Bishops' Wars

For the religious conflict in the Holy Roman Empire in 1592–1604, see Strasbourg Bishops' War.

Bishops' Wars
Part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Signing of the National Covenant in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh
Date 1639–1640 Location Scotland, England Result Scottish Covenanter victory
Belligerents
Scottish Royalists England	Scottish Covenanters
Commanders and leaders
Charles I Marquis of Hamilton Viscount Aboyne Marquess of Huntly Lord Banff Lord Conway The Earl of Strafford	Marquess of Montrose The Earl of Argyll Alexander Leslie
Strength
c. 15,000+	c. 20,000+
Casualties and losses
c. 300	c. 200

The 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars form part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, so-called because they also took place in England and Ireland. These include the Irish Confederate Wars, the First, Second and Third English Civil Wars, and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

They originated in arguments over control and governance of the Church of Scotland, or 'kirk', dating back to the 1580s. Matters came to a head in 1637, when Charles I attempted to impose uniform practices between the kirk and the Church of England; the changes were also opposed by English Puritans.

While Charles favoured rule by bishops, the majority of Scots advocated a Presbyterian system, governed by Elders. The 1638 National Covenant pledged to oppose such 'innovations', and the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted to expel bishops from the kirk.

The Covenanters defeated attempts to impose these reforms in 1639 and 1640, leaving them in control of Scotland. Charles was also forced to recall the English Parliament in order to fund an indemnity payment to the Scots, setting in train the events that led to the First English Civil War in 1642.

Background

Riots over the Prayer Book, set off by Jenny Geddes

The Protestant Reformation created a Church of Scotland, or 'kirk', Presbyterian in structure, and Calvinist in doctrine. While 'Presbyterian' and 'Episcopalian' now implies differences in both governance and doctrine, this was not the case in the 17th and 18th centuries. Episcopalian structures were governed by bishops, usually appointed by the monarch, while Presbyterian implied rule by Elders, nominated by their congregations. Arguments over the role of bishops were as much about politics and the power of the monarch as religious practice.

The vast majority of Scots, whether Covenanter or Royalist, believed a 'well-ordered' monarchy was divinely mandated; they disagreed on what 'well-ordered' meant, and who held ultimate authority in clerical affairs. Royalists generally emphasised the role of the monarch more than Covenanters, but there were many factors, including nationalist allegiance to the kirk, and individual motives were very complex. Montrose fought for the Covenant in 1639 and 1640, then became a Royalist, and switching sides was common throughout the period.

When James VI and I succeeded as king of England in 1603, he viewed a unified Church of Scotland and England as the first step in creating a centralised, Unionist state. However, the two churches were very different in doctrine; even Scottish bishops violently opposed many Church of England practices. While Catholicism itself was confined to parts of the aristocracy and Gaelic-speaking areas in the remote Highlands and Islands, fear of 'Popery' remained widespread.{sfn|Fissel|1994|pp=269, 278}}

Covenanter political leader, the Marquess of Argyll

Many Scots studied at French Huguenot universities, such as Montauban; by the 1620s, the reconciliation between French Catholics and Protestants that had ended the 1562-1598 French Wars of Religion seemed increasingly threatened and led to a series of Huguenot rebellions. Scots also fought in or were affected by the Thirty Years' War, a religious conflict that caused an estimated 8 million deaths and remains one of the most destructive conflicts in human history.

Concern the kirk was under threat seemed justified when a new Book of Canons in 1636 replaced John Knox's Book of Discipline and excommunicated anyone who denied the King's supremacy in church matters. When this was followed in 1637 by a new Book of Common Prayer, the result was anger and widespread rioting, said to have been set off with the throwing of a stool by Jenny Geddes during a service in St Giles Cathedral.

In February 1638, representatives from all sections of Scottish society agreed a National Covenant, pledging resistance to liturgical 'innovations.' Support for the Covenant was widespread except in Aberdeen and Banff, heartland of Royalist and Episcopalian resistance for the next 60 years. The Marquess of Argyll and six other members of the Scottish Privy Council backed the Covenant; in December, the General Assembly expelled bishops from the kirk, putting it on a full Presbyterian basis.

1639; First Bishops' War

Marquess of Hamilton

Charles resorted to military force to assert his authority but refused to obtain funding by recalling Parliament, instead relying on his own resources. The plan consisted of three parts; an English army of 20,000 would advance on Edinburgh from the south, while an amphibious force of 5,000 under the Marquis of Hamilton landed in Aberdeen and linked up with Royalist troops led by the Marquess of Huntly. Lastly, an Irish army under Randal MacDonnell, Earl of Antrim would invade western Scotland and join forces with the MacDonalds and other Royalist clans.

Preparations were hampered by a lack both of funds and of enthusiasm for the war in England, where many were sympathetic to the Covenanter cause. The Irish element never materialised and Huntly's men withdrew when confronted outside Turriff by a Covenanter force under Montrose, who occupied Aberdeen in March, leaving Hamilton nowhere to land. In April, George Ogilvy, Lord Banff assumed command of Royalist forces in Aberdeenshire and temporarily re-occupied Aberdeen after two minor engagements, one at Towie Barclay Castle, where David Prat became the first casualty of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Trot of Turriff.'

Alexander Leslie; Covenanter military commander

The English army mustered at the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed totalled some 15,000 men but the vast majority were untrained conscripts from the Northern trained bands or militia, many armed only with bows and arrows. A Scottish army of 16,500 men under the experienced veteran Alexander Leslie, camped a few miles away on the other side of the border near Duns. Many on both sides had fought in the European wars but the Scots ensured that a much higher percentage of their officers were veterans, providing a significant advantage over the English.

Charles joined his troops at Berwick on 30 May and issued a proclamation announcing he would not invade Scotland, providing the Covenanter army remained ten miles north of the border. Leslie advanced to Kelso, within the 10 mile limit, but neither side wanted to fight and English morale was low; on 11 June, negotiations began that ended in the Pacification of Berwick on 19 June. Under this, Charles agreed all disputed questions should be referred to another General Assembly or to the Parliament of Scotland.

The only significant engagement of the war took place on 18 June, at the Battle of the Brig of Dee south of Aberdeen, between Royalist forces under Viscount Aboyne and Montrose, resulting in a Covenanter victory.

Interlude

The new General Assembly then re-enacted all the measures passed by the Glasgow Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament went further, abolishing Episcopacy and declaring itself free from Royal control.

Charles, believing that the Scots were intriguing with France and that under these circumstances, the English would be more ready to rally to his standard, once more called an English parliament – after having ruled alone in England for eleven years. In April 1640, the so-called Short Parliament convened but first demanded redress of grievances, the abandonment of the royal claim to levy ship money, and a complete change in the ecclesiastical system. Charles considered these terms unacceptable and dissolved parliament.

Second Bishops' War (1640)

Montrose; Covenanter in 1639/1640, Royalist in 1644-1645

Thomas Wentworth, now the Earl of Strafford, became a leading adviser to the King. He threw himself into Charles’s plans with great energy and left no stone unturned to furnish the new military expedition with supplies and money.

The Scots under Leslie and Montrose crossed the River Tweed, and Charles’ army retreated before them. In a short time, the invaders overran the whole of Northumberland and County Durham (see Battle of Newburn). Charles had to leave the two counties in Scots hands as a pledge for the payment of Scots expenses when he agreed to peace and signed the Treaty of Ripon in October 1640. The impoverished King had to summon another parliament to grant him the supplies which he needed to make that payment; this Long Parliament attacked his Government, impeaching (and eventually executing) his chief supporters, Strafford and Laud. In August 1641, Charles concluded the Treaty of London between England and Scotland, not at all to his favour. That Parliament sat until purged in 1648.

In the hopes of winning Scottish support, Charles went to Scotland in the autumn of 1641 where he gave titles to Leslie and Argyll, and accepted all the decisions of the General Assembly of 1638 and of the Scottish Parliament of 1641, including confirming the right of the Parliament to challenge the actions of his ministers. He had now withdrawn all the causes of the original dispute, but within a year his disputes with the English Parliament would lead to civil war.

Aftermath

The humiliating circumstances of Charles’ defeat in the Bishops' Wars and the diminishment of Royal authority resulted in the 1641 Irish Rebellion, while his refusal to accept Parliament's demands for reform led to the 1642–1646 First English Civil War. Scotland initially stayed neutral but became involved in supporting first their co-religionists in Ireland, then the English Presbyterian faction in Parliament. The Covenanters themselves split into factions; their attempts to restore first Charles, then his son Charles II on the throne of England resulted in the 1648–1649 Second English Civil War and the 1651–1652 Third English Civil War or Anglo-Scottish War.

Sources

• Fissel, Mark (1994). The Bishops' Wars: Charles I's Campaigns against Scotland, 1638-1640. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521466865.
• Gericke, Bradley T (2001). Civil Wars in Britain; 1640-1646 (PDF) (PhD). U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
• Harris, Tim (2015). Rebellion: Britain's First Stuart Kings, 1567-1642. OUP. ISBN 978-0199209002. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mackie, JD; Lenman, Bruce; Parker, Geoffrey (1986). A History of Scotland. Hippocrene Books. ISBN 978-0880290401. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Main, David. "The Origins of the Scottish Episcopal Church". St Ninians Castle Douglas. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
• McDonald, Alan (1998). The Jacobean Kirk, 1567–1625: Sovereignty, Polity and Liturgy. Routledge. ISBN 185928373X.
• Melville, James (1842). Pitcairn, Robert (ed.). The Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melvill, with a Continuation of the Diary (2015 ed.). Arkose Press. ISBN 1343621844.
• Mitchison, Rosalind (2002). A History of Scotland. Routledge. ISBN 0415278805.
• Plant, David. "Scottish National Covenant". BCW Project. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
• Royle, Trevor (2004). Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638–1660 (2006 ed.). Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11564-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Stephen, Jeffrey (2010). "Scottish Nationalism and Stuart Unionism". Journal of British Studies. 49 (1, Scottish Special).
• Stevenson, David (1973). Scottish Revolution, 1637-44: Triumph of the Covenanters (2003 ed.). David & Charles. ISBN 0715363026.
• Wilson, Peter (2009). The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy (2012 ed.). Belknap Press. ISBN 0674062310.
• Pearce, Dominic (2015). Henrietta Maria. Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-4555-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Royle, Trevor (2005). Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, 1638-1660. Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11564-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

• Baillie, Robert, Letters and Journals, 1841.
• Bruce, John, ed. (1858). Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles I : 1625–1626. Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts. p. 1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, variously edited, 1899–1933.
• Leslie, John (1830). A Relation of Proceedings Concerning the Affairs of the Kirk of Scotland: From August 1637 to July 1638. Ballantyne. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Gordon, James (1841). History of Scots Affairs, from 1637 to 1641. Spalding Club. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Archibald Johnston, Diaries, variously edited, 1911–1940.

Secondary

• Donald, Peter (2004). An Uncounselled King: Charles I and the Scottish Troubles, 1637–1641. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52007-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fissel, Mark Charles (1994). The Bishops' Wars: Charles I's Campaigns Against Scotland, 1638–1640. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-46686-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lee, Maurice (1985). The road to revolution: Scotland under Charles I, 1625–37. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-01136-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• McCoy, Florence N. (1972). Robert Baillie and the Second Scots Reformation. University of Oregon. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Macinnes, Allan I. (2003). Charles I and the Making of the Covenanting Movement, 1625–1641. Donald. ISBN 978-1-904607-03-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Russell, Conrad (1995). The Fall of the British Monarchies 1637–1642. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820588-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Stevenson, David (1973). The Scottish revolution, 1637–1644: the triumph of the Covenanters. David & Charles. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• An interactive map and timeline of the events leading to the First Bishops' War at the Wayback Machine (archived September 6, 2010) and the three main actions of the war: Turriff at the Wayback Machine (archived August 30, 2009), Megray Hill at the Wayback Machine (archived August 30, 2009), and the Bridge of Dee at the Wayback Machine (archived August 30, 2009).