Covenanters[a] were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, informally referred to as the Kirk, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son Charles I over church organisation and doctrine, but expanded into political conflict over the limits of Royal authority.
In 1638, thousands of Scots signed the National Covenant, pledging to resist changes imposed by Charles on the Kirk. The subsequent 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars resulted in the Covenanters taking control of the Scottish government. In response to the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Covenanter troops were sent to Ireland, and the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant brought them into the First English Civil War on the side of Parliament against the Royalists.
As the Wars of the Three Kingdoms progressed, many Covenanters came to view English religious Independents like Oliver Cromwell as a greater threat than the Royalists, particularly their opposition to state religion. As a result, a Covenanter faction known as Engagers allied with Scots and English Royalists during the 1648 Second English Civil War. A Scottish army invaded England, but were defeated, while Charles was executed in January 1649. The Kirk Party now gained political power, and in 1650, agreed to provide his son Charles II with Scottish military support to regain the English throne, then crowned him King of Scots in 1651. Defeat in the Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652) led to Scotland being absorbed into the Commonwealth of England. The Kirk lost its position as the state church, and the rulings of its assemblies were no longer enforced by law.
Following the 1660 Stuart Restoration, the Parliament of Scotland passed laws reversing reforms enacted since 1639. Bishops were restored to the Kirk, while ministers and other officeholders were obliged to take the Oath of Abjuration rejecting the 1638 Covenant. As a result, many Covenanters opposed the new regime, leading to a series of plots and armed rebellions. After the 1688 Glorious Revolution in Scotland, the Church of Scotland was re-established as a wholly Presbyterian structure and most Covenanters readmitted. Dissident minorities persisted in Scotland, Ireland, and North America, which continue today as the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance.
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