Restoration (Scotland)

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Charles II
, restored to the throne of Scotland in 1660

The Restoration was the return of the monarchy to Scotland in 1660 after the period of the

Charles II
.

As military commander of the Commonwealth's largest armed force,

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

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.

Background: civil wars and Commonwealth

Engagement
, from a satirical English pamphlet.

In 1638, reforms imposed by

Covenanters took control of government and initially remained neutral when the First English Civil War began in 1642. However, many Scots were concerned by the consequences of Royalist victory for the kirk and viewed union with England as the best way to ensure its survival. In October 1643, the English Parliament signed the Solemn League and Covenant, which agreed to union in return for Scottish military support.[1]

Royalists and moderates in both countries rejected this on nationalist grounds, as did religious Independents like Oliver Cromwell, who opposed any state-ordered church. The Covenanters and their English allies considered the Independent-dominated New Model Army a bigger threat than the Royalists and when the First Civil War ended in 1647, negotiated to restore Charles to power. In return, he agreed to impose Presbyterianism in England and suppress the Independents but refused to become a Presbyterian himself. This split the Covenanters into Engagers, who were willing to accept this, and the Kirk Party or Whiggamores, who were not. After Cromwell's victory in the Second English Civil War, he installed the Kirk Party as the government of Scotland, who then expelled Engagers from the General Assembly.[2]

This alliance ended with the execution of Charles in January 1649; as

Calvinists, the Engagers and Kirk Party viewed monarchy as divinely ordered, making this an act of blasphemy.[a][3] In February, the Scots proclaimed Charles II, King of Scotland and Great Britain and in the Treaty of Breda, agreed to restore him to the English throne. In return, he accepted the Covenant and was forced to disown a rising by the Royalist leader Montrose, who was captured and executed; Charles never forgot this humiliation.[4]

After the

Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, with Scottish representatives sitting in the London Parliament. Final ratification of the terms was delayed by Cromwell's problems with his various parliaments and the union was not legally finalised until 1657.[6] Scotland was ruled by a military administration under George Monck
, which managed to enforce law and order and a degree of religious toleration. However, it did so using English judges, rather than Scots law, as well as being expensive, making it unpopular in both kingdoms.

Unlike England, 95% of Scots belonged to the kirk and shared the same Calvinist doctrine; conflict was primarily over governance, with the victors expelling their opponents. The General Assembly was split between

Protesters, who refused.[7] After defeating the Royalist Glencairn's rising in 1654, Monk's administration deliberately widened divisions within the kirk; the effects dominated Scottish political life during the Restoration and beyond, as those previously expelled returned to power and excluded their opponents.[8]

End of the republic and return of Charles II

General George Monck, who was instrumental in the restoration of Charles II

As military commander of the Commonwealth's largest armed force, Monck was instrumental in the restoration of Charles II. After the death of Cromwell in 1658, Monck remained aloof from the political manoeuvring in London that led to the brief establishment of a regime under the protector's son Richard Cromwell and after its fall the subsequent contest for power between the army leaders. When this proved incapable of producing a stable government in 1659 Monck opened negotiations with Charles II and began a slow march south with his army. After reaching London he restored the English Long Parliament that had existed at the beginning of the civil wars. This body, having received assurances from Charles II, voted for a restoration of the monarchy in England and then dissolved itself. This created a de facto restoration of the monarchy in Scotland, but without any safeguards as to the constitutional position in the country. Scottish notables were in a weak position in negotiations with the crown as to what the settlement would be.[9] Charles II gave Monck the title Duke of Albemarle in gratitude for his part in the Restoration.[10]

Charles was proclaimed king in Edinburgh on 14 May 1660 (for the second time: the first having been more than ten years earlier on 6 February 1649). He was not crowned again in Scotland (having been previously crowned at Scone in 1651). The Restoration "presented an occasion of universal celebration and rejoicing throughout Scotland".[11] Charles II summoned his parliament on 1 January 1661, which began to undo all that been forced on his father Charles I. The Rescissory Act 1661 made all legislation back to 1633 "void and null".[12]

General pardon and exceptions

Execution of James Guthrie in Edinburgh, one of four exceptions to the general pardon

On 9 September 1662 the

Archibald Johnston, sometime called Sir Archibald Johnston of Wariston, John Swinton, sometime called of Swinton, James Guthrie, William Govan, John Home and William Dundas, James Campbell, sometime called of Ardkinglas and James Campbell, sometime called of Orinsay".[13][14] An additional act called the Act containing some exceptions from the act of indemnity was passed that included heavy fines for about 700 former adherents to the Covenant. The exceptions act specified that if an excluded person did not pay the fines by the date specified he (they were all men) would lose the benefit of the general pardon, but on timely payment he would "enjoy the benefit of his majesty's pardon and indemnity to all intents and purposes".[15][16]

A few members of the previous regime were tried and found guilty of treason.

Lord Warriston) hanged 22 July 1663.[16][17][18][19][20] John Swinton (1621?–1679) was condemned to forfeiture and imprisonment in Edinburgh Castle, where he remained for some years before being released.[21] In 1661 John Home of Kelloe had his estates sequestrated for being with the English army against the King's army at the battle of Worcester in 1651.[14][22] After the Glorious Revolution of 1688 the estates were restored to his son George.[23]

Settlement

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 Earl of Middleton and ended with the King's brother and heir, James, Duke of York (known in Scotland as the Duke of Albany).[24]

Restoration Episcopate

James Sharp, a Resolutioner and then archbishop, who was murdered in 1679

Presbyterians had hoped that Charles would implement a

Covenanter gains of the Bishops' Wars, but an Act passed later the same day renewed the discipline of kirk sessions, presbyteries and synods, suggesting that a compromise between the crown and the Presbyterians was possible.[25] The Restoration of episcopacy was proclaimed by the Privy Council of Scotland on 6 September 1661.[26] James Sharp, minister of Crail, who was in London to represent the interests of the Resolutioners, changed sides and accepted the position of Archbishop of St Andrews. Soon an entire bench of bishops had been assembled. During the parliamentary session of 1662 the Church of Scotland was restored as the national church and all office-holders were required to renounce the Covenants. Church ministers were forced to accept the new circumstances or lose their livings. Up to a third, at least 270, of the ministry refused.[25] Most of the vacancies occurred in the south-west of Scotland, an area particularly strong in its Covenanting sympathies. Some of the ministers also took to preaching in the open fields in conventicles, often attracting thousands of worshippers.[27]

Charles II's commissioners (1661–1685)

Middleton (1661–1663)

Earl of Middleton, Charles II's first Commissioner in Scotland

The King's first political action in Scotland was to appoint officers of state and members of the privy council without reference to parliament. The royalist William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn became Chancellor and John Leslie, Earl of Rothes became President of the council. A new Scottish Council was created in London, which was headed by James Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale. Former Covernanter and royalist soldier John Middleton, newly raised to be Earl of Middleton, was appointed as Commissioner.[28] A new parliament met on 1 January 1661, later known by its presbyterian critics as the "drunken parliament", it passed 393 Acts, particularly supporting the episcopalian structure of the church favoured by Middleton and the authority of the king over government and parliament. In 1663 Middleton attempted to pass an act that would have compelled all office holders to declare that the two covenants were unlawful and seditious. This was a direct attack on former covenanters like the King's favourite Lauderdale and as a result Middleton was recalled and replaced with Rothes.[29]

Rothes (1663–1666)

Rothes acted as a client of Lauderdale. In 1663 parliament passed an "Act Against Separation and Disobedience to Ecclesiastical Authority", popularly known as the "Bishop's Dragnet". It declared dissenting ministers as seditious persons and allowed the imposition of heavy fines on those who failed to attend the parish churches. Soon after parliament was dismissed and would not be recalled for six years. In 1666 a group of dissenters from Galloway captured the government's local military commander, Sir James Turner, and marched on Edinburgh. They probably numbered at the most 3,000 men and by the time they were defeated at the Battle of Rullion Green, they had dwindled to less than a third of that number. Of fifty prisoners, thirty-three were executed, two after torture, and the rest were transported to Barbados. There were then a series of arrests of suspected persons. The rising resulted in the fall of Rothes as Commissioner and Lauderdale now returned from London to take up the role.[30]

Lauderdale (1666–1679)

The Covenanter's Prison in St Giles Kirkyard, Edinburgh, where prisoners were held after the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679

Lauderdale attempted a more conciliatory policy, issuing Letters of Indulgence in 1669, 1672 and 1679. These allowed evicted ministers to return to their parishes, if they would avoid political dissent. One-hundred and fifty refused to accept the offer and some episcopalians were alienated by the compromise. The failure to reach an accommodation led to a return to severity. Preaching at a conventicle was made punishable by death and attendance was punishable by severe sanctions. In 1674 heritors and masters were made responsible for their tenants and servants and from 1677 they had to enter bonds for the conduct of everyone living on their land. In 1678 3,000 Lowland militia and 6,000 Highlanders, known as the "Highland Host", were billeted in the Covenanting shires as a form of punishment.[31]

In 1679 a group of Covenanters killed Archbishop

James, Duke of Monmouth, the King's illegitimate son, at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge on 22 June. Two ministers were executed and 250 followers shipped to Barbados, 200 drowning when their ship went down off Orkney. The rebellion eventually led to the fall of Lauderdale, who was replaced by the King's brother, James, Duke of York, known in Scotland as the Duke of Albany.[32]

Duke of Albany (1679–1685)

James, Duke of Albany in the 1660s

The King sent his brother and heir to Edinburgh largely to remove him from London as a result of the Exclusion Crisis of 1679–1681, during which the English "Country Party" attempted to exclude the openly Catholic James from the three British thrones.[33] He took up residency in Holyrood Palace the early 1680s, running what was in effect a small court.[34]

The dissenters, led by

Test Act, forcing every holder of public office to take an oath of non-resistance. Eight Episcopal clergy and James Dalrymple, Lord President of the Court of Session resigned and the leading nobleman Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll was forced into exile.[9]

In 1684 the remaining Society People posted an Apologetical Declaration on several market crosses, which informed servants of the government that they pursued the lives of its members at the risk of their own. In response to this new element of outright political sedition, the Scottish Privy Council authorised extrajudicial field executions of those caught in arms or those who refused to swear loyalty to the king.

James VII and the Glorious Revolution (1685–1689)

The Earl of Argyll, who was a major supporter of the regime under Charles II but was executed after a rebellion in 1685.

Charles died in 1685 and his brother succeeded him as James VII of Scotland (and II of England). James put Catholics in key positions in the government and even attendance at a conventicle was made punishable by death. He disregarded parliament, purged the council and forced through

religious toleration for Roman Catholics, alienating his Protestant subjects. The failure of an invasion, led by the Earl of Argyll and timed to co-ordinate with the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion in England, demonstrated the strength of the regime. However a riot in response to Louis XIV's Revocation of the Edict of Nantes indicated the strength of anti-Catholic feeling. The king's attempts to obtain toleration for Catholics led to the issuing of Letters of Indulgence in 1687, which also allowed freedom of worship to dissident Protestants, allowing "outed" Presbyterian ministers to return to their parishes. This did not extend to field conventicles and the Society People continued to endure hardship, with their last minister, James Renwick, being captured and executed in 1688.[9]

It was believed that the king would be succeeded by his daughter

Scottish Privy Council went to London to offer their services to William. On 7 January 1689, they asked William to take over the responsibilities of government.[9]

Painted Hall
, Greenwich

William called a

Claim of Right and the Articles of Grievances. These suggested that James had forfeited the crown by his actions (in contrast to England, which relied on the legal fiction of an abdication) and offered it to William and Mary, which William accepted, along with limitations on royal power. On 11 May William and Mary accepted the Crown of Scotland as co-regents, as William II and Mary II.[9]

The final settlement, completed by William's Second parliament in 1690, restored Presbyterianism and abolished the bishops, who had generally supported James. Remaining ministers outed in 1662 were restored, bringing an end to the persecution of the Cameronians, and leaving only a remnant outside of the church. The General Assembly of 1692 refused to reinstate even those Episcopalian ministers who pledged to accept Presbyterianism. However, the king issued two acts of indulgence in 1693 and 1695, allowing those who accepted him as king to return to the church and around a hundred took advantage of the offer. All but the hardened Jacobites would be given toleration in 1707, leaving only a small remnant of Jacobite episcopalians.[38]

Economy

drover's road at Cotkerse near Blairlogie
, Scotland

Under the Commonwealth, the country had been relatively highly taxed, but gained access to English markets.

drovers roads, stretching down from the Highlands through south-west Scotland to north-east England, had become firmly established.[41] Famine had become relatively rare in the second half of the seventeenth century, with only one year of dearth in 1674.[42]

Society

Reprint of the title page of George Sinclair's Satans Invisible World (1685), one of the many tracts published in Scotland arguing against sceptical views of witchcraft

The nobility had been dominant in the politics of Scotland in the first half of the seventeenth century, culminating in their triumph in the period of the Bishops' Wars. However, they lost this status in the Commonwealth period, as the Protectorate regime largely ruled without them. They were restored to authority along with the monarchy and the traditional institutions of the Privy Council and Parliament. However, Rosalind Mitchison argues that their authority was used much more cautiously due to the events of the civil war period.[43] As feudal distinctions declined the barons and tenants-in-chief merged to form the lairds. Under the Commonwealth they had supplied the Justices of the Peace, a post that had enjoyed an expanded role that was only partly reversed at the Restoration. They also gained authority through becoming Commissioner of Supply, a post created in 1667, and which was gave them responsibilities for collecting what became the local cess tax.[44] The passing of a series of improving statues, that allowed landholders to move boundaries, roads and carry out enclosures also benefited this group, as did legislation that returned virtual serfdom for groups such as miners and saltworkers.[44]

Scotland had a much higher rate of witchcraft prosecutions for its population than either England[45] or the European average.[46] The overwhelming majority were in the Lowlands,[47] where the kirk had more control, despite the evidence that basic magical beliefs were very widespread in the Highlands.[48] Under the Commonwealth the English judges who took over the running of the legal system were hostile to the use of torture and often sceptical of the evidence it produced, resulting in a decline in witchcraft prosecutions.[49] In an attempt to gain support among the landholding orders, Sheriff's courts were re-established and Justices of the Peace returned in 1656. The result was a wave of witchcraft cases, with 102 in the period 1657–1659. The limitations on prosecutions were fully reversed with the Restoration, and there was a flood of over 600 cases, thought to be the largest outbreak in Scottish history.[50] This alarmed the restored Privy Council, leading it to insist on the necessity of its commission for an arrest or prosecution, and the banning of judicial torture.[48] Prosecutions began to decline as trials were more tightly controlled by the judiciary and government, torture was more sparingly used and standards of evidence were raised.[49] The exposure of prickers as frauds in 1662 removed a major form of evidence.[51] The Lord Advocate George Mackenzie made efforts to make prosecutions ineffective.[48] There may also have been a growing popular scepticism, and, with relative peace and stability, the economic and social tensions that may have contributed to accusations were reduced, although there were occasional local outbreaks until the statute supporting prosecutions was repealed in 1736.[49]

Culture

Theatre

William Bruce
and one of the first Palladian houses in Britain

The loss of a royal court when

Spanish comedy.[54] Sydsurf was also manager from 1667 of the Tennis-Court Theatre and ran a company of players in Edinburgh's Cannongate. The repertoire followed that in London and there were no new Scottish plays after Tarugo's Wiles. The Duke of Albany brought with him a company of actors when he was resident at Holyrood as commissioner. He was also joined by a group of Irish players, who brought their own costumes. He encouraged court masques and seasons of plays at the Tennis-Court Theatre, one of which included acting by Princess Anne, the future Queen Anne.[55]

Architecture

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 already adopted in continental Europe.

Sir William Bruce (c. 1630–1710) who was the key figure in introducing the Palladian style to the country. Bruce was influenced by English architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren (1632–1723), particularly the latter's interpretation of the Baroque.[57] Bruce built and remodelled country houses, including Thirlestane Castle and Prestonfield House. Among his most significant work was his own Palladian mansion at Kinross, built on the Loch Leven estate he had purchased in 1675.[58] As the Surveyor and Overseer of the Royal Works Bruce undertook the rebuilding of the Royal Palace of Holyroodhouse in the 1670s, giving the palace its present appearance.[56] After the death of Charles II in 1685, Bruce lost political favour.[59] James Smith (c. 1645–1731) worked as a mason on Bruce's rebuilding of Holyrood Palace. In 1683 he was appointed Surveyor and Overseer of the Royal Works, responsible for the palace's maintenance. With his father-in-law, the master mason Robert Mylne (1633–1710), Smith worked on Caroline Park in Edinburgh (1685), and Drumlanrig Castle (1680s). Smith's country houses followed the pattern established by Bruce, with hipped roofs and pedimented fronts, in a plain but handsome Palladian style.[56]

Art

Lord Mungo Murray, by John Michael Wright, an early example of the full-length portrait in Highland dress, c. 1680

Sculpture was dominated by foreign professionals. The equestrian statue of Charles II outside

Thirlestane, Berwickshire and at Holyroodhouse. Dunsterfield was also active at Balcaskie, Fife and probably at Kellie Castle, Fife.[61]

Velázquez and painted portraits of both Scottish and English subjects,[62] including his sensitive portrait of William Bruce (1664) and styled himself as "king's painter". His full-length painting of Lord Mungo Murray in Highland dress (c. 1680) is an early example of what became a standard format of Scottish portrait. Also important was the miniaturist David Paton (fl. 1668–1708), who worked mainly in plumbago, but also painted portraits in oil. Visiting artists included Jacob de Wett (c. 1610–c. 1691), who was commissioned in 1684 to paint images of 110 kings for Holyroodhouse and similar work at Glamis Castle.[63]

Intellectual life

The period between 1679 and 1689 saw the foundation of a large number institutions that would be important in Scottish cultural and intellectual life. These included the Royal College of Physicians in 1681, and three professors of medicine were appointed at the University of Edinburgh in 1685. James VII created the Order of the Thistle in 1687 and the Advocates Library, planned since 1682, was opened in 1689. The offices of Royal Physician, Geographer Royal and Historiographer Royal were founded between 1680 and 1682.[64]

Immediately after the Restoration there was a purge of Presbyterians from the universities, but most of the intellectual advances of the preceding period were preserved.[64] The five Scottish universities recovered from the disruption of the preceding decades with a lecture-based curriculum that was able to embrace economics and science, offering a high-quality liberal education to the sons of the nobility and gentry.[65] All saw the establishment or re-establishment of chairs of mathematics. Astronomy was facilitated by the building of observatories at St. Andrews and at King's and Marischal colleges in Aberdeen. Robert Sibbald was appointed as the first Professor of Medicine at Edinburgh and he co-founded the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1681.[66]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Today, Presbyterian or Episcopalian implies differences in governance and doctrine but this was not the case in the 17th century. Episcopalian meant rule by bishops, usually appointed by the monarch; Presbyterian rule by Elders, nominated by congregations. The kirk was Calvinist in doctrine, the Church of England closer to Lutheranism; this is why a series of attempted unions in the 17th century, whether by James VI, Charles I, Covenanters or Episcoplians were unsuccessful
  2. ^ Also called the First Anglo-Scots War

Notes

  1. ^ Robertson 2014, p. 125.
  2. ^ Mitchison 2002, pp. 223–224.
  3. ^ Macleod 2009, pp. 5–7.
  4. ^ Miller 1978, p. 15.
  5. ^ Morrill 1990, p. 162.
  6. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 225–226.
  7. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 221–224.
  8. ^ Holfelder 1998, p. 213.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 241–246.
  10. ^ Grossman 2007, p. 226.
  11. ^ Jackson 2003, p. 14.
  12. ^ Jackson 2003, p. 78.
  13. ^ a b Scottish Parliament 1662, Pardon.
  14. ^ a b Brown 2012.
  15. ^ Scottish Parliament 1662b, Exceptions.
  16. ^ a b Harris 2005, p. 111.
  17. ^ Gordon 1890, pp. 237–239.
  18. ^ Aikman 1842, p. 50–51.
  19. ^ Howie & M'Gavin 1828, pp. 73–75.
  20. ^ Crooks.
  21. ^ Swinton 1898, pp. 237–239.
  22. ^ Morison 1803, p. 42.
  23. ^ Edinburgh Magazine staff 1819, p. 582.
  24. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, p. 29.
  25. ^ a b Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 231–234.
  26. ^ McCoy 1974, p. 216.
  27. ^ Mitchison 2002, p. 253.
  28. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, p. 232.
  29. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 233–234.
  30. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 235–236.
  31. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 237–238.
  32. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 238–239.
  33. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, p. 239.
  34. ^ Smith 2007, p. 99.
  35. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 239–241.
  36. ^ Lynch 1992, p. 297.
  37. ^ Mitchison 1983, pp. 118–119.
  38. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, pp. 252–253.
  39. ^ Mackie, Lenman & Parker 1991, p. 226.
  40. ^ Whatley 2000, p. 17.
  41. ^ a b Houston 2002, p. 16.
  42. ^ Mitchison 2002, pp. 254–255.
  43. ^ Mitchison 1983, pp. 86–70.
  44. ^ a b Mitchison 1983, p. 79.
  45. ^ Edwards 2010, p. 32.
  46. ^ Goodare 2002, pp. 644–645.
  47. ^ Wormald 1991, pp. 168–169.
  48. ^ a b c Mitchison 1983, pp. 88–90.
  49. ^ a b c Levak 2002, pp. 166–180.
  50. ^ Lynch 1992, p. 286.
  51. ^ Goodare 2002, pp. 644–145.
  52. ^ Brown 2011, pp. 253–254.
  53. ^ Jackson 2003, p. 17.
  54. ^ Tobin 1972, p. 5.
  55. ^ Findlay 1998, pp. 62–73.
  56. ^ a b c Colvin 1995, pp. 755–758.
  57. ^ Summerson 1993, pp. 330 and 333.
  58. ^ Gifford 1989, pp. 57–58.
  59. ^ Fenwick 1989, pp. 73–78.
  60. ^ Howarth 1991, p. 29.
  61. ^ Clifford 1991, pp. 12–13.
  62. ^ Thomas 2012, pp. 198–199.
  63. ^ Waterhouse 1994, p. 123.
  64. ^ a b Lynch 1992, p. 262.
  65. ^ Anderson 2003, p. 219–228.
  66. ^ Devine 2012, p. 373.

Sources

Further reading