The Bishops' Wars were two wars fought in 1639 and 1640 between Charles I and his Covenanter opponents in Scotland. They were the first of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which also include the First and Second English Civil Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, and the 1650 to 1652 Anglo-Scottish War.
In 1637, Charles I, then king of Scotland and England, imposed changes in religious practice on the Church of Scotland. These were resented by many Scots, leading to the signing of a National Covenant in 1638, pledging to prevent their implementation. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland then expelled bishops, turning a religious dispute into a struggle for political supremacy. The new Covenanter government raised an army to prevent Charles using force to restore his authority.
The First Bishops' War began in early 1639, when there was minor skirmishing between Covenanters and Royalists in north-east Scotland. In June, English and Scottish armies assembled near Berwick-upon-Tweed, but withdrew without fighting, after signing the Treaty of Berwick (1639). The terms included calling a new General Assembly and Parliament of Scotland, which Charles hoped would reverse their earlier decisions. Their confirmation instead led to the Second Bishops' War in 1640.
The Scots invaded and occupied parts of northern England, after winning the Battle of Newburn. Under the interim Treaty of Ripon, the occupation continued pending a final settlement, during which Charles agreed to pay their expenses. This required him to recall the Parliament of England to raise money and ratify the treaty, which was completed in August 1641. This ended the Bishops' Wars, but political differences between Charles and the new English Parliament led to the First English Civil War in August 1642.
Background
The Reformation in Scotland created a Church of Scotland, informally referred to as the Kirk, that was Presbyterian in structure, and Calvinist in doctrine. While Presbyterian and Episcopalian now imply differences in both structure and doctrine, this was not the case in the 17th century. Despite shared Protestant beliefs, Episcopalian churches were governed by bishops, usually appointed by the monarch, Presbyterian by presbyters, elected by ministers and elders. This meant arguments over the role of bishops were as much about politics, and the extent of royal authority, as they were about religious practice.
The vast majority of Scots, whether Covenanter or Royalist, believed a "well-ordered" monarchy was divinely mandated; they disagreed on what "well-ordered" meant, and who held ultimate authority in clerical affairs. In general, Royalists viewed the monarch as head of both church and state, while Covenanters held this applied only to secular matters, and "Chryst Jesus ... was King of the Kirk". However, there were many other factors, including nationalist allegiance to the Kirk, and individual motives were very complex; Montrose was a Covenanter in 1639 and 1640 before becoming a Royalist, and switching sides was common throughout the period.
When James VI and I succeeded as king of England in 1603, he viewed a unified Church of Scotland and England as the first step in creating a centralised, Unionist state. This policy was adopted by his son, Charles I, but the two were very different in doctrine; many in both Scotland and England considered Charles' reforms to the Church of England as essentially Catholic.
This mattered because fears of a Catholic revival remained widespread, even though by the 1630s Catholicism was practised only by some of the aristocracy, and in the remote Highlands. Scots volunteers and mercenaries fought on the Protestant side in the Thirty Years' War, while Scotland had close economic and cultural links with the Dutch Republic, then fighting for independence from Catholic Spain. In addition, many Scots had been educated in French Huguenot universities, the majority of which had been suppressed by Louis XIII in the 1620s.
A general perception that Protestant Europe was under attack meant increased sensitivity to changes in church practice. In 1636, a new Book of Canons replaced John Knox's Book of Discipline and excommunicated anyone who denied the King's supremacy in church matters. When followed in 1637 by William Laud's Scottish Book of Common Prayer, the result was anger and widespread rioting, said to have been set off with the throwing of a stool by Jenny Geddes during a service in St. Giles Cathedral. Historians like Mark Kishlansky now argue her action was not spontaneous, but one in a series of planned and co-ordinated opposition to the Prayer book, the origin of which was as much political as religious. These culminated in February 1638, when delegates from across Scotland agreed a National Covenant, pledging resistance to liturgical "innovations".
The Marquess of Argyll and six other members of the Scottish Privy Council backed the Covenant. Charles agreed to defer discussion of the new canons to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, but at the same time told his supporters that he had no intention of making concessions. As a consequence, when the Assembly gathered in Glasgow in December it rejected the changes, expelled bishops from the Kirk, and affirmed its right to meet annually, not just when granted permission. The Marquis of Hamilton, Charles' chief advisor on Scottish affairs, now advised him there was no alternative to war.
First Bishops' War
Charles decided to re-assert his authority by force, using his own financial resources and thus avoiding the need to recall Parliament to obtain tax funding. An English army of 20,000 would advance on Edinburgh from the south, while an amphibious force of 5,000 under the Marquis of Hamilton landed on the east coast, where it would link up with Royalist troops led by the Marquess of Huntly. Lastly, an Irish army under the Earl of Antrim would invade western Scotland from Carrickfergus, where he would join forces with the MacDonalds and other Royalist clans.
This overly complex plan quickly fell apart. On 21 March 1639, the Covenanters occupied Edinburgh Castle, then secured likely landing places on the West Coast, notably Dumbarton Castle. This ended any prospect of an Irish landing, while Hamilton's amphibious force was unable to disembark after finding the Forth estuary strongly defended.
Despite widespread domestic support for the Covenant, this was less so in north-east Scotland, particularly in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. Recognising this, the Covenanter government ordered a force of 8,000 under Montrose to occupy Aberdeen, which fell bloodlessly on 30 March. On 13 May, the Royalists won a minor victory at the so-called Trot of Turriff, where a Royalist soldier became the first casualty of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Royalists under Viscount Aboyne retook Aberdeen, but were then defeated on 19 June at the Brig of Dee by Montrose. This was the only significant engagement of the First Bishops' War.
The First Bishops' War was unpopular in England, where it was labelled "King Charles's northern follies" by many within the English media and political class. Since only Parliament could approve taxes, Charles tried to fund the war using forced loans, coat and conduct money, impressments, and requiring the civilian population to provide accommodation for his troops. This resulted in widespread anti-war sentiment among those from whom his army was recruited, with several instances of men attacking their own officers. Internal conflict was enhanced by Covenanter propaganda, and meant many English politicians opposed the war.
In May, an English army of around 15,000 assembled at the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The vast majority were untrained conscripts from the northern trained bands or militia, many armed only with bows and arrows. Charles tried to compensate by recruiting foreign mercenaries from the Spanish Netherlands, exposing him to accusations of using foreign Catholics against his own subjects. Though both sides included large numbers of professional soldiers who had served in the European wars, many of the senior English commands went to Charles' favourites, who were largely inexperienced. This was exacerbated by factional disputes within the leadership, some of whom like the Presbyterian Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, appeared unclear as to what they were fighting for.
The English faced a Scottish force of 16,500 led by the veteran Alexander Leslie, who had served with the Swedes in the Thirty Years' War. On 14 May, Charles announced the Scottish army would be destroyed if it moved to within ten miles of the border. On 3 June, a small force of cavalry was sent to investigate reports Scottish troops had reached Kelso, well within the limit. Encountering Scottish units, the English feared they were outnumbered, and retreated back across the border without a shot being fired. Their retreat further lowered English morale, while the Scots now felt confident enough to ignore the 10 mile limit, and on 5 June advanced as far as Duns.
Neither side was anxious to fight and opened negotiations on 11 June, concluding with the signing of the Pacification of Berwick on 19 June. This referred all disputed questions either to the General Assembly, or Parliament of Scotland. However, both sides viewed this as a temporary truce, and continued preparations for another military confrontation.
Interlude
The General Assembly met again in August 1639 and confirmed the decisions previously taken at Glasgow, which were then ratified by the Scottish Parliament. When Charles' representative, Lord Traquair, tried to suspend it, his action was declared illegal and Parliament continued to sit. A series of acts were passed which amounted to a constitutional revolution, including Tri-annual Parliaments, and making the Covenant compulsory for all holders of public office.
His advisors convinced Charles the only way to finance a second war was to recall the English Parliament, and in December 1639, he issued writs for the first time since 1629. Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, his most capable advisor and Lord Deputy of Ireland also asked the Parliament of Ireland for funds. In March 1640, they approved an army of 9,000 to suppress the Covenanters, despite violent opposition from their co-religionists in Ulster. This provides an example of how the Bishops Wars destabilised all three kingdoms.
Charles hoped this would provide an example for the Short Parliament, which assembled in April; however, led by John Pym, Parliament demanded he address grievances like ship money before they would approve subsidies. After three weeks of stalemate, Charles dissolved Parliament, ensuring he would have to rely on his own resources to fund the war. Meanwhile, in January 1640 the Covenanter leaders mustered their regiments, and to secure their rear, occupied Aberdeen, centre of the Royalist north-east.
Second Bishops' War
In June, the Scottish Parliament met in Edinburgh, and granted Argyll a commission of 'fire and sword' against the Royalist areas of Lochaber, Badenoch and Rannoch in the Scottish Highlands. A force of 5,000 conducted this campaign with great brutality, burning and looting across a large area, one of the most infamous acts being the destruction of Airlie Castle in Angus. As they had done in the First Bishops' War, the Covenanter forces also seized Dumbarton Castle, preventing Strafford's Irish army from landing in Scotland and so enabling them to focus on the threatened English invasion.
The Scottish army was again led by Leslie and consisted of around 21,000 well-equipped men, and possessed vastly superior artillery compared to its opponents. Further, a large group of soldiers had gained previous combat experience as mercenaries on the Continent during the Thirty Years' War. The English troops consisted largely of militia from Southern England, poorly-equipped, unpaid, and unenthusiastic about the war. On the march north, lack of supplies meant they looted the areas they passed through, creating widespread disorder; several units murdered officers suspected of being Catholics, then deserted.
Lord Conway, the English commander in the north, focused on reinforcing Berwick-upon-Tweed, the usual starting point for invading England. On 17 August, cavalry units under Montrose crossed the River Tweed, followed by the rest of Leslie's army. The Scots bypassed the town, and headed for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, centre of the coal trade with London, and a valuable bargaining point.
On 28 August, the Scots forced a passage over the River Tyne at the Battle of Newburn; they still had to take Newcastle, but to Leslie's surprise, when they arrived on 30 August, Conway had withdrawn to Durham. One suggestion is he did not trust his ill-disciplined and mutinous troops, but morale in the rest of the army now collapsed, forcing Charles to make peace. The only other significant action of the war was the siege of Edinburgh Castle, held by the Royalist commander Sir Patrick Ruthven, who had previously served with Leslie in the Swedish army. Blockaded since the end of May, starvation forced him to surrender in September.