Read Online A People's History of Scotland by Chris Bambery - Free Book Online
Authors: Chris Bambery
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In response to Charlesâs policies, the nobility, clergy, gentry and representatives of the burghs formed what was a counter-government, the Tables â effectively a parliament â which commissioned a National Covenant for the population to sign. This stated that if the king did not uphold the true faith, the people had the right to resist him.
In February 1638, the nobility gathered in Edinburghâs Greyfriars Kirk to sign the National Covenant against popery and laws that broke acts of God. They were in favour of church matters being decided by the General Assembly and pledging resistance to anyattempts to challenge the Kirk. Later that year a General Assembly meeting in Glasgow Cathedral did away with bishops and re-asserted itself as the dominant body in the Kirk, agreeing to meet annually. The signing of the Covenant could be regarded, as Victor Kiernan argues, as â⦠a stepping stone from old feudal and clan feeling towards a new national consciousnessâ. 13
It ensured that for the next three centuries a Scottish sense of identity was tied to Calvinism and excluded all others who did not share the faith. The reasons behind this growing conflict were economic as well as religious. The nobility wanted a Scotland that was relatively free of royal control. This was a time of inflation, which was reducing the value of rents and their income, so standing up to Charles might offer a way to improve their fortunes.
In 1639, the conflict boiled over into the short Bishopsâ War. The Scots commander Alexander Leslie introduced the latest military techniques, learned during the European conflict, in which large numbers of Scots mercenaries served. In contrast, Charles, desperately short of money, could rely only on raw recruits raised under the old feudal muster. Morale was poor, and after his troops reached Berwick on Tweed they made just one advance into Scotland, retreating hastily when Leslie approached.
Grasping military reality, Charles backed down and agreed to the convening of the first General Assembly in two decades. This voted to abolish bishops and, out of Presbyterian zeal and hatred of the kingâs placemen, to implement a radical Calvinist programme. Parliament then endorsed this, voted out the kingâs powers to decide when it met and created a Committee of Estates, made up of the four groups that constituted the Tables. It was a body blow to royal power.
In a desperate response, Charles declared all this void the following year, gathered another army and prepared to march north. The Covenanters, as his opponents were now called, were one jump ahead and marched south, taking Newcastle, cutting off Londonâs coal supplies. Charles had to sue for peace and pay money he barely had to the Scots.
This time Charles had to agree to the Scottish terms and pay compensation for the expense of the war. To raise this he had tore-convene Parliament in London, which had the power to raise taxes, but it refused to give him the money he wanted until he met its demands. The Scots had effectively reduced the king to a figurehead, giving effective control to the parliament in Edinburgh. That set an example to the parliament in London, leading to a clash that would result in civil war. 14
In 1642, Charles raised an army, intending to march on London, the centre of opposition to his rule. The Covenanters, whose main leader was the Duke of Argyll, stood aside until the autumn of 1643. Once the English Parliament had agreed to ratify the National Covenant and adopt Presbyterianism, the Scots sent their army south to fight Charlesâs Royalist army. At this point the bulk of the Scottish nobility must have thought they held all the aces because they had the most experienced army in this war of Three Kingdoms. They were about to get a rude shock. The Scottish army fought at the parliamentary victory of Marston Moor in 1644 and there saw for the first time Oliver Cromwellâs
In response to Charlesâs policies, the nobility, clergy, gentry and representatives of the burghs formed what was a counter-government, the Tables â effectively a parliament â which commissioned a National Covenant for the population to sign. This stated that if the king did not uphold the true faith, the people had the right to resist him.
In February 1638, the nobility gathered in Edinburghâs Greyfriars Kirk to sign the National Covenant against popery and laws that broke acts of God. They were in favour of church matters being decided by the General Assembly and pledging resistance to anyattempts to challenge the Kirk. Later that year a General Assembly meeting in Glasgow Cathedral did away with bishops and re-asserted itself as the dominant body in the Kirk, agreeing to meet annually. The signing of the Covenant could be regarded, as Victor Kiernan argues, as â⦠a stepping stone from old feudal and clan feeling towards a new national consciousnessâ. 13
It ensured that for the next three centuries a Scottish sense of identity was tied to Calvinism and excluded all others who did not share the faith. The reasons behind this growing conflict were economic as well as religious. The nobility wanted a Scotland that was relatively free of royal control. This was a time of inflation, which was reducing the value of rents and their income, so standing up to Charles might offer a way to improve their fortunes.
In 1639, the conflict boiled over into the short Bishopsâ War. The Scots commander Alexander Leslie introduced the latest military techniques, learned during the European conflict, in which large numbers of Scots mercenaries served. In contrast, Charles, desperately short of money, could rely only on raw recruits raised under the old feudal muster. Morale was poor, and after his troops reached Berwick on Tweed they made just one advance into Scotland, retreating hastily when Leslie approached.
Grasping military reality, Charles backed down and agreed to the convening of the first General Assembly in two decades. This voted to abolish bishops and, out of Presbyterian zeal and hatred of the kingâs placemen, to implement a radical Calvinist programme. Parliament then endorsed this, voted out the kingâs powers to decide when it met and created a Committee of Estates, made up of the four groups that constituted the Tables. It was a body blow to royal power.
In a desperate response, Charles declared all this void the following year, gathered another army and prepared to march north. The Covenanters, as his opponents were now called, were one jump ahead and marched south, taking Newcastle, cutting off Londonâs coal supplies. Charles had to sue for peace and pay money he barely had to the Scots.
This time Charles had to agree to the Scottish terms and pay compensation for the expense of the war. To raise this he had tore-convene Parliament in London, which had the power to raise taxes, but it refused to give him the money he wanted until he met its demands. The Scots had effectively reduced the king to a figurehead, giving effective control to the parliament in Edinburgh. That set an example to the parliament in London, leading to a clash that would result in civil war. 14
In 1642, Charles raised an army, intending to march on London, the centre of opposition to his rule. The Covenanters, whose main leader was the Duke of Argyll, stood aside until the autumn of 1643. Once the English Parliament had agreed to ratify the National Covenant and adopt Presbyterianism, the Scots sent their army south to fight Charlesâs Royalist army. At this point the bulk of the Scottish nobility must have thought they held all the aces because they had the most experienced army in this war of Three Kingdoms. They were about to get a rude shock. The Scottish army fought at the parliamentary victory of Marston Moor in 1644 and there saw for the first time Oliver Cromwellâs
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