The Act of Classes was passed the Scottish Parliament in 23 January 1649. It was probably drafted by Lord Warriston

Archibald Johnston, Lord Warriston

Archibald Johnston, Lord Warriston was a Scottish judge and statesman.He assisted Alexander Henderson in framing the Scots National Covenant in 1638. Appointed a Procurator of the Kirk in the same year. In 1639 he assisted in negotiating pacification of Berwick, and the treaty of Ripon in 1640. He...

 a leading member of the Kirk Party

Kirk Party

The Kirk Party were a radical Presbyterian faction of the Scottish Covenanters during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They came to the fore after the defeat of the Engagers faction in 1648 at the hands of Oliver Cromwell and the English Parliament...

, who along with the Marquess of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...

 were leading proponents of its clauses.

Royalists banned from holding public office

The act banned Royalists from holding public office. Its broad wording not only banned those who had fought with or supported Royalists such as Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed...

, it also banned those who had supported the Engagement

The Engagement

The Engagement may refer to:* The Engagement , an agreement in 1647 between King Charles I and a faction of the Scottish Covenanters, known as the Engagers* The Engagement * The Engagement...

 (now discredited and political weakened after the Engager's army's defeat at the Battle of Preston (1648)

Battle of Preston (1648)

The Battle of Preston , fought largely at Walton-le-Dale near Preston in Lancashire, resulted in a victory by the troops of Oliver Cromwell over the Royalists and Scots commanded by the Duke of Hamilton...

), those who had not vehemently protested against the Engagement and those not of upright character.

Rescinding

The rescinding of this act in 1651 led to a serious breach in the ranks of the Scottish clergy. The Resolutioners, or supporters of the resolution to rescind that act, were opposed by the Protesters, the rigid adherents to the strictest interpretation of the Covenant. The period of the Commonwealth was filled with the strife between these two parties, its bitterness not lessened by the fact that the assembly, dissolved in 1653 by Cromwell's

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 soldiers, was not allowed to meet again in his protectorate

The Protectorate

In British history, the Protectorate was the period 1653–1659 during which the Commonwealth of England was governed by a Lord Protector.-Background:...

.

See also

• Third Civil War in Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
• English invasion of Scotland in Third English Civil War
  Third English Civil War
  The Third English Civil War was the last of the English Civil Wars , a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists....