Restoration (Scotland)

The Restoration was the return of the monarchy to Scotland in 1660 after the period of the Commonwealth, and the subsequent three decades of Scottish history until the Revolution and Convention of Estates of 1689. It was part of a wider Restoration in the British Isles that included the return of the Stuart dynasty to the thrones of England and Ireland in the person of Charles II.

As military commander of the Commonwealth's largest armed force, George Monck, governor-general in Scotland, was instrumental in the restoration of Charles II, who was proclaimed king in Edinburgh on 14 May 1660. There was a general pardon for offences during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but four individuals were excepted and executed. Under the eventual political settlement Scotland regained its independent system of law, parliament and kirk, but also regained the Lords of the Articles and bishops, and it now had a king who did not visit the country and ruled largely without reference to Parliament through a series of commissioners. These began with the Earl of Middleton and ended with the King's brother and heir, James, Duke of York. The restoration of the Scottish Episcopacy led to a series of conflicts between Presbyterians and the Bishops of the Episcopalian establishment, culminating in the persecution of The Killing Time.

Charles died in 1685 and his brother the Duke of York succeeded him as James VII of Scotland and II of England. He survived attempted rebellions, but alienated much of the political nation by his Catholicism and policies. When William of Orange of the Netherlands, James' Protestant son-in-law, invaded England in 1688, James fled and William and his wife took over the throne as William II and Mary II. William called a Scottish Convention, which was dominated by the Presbyterians. It offered William and Mary the crown, and after the defeat of James' supporters the bishops were abolished and a Presbyterian system reinstated in the kirk.

The economic conditions of the period were generally favourable, although the restoration of Scottish independence reinstated the economic border with England and English tariffs. The restoration of the monarchy also saw the restoration of the nobility to political power, although they may have exercised their power with more caution. It also saw the rise of the lairds, who continued to gain new local political powers. There was an attempt to restore the theatre to Scotland, which had suffered from the lack of a court and the hostility of the kirk. The Restoration saw the introduction of a style of country house among the Scottish nobility that encouraged a move towards a more leisure-oriented architecture. As in England, sculpture was dominated by foreign professionals. Scotland produced notable artists and was also visited by many important continental artists. The period between 1679 and 1689 saw the foundation of many institutions that would be important in Scottish cultural and intellectual life.