The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish

Covenanters Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son ...

and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians in 1643 during the First English Civil War, a theatre of conflict in the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union un ...

. On 17 August 1643, the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

(the Kirk) accepted it and on 25 September 1643 so did the English Parliament and the Westminster Assembly.

English Parliament (First Civil War)

At the time, the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

leaders of the English Parliament were in conflict with King Charles I. Fearing Irish Catholic troops could join the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

army, Parliament requested the aid of the Scots. The

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Covenanters promised their aid, on condition that the Scottish system of church government was adopted in England. This was acceptable to the majority of the English

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

, as many MPs were Presbyterians, while others preferred allying with the Scots rather than losing the Civil War. English Puritans Taking the Covenant

After some haggling a document called "'' The Solemn League and Covenant''" was drawn up. This was in effect a treaty between the English parliament and its Scottish counterpart for the preservation of the reformed religion in Scotland, the reformation of religion in England and Ireland "according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed churches", and the "extirpation of popery nd prelacy". It did not explicitly mention

Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

, and included some ambiguous formulations which left the door open to the English Independents, another strong faction on the English Parliamentary side, particularly in the parliamentary armies. It was subscribed to by many in England, Scotland, and Ireland, approved by the English

, and, with some slight modifications, by the Westminster Assembly of Divines. However, not all those on the English Parliamentarian side were happy with this arrangement and some, like

John Lilburne John Lilburne (c. 161429 August 1657), also known as Freeborn John, was an English political Leveller before, during and after the English Civil Wars 1642–1650. He coined the term "'' freeborn rights''", defining them as rights with which e ...

, chose to leave the parliamentary armies rather than take the oath prescribed in the Act enforcing the ''Solemn League and Covenant''. The agreement meant that the Covenanters sent another army south to England to fight on the Parliamentarian side in the First English Civil War. When the Scots army entered England by invitation of the English Parliament in January 1644 the Parliamentary Committee of Safety was replaced by an ad hoc committee representative of both kingdoms which, by parliamentary ordinance of 16 February, was formally constituted the Committee of Both Kingdoms. Its object was the management of peace overtures to, or making war on, King Charles I. The Scots withdrew from the committee after the end of the First Civil War, although it continued to sit and from then on was known as the Derby House Committee (as it sat in Derby House in London).

Engagement and Charles I (Second Civil War)

After the Royalists had lost the First Civil War, Charles I was able to enter into an " Engagement" with the majority of the Covenanters in which they agreed to support him in the

Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February and August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639–1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 164 ...

against their mutual enemy the English Independents, in return for Charles imposing Presbyterianism for three years on England. In 1648 the Royalists and the Covenanters were defeated at the Battle of Preston, and Charles was executed in January 1649.

Charles II (Third Civil War)

After the Kirk Party seized power from the unsuccessful and therefore discredited

Engagers The Engagers were a faction of the Scottish Covenanters, who made "The Engagement" with King Charles I in December 1647 while he was imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle by the English Parliamentarians after his defeat in the First Civil War. ...

, the new Scottish Covenanter government persuaded the exiled Charles II to agree to the terms of the ''Solemn League and Covenant'' in the Treaty of Breda (1650). However, the defeat of the Royalist and Scottish army at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 ended the relevance of the ''Solemn League and Covenant'' as the power of the Presbyterians was broken on both sides of the border.

Restoration and the Sedition Act

After the Restoration the English Parliament passed the Sedition Act 1661, which declared that the ''Solemn League and Covenant'' was unlawful, was to be abjured by all persons holding public offices, and was to be burnt by the common hangman.

Notes

References

External links

Dunbar Martyrs 1650
British Civil Wars website {{Scottish religion 1643 in England 1643 in Scotland First English Civil War Presbyterianism in Scotland Puritanism in England Treaties of England Treaties of Scotland 1643 treaties England–Scotland relations 17th-century documents Church of Scotland Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms