page_title: Bishops' Wars
section_title: Interlude
hierarchical_section_title: Bishops' Wars / Interlude
caption_attribution_description: Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, after Sir Anthony Van Dyck (died 1641). See source website for additional information. This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG.
context_page_description: The 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars were the first of the conflicts known collectively as the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place in Scotland, England and Ireland. Others include the Irish Confederate Wars, the First, Second and Third English Civil Wars, and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
  Their origin stemmed from disputes over governance of the Church of Scotland, popularly known as the kirk, dating back to the 1580s. Royalists generally supported rule by bishops, while most Scots supported a Presbyterian kirk ruled by presbyters. In the 17th century, debates over religious practice and structure were closely linked to different views of power and control; as a result, the conflict led to major changes to the Scottish political system, as well as the kirk.
  Matters came to a head in 1637, when Charles I attempted to impose uniform practices on the kirk and the Church of England, changes opposed by the presbyters and English Puritans. The 1638 National Covenant pledged to oppose such "innovations", and, in December, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted to expel bishops from the kirk.
context_section_description: The kirk's General Assembly met again in August 1639 and confirmed the decisions taken at Glasgow, which were then ratified by the Scottish Parliament. When Charles' representative, Lord Traquair, tried to suspend it, his action was declared illegal and Parliament continued to sit. A series of acts were passed which amounted to a constitutional revolution, including Tri-annual Parliaments, and making the Covenant compulsory for all holders of public office.
  His advisors convinced Charles the only way to finance a second war was to recall the English Parliament, and in December 1639, he issued writs for the first time since 1629. Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, his most capable advisor and Lord Deputy of Ireland also asked the Parliament of Ireland for funds; in March, they approved an army of 9,000 to suppress the Covenanters, despite violent opposition from their co-religionists in Ulster. This is an example of how the Bishops Wars destabilised all three kingdoms.      
  Charles hoped this would provide an example for the Short Parliament, which assembled in April; however, led by John Pym, Parliament demanded he address grievances like ship money before they would approve subsidies. After three weeks of stalemate. Charles dissolved Parliament; he would have to rely on his own resources to fund the war. Meanwhile, in January 1640 the Covenanter leaders mustered their regiments, and to secure their rear, occupied Aberdeen, centre of the Royalist north-east.
caption: Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, and organiser of the King's forces for the Second War
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