.[43]
The Cameronians were now organised more formally as the United Societies; estimates of their numbers vary from 6,000 to 7,000, mostly concentrated in Argyllshire.[44] Led byJames Renwick, in 1684 copies of anApologetical Declaration were posted in different locations, effectively declaring war on government officers. This led to the period known in Protestant historiography as "the Killing Time"; the Scottish Privy Council authorised the extrajudicial execution of any Covenanters caught in arms, policies carried out by troops underJohn Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee.[45] At the same time, Lord Rosehaugh adopted the French practice of same day trial and execution for militants who refused to swear oaths of loyalty to the king.[46]
Despite his Catholicism, James VII became king in April 1685 with widespread support, largely due to fears of civil war if he were bypassed, and opposition to re-opening past divisions within the Kirk.[47] These factors contributed to the rapid defeat ofArgyll's Rising in June 1685; in a bid to widen its appeal, his manifesto omitted any mention of the 1638 Covenant. Renwick and his followers refused to support it as a result.[48]
A major factor in the defeat of Argyll's Rising was the desire for stability within the Kirk. By issuing Letters of Indulgence to dissident Presbyterians in 1687, James now threatened to re-open this debate and undermine his own Episcopalian base. At the same time, he excluded the Society People, and created another Covenanter martyr with the execution of Renwick in February 1688.[49]
In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a crisis: the birth ofJames Francis Edward on 10 June created a Catholic heir, excluding James' Protestant daughterMary and her husbandWilliam of Orange. Prosecuting theSeven Bishops seemed to go beyond tolerance for Catholicism and into an assault on the Episcopalian establishment; their acquittal on 30 June destroyed James' political authority.[50]Representatives from the English political class invited William to assume the English throne; when he landed inBrixham on 5 November, James' army deserted him and he left for France on 23 December.[51]
TheScottish Convention elected in March to determine settlement of the Scottish throne was dominated by Covenanter sympathisers. On 4 April, it passed theClaim of Right and the "Articles of Grievances", which held James forfeited the Crown by his actions; on 11 May, William and Mary became co-monarchs of Scotland. Although William wanted to retain bishops, the role played by Covenanters during theJacobite rising of 1689, including the Cameronians' defence ofDunkeld in August, meant their views prevailed in the political settlement that followed. The General Assembly met in November 1690 for the first time since 1654; even before it convened, over 200 Episcopalian ministers had been removed from their livings.[52]
The Assembly once again eliminated episcopacy and created two commissions for the south and north of the Tay, which over the next 25 years removed almost two-thirds of all ministers.[53] To offset this, nearly one hundred clergy returned to the Kirk in the 1693 and 1695 Acts of Indulgence, while others were protected by the local gentry and retained their positions until death by natural causes.[54]
Following the 1690 settlement, a small minority of the United Societies followed Cameronian leaderRobert Hamilton in refusing to re-enter the Kirk.[55] They continued as an informal grouping until 1706, whenJohn M'Millan was appointed minister; in 1743, he andThomas Nairn set up theReformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland.[56] Although the church still exists, the vast majority of its members joined theFree Church of Scotland in 1876.[54]
Covenanter graves and memorials from the "Killing Time" became important in perpetuating a political message, initially by the small minority of the United Societies who remained outside the Kirk. In 1701, their Assembly undertook to recover or mark the graves of the dead; many were to be found in remote places, as the government of the time deliberately sought to avoid creating places of pilgrimage.[57]
Old Mortality, an 1816 novel bySir Walter Scott, features a character who spends his time travelling around Scotland, renewing inscriptions on Covenanter graves. In 1966, the Scottish Covenanter Memorial Association was established, which maintains these monuments throughout Scotland. One of the most famous is that erected atGreyfriars Kirkyard in 1707, commemorating 18,000 martyrs killed from 1661 to 1680.[58]
In 1721 and 1722,Robert Wodrow publishedThe History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution, detailing the persecution of the Covenanter movement from 1660 to 1690. This work would be brought forward again when elements in the Church of Scotland felt it to be suffering state interference, as at theDisruption of 1843.[59]
Throughout the 17th century, Covenanter congregations were established inIreland, primarily inUlster; for a variety of reasons, many subsequently migrated toNorth America. In 1717,William Tennent moved with his family toPhiladelphia, where he later foundedLog College, the first Presbyterian seminary in North America.[60]
In North America, many former Covenanters joined theReformed Presbyterian Church of North America, which was founded in 1743.[61]
The Covenanters. A Poetic Sketch byLetitia Elizabeth Landon in the Literary gazette, 1823.
