Convention of Estates (1689)
The 1689 Convention of Estates sat between 16 March 1689 and 5 June 1689 to determine the settlement of the
While Scotland played no part in the landing in England and there was little enthusiasm for William and Mary, by November 1688 only a tiny minority actively supported James.
In February, an
William's nominee, the 3rd Duke of Hamilton, was elected President of the Convention, although his son remained loyal to James. Despite being a minority, the Episcopalians were hopeful of retaining control of the Kirk since William supported the retention of bishops.[6] However, on 12 March, James landed in Ireland and on 16th, a Letter to the Convention was read out, demanding obedience and threatening punishment for non-compliance.[7]
Public anger at this meant some Episcopalians stopped attending the Convention, claiming to fear for their safety while others changed sides.[8] Tensions were high, with the Duke of Gordon holding Edinburgh Castle for James and Viscount Dundee recruiting Highland levies. This exaggerated the Presbyterian majority in the Convention which met behind closed doors guarded by its own troops.[9]
The English Parliament held James 'abandoned' his throne by fleeing from London to France; since the same argument could not be used in Scotland, the Convention argued he 'forfeited' it by his actions, listed in the Articles of Grievances. This was a fundamental change; if Parliament could decide James had forfeited his throne, monarchs derived legitimacy from Parliament, not God, ending the principle of
The throne was offered to Mary and William, who was granted regal power on the basis he held the throne de facto, by right of conquest.
On 11 May 1689, William and Mary accepted the Scottish throne and the Convention became a full Parliament on 5 June. The 1689 Jacobite Rising highlighted the new regimes' reliance on Presbyterian support and led to the final expulsion of bishops from the Kirk in the 1690 Act of Settlement. The ending of Episcopacy isolated a significant part of the Scottish political class; in the 18th century, Nonjuring Episcopalians were a key support base of the Scottish Jacobite movement.[14]
James and the Jacobites viewed the Convention as “illegal”[7] and argued that the declaration of forfeiture was not valid because the authority of a Scottish Convention of Estates was limited to revenue raising measures and the Convention had not been called by the rightful king.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-52019-5.
- ^ Harris 2006, p. 165.
- ^ Barnes 1973, p. 299.
- ^ Jackson 2003, p. 96.
- ^ Harris 2006, p. 379.
- ^ Harris 2006, pp. 386–387.
- ^ a b Barnes 1973.
- ^ Szechi 1994, pp. 30–31.
- ^ Lynch 1992, p. 302.
- ^ Harris 2006, p. 392-394.
- ^ Jackson 2003, pp. 202–203.
- ^ Lynch 1992, p. 305.
- ^ Coward 1980, p. 460.
- ^ Harris 2006, pp. 404–406.
Sources
- Barnes, Robert P (1973). "James VII's Forfeiture of the Scottish Throne". Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies. 5 (4): 299–313. JSTOR 4048254.
- Coward, Barry (1980). The Stuart Age: England 1603–1714 (1994 ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-0582067226.
- Harris, Tim (2006). Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy 1685-1720. Allen Lane.
- Jackson, Clare (2003). Restoration Scotland, 1660-1690: royalist politics, religion and ideas. Boydell Press.
- Lynch, Michael (1992). Scotland: a New History. Pimlico Publishing. ISBN 0712698930.
- Szechi, Daniel (1994). The Jacobites: Britain and Europe, 1688-1788. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719037743.
- Szechi, Daniel, Sankey, Margaret (November 2001). "Elite Culture and the Decline of Scottish Jacobitism 1716-1745". Past & Present. 173.
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