page_title: Covenanters
hierarchical_section_title: Covenanters
caption_attribution_description: English: The site of the initial signing of the National Covenant in 1638 which presumed a direct relationship between Scottish presbyterianism and God. It implied the abolition of episcopacy and the authority of the King in church affairs in favour of an independent Church of Scotland. The attempt to limit monarchical power challenged the inherited, mediaeval political power structure based on rule by Divine Right, and in the long term profoundly shaped constitutional developments in Britain. The 19thC historian, Andrew Lang, wrote, "Scotland was once more in the happy posture of Israel of old, and enjoyed a definite legal instrument, binding on all posterity, and regulating the relations between itself and the Creator of the Universe. Nothing was absent but the signature of the other high contracting party". "Upon Wedensday, 28 Februar, that glorious mariage day of the Kingdome with God... The noblemen haiving apoynted the body of the gentrie to meit at tuo hours in the Grayfrear Kirk to hear bot copyes of it read and to aunsuear objections, (...) I resolved to read and did read the parchment itselth publikly, quhilk, after som feu doubts of som, was approvin; and, after ane divine prayer most fit for the tyme and present purpose maid be Mr. Al.[exander] Henderson, The Covenant was subscryved first by the noblemen and barons al that night til 8 that night. On Foorsday [Thursday] morning I had wryting in the night foor principal copyes in parchment; at nyn hours it was subscryved be al the ministerie; at tuo hours be the burroues [burghs]. On Frayday, in the College Kirk, after ane sensible exhortation (...) and ane pithie prayer forcing the [thee] to tears, thou read it publikly befor the people of Edr. [Edinburgh], quho presently fell to the subscryving of it al that day and the morrou." -- Diary of Sir Archibald Johnston of Wariston, 1637-39 [Note: After the restoration of Charles II, Johnston was executed at the mercat cross of Edinburgh in 1663]
context_page_description: Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name derived from Covenant, a biblical term for a bond or agreement with God.
  The origins of the movement lay in disputes with James VI & I, and his son Charles I of England over church structure and doctrine. In 1638, thousands of Scots signed the National Covenant, pledging to resist changes imposed by Charles on the kirk; following victory in the 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars, the Covenanters took control of Scotland.
  The 1643 Solemn League and Covenant brought them into the First English Civil War on the side of Parliament, but they supported Charles in the 1648 Second English Civil War. After his execution in 1649, the Covenanter government agreed to restore his son Charles II to the English throne; defeat in the 1651 Third English Civil War led to Scotland's incorporation into the Commonwealth of England.
context_section_description: Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name derived from Covenant, a biblical term for a bond or agreement with God. 
  The origins of the movement lay in disputes with James VI & I, and his son Charles I of England over church structure and doctrine. In 1638, thousands of Scots signed the National Covenant, pledging to resist changes imposed by Charles on the kirk; following victory in the 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars, the Covenanters took control of Scotland. 
  The 1643 Solemn League and Covenant brought them into the First English Civil War on the side of Parliament, but they supported Charles in the 1648 Second English Civil War. After his execution in 1649, the Covenanter government agreed to restore his son Charles II to the English throne; defeat in the 1651 Third English Civil War led to Scotland's incorporation into the Commonwealth of England. 
  After the 1660 Restoration, the Covenanters lost control of the kirk and became a persecuted minority, leading to several armed rebellions and a period from 1679 to 1688 known as "The Killing Time". Following the 1688 Glorious Revolution in Scotland, the 1690 Settlement re-established a wholly Presbyterian structure; this is generally taken as marking the end of the mainstream Covenanter movement, although dissident minorities persisted in Scotland, Ireland and North America.
caption: Greyfriars Kirkyard, where the National Covenant was signed in 1638
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