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COVENANTERS

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 340 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COVENANTERS , the name given to a party which, originating in the See also:

Reformation See also:movement, played an important See also:part in the See also:history of See also:Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of See also:England, during the 17th See also:century. The Covenanters were thus named because in a See also:series of bands or covenants they See also:bound themselves to maintain the Presbyterian See also:doctrine and polity as the See also:sole See also:religion of their See also:country. The first "godly See also:band" is dated See also:December 1557; but more important is the See also:covenant of 1581, See also:drawn up by See also:John See also:Craig in consequence of the strenuous efforts which the See also:Roman Catholics were making to regain their hold upon Scotland, and called the See also:King's See also:Confession or See also:National Covenant. Based upon the Confession of Faith of 156o, this document denounced the See also:pope and the doctrines of the Roman See also:Catholic See also:Church in no measured terms. It was adopted by the See also:General See also:Assembly, signed by King See also:James VI. and his See also:household, and enjoined on persons of all ranks and classes; and was again subscribed in 1590 and 1596. In 1637 Scotland was in a See also:state of turmoil. See also:Charles I. and See also:Archbishop See also:Laud had just met with a See also:reverse in their efforts to impose the See also:English See also:liturgy upon the Scots; and fearing further See also:measures on the part of the king, it occurred to See also:Archibald See also:Johnston, See also:Lord See also:Warriston, to revive the National Covenant of 1581. Additional See also:matter intended to suit the document to the See also:special circumstances of the See also:time was added, and the covenant was adopted and signed by a large gathering in Greyfriars' See also:churchyard, See also:Edinburgh, on the 28th of See also:February 1638, after which copies were sent throughout the country for additional signatures. The subscribers engaged by See also:oath to maintain religion in the state in which it existed in 158o, and to reject all innovations introduced since that time, while professed expressions of See also:loyalty to the king were added. The General Assembly of 1638 was composed of ardent Covenanters, and in 164o the covenant was adopted by the See also:parliament, and its subscription was required from all citizens. Before this date the Covenanters were usually referred to as Supplicants, but from about this time the former designation began to prevail. A further development took See also:place in 1643.

The leaders of the English parliament, worsted in the See also:

Civil See also:War, implored the aid of the Scots, which was promised on See also:condition that the Scottish See also:system of church See also:government was adopted in England. After some haggling a document called the See also:Solemn See also:League and Covenant was drawn up. This was practically a treaty between England and Scotland for the preservation of the reformed religion in Scotland, the reformation of religion in England and See also:Ireland " according to the word of See also:God and the example of the best reformed churches," and the extirpation of popery and prelacy. It was subscribed by many in both kingdoms and also in Ireland, and was approved by the English parliament, and with some slight modifications by the See also:Westminster Assembly of Divines. Charles I. refused to accept it when he surrendered himself to the Scots in 1646, but he made important concessions in this direction in the " Engagement " made with the Scots in December 1647. Charles II. before landing in Scotland in See also:June 165o declared by a solemn oath his approbation of both covenants, and this was renewed on the occasion of his See also:coronation at See also:Scone in the following See also:January. From 1638 to 1651 the Covenanters were the dominant party in Scotland, directing her policy both at See also:home and abroad. Their See also:power, however, which had been seriously weakened by See also:Cromwell's victory at See also:Dunbar in See also:September 1651, was practically destroyed when Charles II. was restored nine years later. Firmly seated upon the See also:throne Charles renounced the covenants, which in 1662 were declared unlawful oaths, and were to be abjured by all persons holding public offices. See also:Episcopacy was restored, the See also:court of high See also:commission was revived, and ministers who refused to recognize the authority of the bishops were expelled from their livings. Gathering around them many of the Covenanters who clung tenaciously to their See also:standards of faith, these ministers began to preach in the See also:fields, and a See also:period of persecution marked by See also:savage hatred and See also:great brutality began. Further oppressive measures were directed against the Covenanters, who took up arms about 1665, and the struggle soon assumed the proportions of a See also:rebellion.

The forces of the See also:

crown under John See also:Graham of Claverhouse and others were sent against them, and although the insurgents gained isolated successes, in general they were worsted and were treated with great barbarity. They maintained, however, their cherished covenants with a zeal which persecution only intensified; in 168o the more extreme members of the party signed a document known as the " See also:Sanquhar See also:Declaration," and were afterwards called See also:Cameronians from the name of their See also:leader, See also:Richard See also:Cameron (q.v.). They renounced their See also:allegiance to King Jamesand were greatly disappointed when their standards found no' place in the religious See also:settlement of 1689, continuing to hold the belief that the covenants should be made obligatory upon the entire nation. The Covenanters had a See also:martyrology of their own, and the See also:halo of See also:romance has been See also:cast around their exploits and their sufferings. Their See also:story, however, especially during the time of their See also:political predominance, is part of the general history of Scotland (q.v.). The texts of the National' Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant are printed in S. R. See also:Gardiner's Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution (See also:Oxford, 1899). See also J. H. See also:Burton, History of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1905) ; A. See also:Lang, History of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1900) ; S.

R. Gardiner, History of England (See also:

London, 1883—1884) ; G. See also:Grub,' Ecclesiastical History of Scotland (Edinburgh. 1861); J. See also:Macpherson, History of the Church in Scotland (See also:Paisley, 1901); and J. K. Hewison, The Covenanters (1908).

End of Article: COVENANTERS

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