Bishops' Wars
Encyclopedia
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
, and the rights and powers of the Crown. They constitute part of a larger political conflict across Scotland, England and Ireland
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
, and are often considered a prelude to the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
s. They were so named due to the central conflict between Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, who favoured an episcopalian
Episcopal polity
Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
system of church government for Scotland (with bishops), and the desire of much of the polity of Scotland for a presbyterian
Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply...
system of governance (without bishops).
Origins
James VI of ScotlandJames I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
had reintroduced episcopacy to the Church of Scotland in 1584. After acceding to the English throne, he increased the numbers of bishops. His son, Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
continually tried to foster uniformity between the established churches of his realms following the Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
model. His regulation of liturgy in Scotland through the imposition of a Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
in 1637 sparked rioting and led to a formalised opposition in the National Covenant. His attempts to control the situation from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
were unsuccessful, and by July 1638 he decided in his English Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
that force would have to be used. To gain time he agreed to a General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body[1] An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland, A Gordon McGillivray, 2nd Edition .-Church courts:As a Presbyterian church,...
which met at Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
in November 1638, but the Assembly firmly decided that bishops were to be deposed and the prayer book abolished. Support for the Covenant grew under the leadership of James Graham, 1st 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...
and Archibald Campbell, 8th Earl of Argyll, while soldiers serving abroad returned to Scotland, including General Alexander Leslie.
First Bishops' War (1639)
Despite problems in raising funds, Charles gathered a poorly trained English force of around 20,000 men in the early summer of 1639 and marched to the vicinity of Berwick-upon-TweedBerwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
on the English side of the border. The Scottish army, of some 12,000 men, led by Leslie, were encamped a few miles away on the other side of the border near Duns
Duns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
. Meanwhile a series of minor engagements between Covenanters and Scottish royalist forces took place in Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
. The first was a confrontation at the small town of Turriff
Turriff
Turriff is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It is approximately above sea level, and has a population of 5,708.Turriff is known locally as Turra in the Doric dialect of Scots...
called the "Raid of Turriff" at which no blood was shed. The next was the siege of Towie Barclay Castle
Towie Barclay Castle
Towie Barclay Castle is a historic castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 4.5 miles south-south-east of Turriff. The current structure was built in 1593 by Clan Barclay. The site was gifted to the Clan in the 11th century by Malcolm III of Scotland...
, in which one person was shot - the very first casualty of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. This was followed by two minor engagements known as the "Trot of Turriff" and the battle of the Brig o' Dee
Bridge of Dee
The Bridge of Dee or Brig o' Dee is a road bridge over the River Dee in Aberdeen, Scotland. The term is also used for the surrounding area of the city. Dating from 1527, the bridge crosses at what was once the City of Aberdeen's southern boundary...
to the south of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. However, as neither of the main armies wanted to fight, a settlement called the Pacification of Berwick was reached in June under which the king agreed that all disputed questions should be referred to another General Assembly or to the Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...
.
Interlude
The new General Assembly then re-enacted all the measures passed by the Glasgow Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament went further, abolishing EpiscopacyEpiscopal polity
Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
and declaring itself free from Royal control.
Charles, believing that the Scots were intriguing with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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
Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....
convened but first demanded redress of grievances, the abandonment of the royal claim to levy ship money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
, and a complete change in the ecclesiastical system. Charles considered these terms unacceptable and dissolved parliament.
Second Bishops' War (1640)
Thomas WentworthThomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...
, now earl of Strafford, became the leading adviser of 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
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
, and Charles’ army retreated before them. In a short time, the invaders overran the whole of Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
and County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
(see Battle of Newburn
Battle of Newburn
The Battle of Newburn was fought on 28 August 1640 during the Second Bishops' War between a Scottish Covenanter army led by General Alexander Leslie and English royalist forces commanded by Edward, Lord Conway. Conway, heavily outnumbered, was defeated, and the Scots went on to occupy the town of...
.) 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
Treaty of Ripon
The Treaty of Ripon was an agreement signed by Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Scottish Covenanters on 26 October 1640, in the aftermath of the Second Bishops' War...
in October 1640. The impoverished King had to summon another parliament to grant him the supplies which he needed to make that payment, and a resurgent Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
attacked his Government, impeaching (and eventually executing) his chief supporters, Strafford and Laud.
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.
See also
- English Civil War timelineEnglish Civil War timelineThis is a timeline of events leading up to, culminating in, and resulting from the English Civil Wars.-Events prior to the English Civil War:*1625 - Charles I of England accedes to the English throne, and shortly after marries a French, Bourbon, Roman Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria*1626 -...
- Wars of the Three KingdomsWars of the Three KingdomsThe Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
- Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
- Bishops in the Church of ScotlandBishops in the Church of ScotlandThere have not been bishops in the Church of Scotland since the 17th century, although there have occasionally been attempts to reintroduce episcopalianism....
Primary
- Baillie, Robert, Letters and Journals, 1841.
- Calender of State Papers Domestic of the Reign of King Charles I, 1858–97.
- The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, variously edited, 1899–1933.
- Rothes, John Leslie, earl of, A Relation of the Proceedings of the Affairs of the Kirk of Scotland, from August 1637 to July 1638, 1830.
- Rothiemay, James Gordon of, History of Scots Affirs from 1637 to 1641, 1841.
- Warriston, Archibald Johnston of, Diaries, variously edited, 1911–1940.
Secondary
- Donald, P., An Uncounselled King. Charles I and the Scottish Troubles, 1637–1641, 1990.
- Fissel, M. C., The Bishops’ Wars. Charles I’s Campaigns against Scotland, 1638–1640, 1994.
- Lee, M., The Road to Revolution. Scotland under Charles I, 1985.
- McCoy, F. N., Robert Baillie and the Second Scots Reformation, 1974.
- MacInnes, A. I., Charles I and the Making of the Covenanting Movement, 1991.
- Russel, C, The Fall of the British Monarchies, 1637–1642, 1991.
- Stevenson, D., The Scottish Revolution, 1637–1644, 1973
External links
- An interactive map and timeline of the events leading to the First Bishops' War, the events of the war, and the three main actions of the war: Turriff, Megray Hill, and the Bridge of Dee.