Union, Religion And Revolution In Seventeenth Century Scotland

Sixteen studies exploring the effects of the Union of the Crowns on Scotland, and the subsequent attempts to find a stable relationship between England and Scotland within a single British state. The volume focuses on the covenanters of the mid-century who sought to create a regime in Scotland strong enough to force England to accept a federal union guaranteeing Scotland's autonomy. Inspired by a mixture of Calvanist and nationalist ideologies, the covenanters overthrew the power of Charles I, and carried out revolutionary changes in the structures of both the church and state, but in doing so led to civil war in both England and Ireland. By sending armies into both kingdoms, the Scots tried to impose a settlement protecting Scottish interests, but instead it culminated in the English conquest of Scotland.