Covenanting Exchanges with the French Court during the Wars for the Three Kingdoms

In 1638, Scots opposed to the imposition of administrative, social, economic and religious uniformity by Charles I exercised their right of resistance by issuing a patriotic manifesto, the National Covenant, which sought to impose permanent checks on monarchy. This resistance was carried further by...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Allan I. MACINNES
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA) 2014-07-01
Series:E-REA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/erea/3678
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841552583560265728
author Allan I. MACINNES
author_facet Allan I. MACINNES
author_sort Allan I. MACINNES
collection DOAJ
description In 1638, Scots opposed to the imposition of administrative, social, economic and religious uniformity by Charles I exercised their right of resistance by issuing a patriotic manifesto, the National Covenant, which sought to impose permanent checks on monarchy. This resistance was carried further by the Scottish Covenanters fighting and winning the Bishops’ Wars in 1639-40 and then exporting their revolution through armed intervention in Ireland from 1642 and in England from 1644. The Scottish Covenanters’ alliance with the English Parliamentarians was formalised by the Solemn League and Covenant which again sought to impose permanent checks on monarchy throughout the three Stuart kingdoms. But these events cannot be viewed solely as British and Irish Civil Wars. They must be contextualised in relation to the Thirty Years War and particularly to the determination of France under both Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin to supplant the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs as the foremost European power. While much work has recently been done on the diplomatic links of the principal protagonists in the Civil Wars, the importance of France to Scottish Covenanters, English Parliamentarians and Irish Confederates in their tangled and tortuous relationships among themselves and with Charles I remains relatively underworked. This article does not attempt a comprehensive review, but sketches out the intricacies of Covenanting exchanges with the French Court before all prospects of a revived ‘auld alliance’ were crushed by the occupation of Scotland by Oliver Cromwell and his English regicides in 1651.
format Article
id doaj-art-2e34b2658f404315b7469f82eb40dcc2
institution Kabale University
issn 1638-1718
language English
publishDate 2014-07-01
publisher Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA)
record_format Article
series E-REA
spelling doaj-art-2e34b2658f404315b7469f82eb40dcc22025-01-09T12:54:11ZengLaboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA)E-REA1638-17182014-07-0111210.4000/erea.3678Covenanting Exchanges with the French Court during the Wars for the Three KingdomsAllan I. MACINNESIn 1638, Scots opposed to the imposition of administrative, social, economic and religious uniformity by Charles I exercised their right of resistance by issuing a patriotic manifesto, the National Covenant, which sought to impose permanent checks on monarchy. This resistance was carried further by the Scottish Covenanters fighting and winning the Bishops’ Wars in 1639-40 and then exporting their revolution through armed intervention in Ireland from 1642 and in England from 1644. The Scottish Covenanters’ alliance with the English Parliamentarians was formalised by the Solemn League and Covenant which again sought to impose permanent checks on monarchy throughout the three Stuart kingdoms. But these events cannot be viewed solely as British and Irish Civil Wars. They must be contextualised in relation to the Thirty Years War and particularly to the determination of France under both Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin to supplant the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs as the foremost European power. While much work has recently been done on the diplomatic links of the principal protagonists in the Civil Wars, the importance of France to Scottish Covenanters, English Parliamentarians and Irish Confederates in their tangled and tortuous relationships among themselves and with Charles I remains relatively underworked. This article does not attempt a comprehensive review, but sketches out the intricacies of Covenanting exchanges with the French Court before all prospects of a revived ‘auld alliance’ were crushed by the occupation of Scotland by Oliver Cromwell and his English regicides in 1651.https://journals.openedition.org/erea/3678Franco-Scottish relationsdiplomacyFrench courtWars of the Three KingdomsScottish Covenanters
spellingShingle Allan I. MACINNES
Covenanting Exchanges with the French Court during the Wars for the Three Kingdoms
E-REA
Franco-Scottish relations
diplomacy
French court
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Scottish Covenanters
title Covenanting Exchanges with the French Court during the Wars for the Three Kingdoms
title_full Covenanting Exchanges with the French Court during the Wars for the Three Kingdoms
title_fullStr Covenanting Exchanges with the French Court during the Wars for the Three Kingdoms
title_full_unstemmed Covenanting Exchanges with the French Court during the Wars for the Three Kingdoms
title_short Covenanting Exchanges with the French Court during the Wars for the Three Kingdoms
title_sort covenanting exchanges with the french court during the wars for the three kingdoms
topic Franco-Scottish relations
diplomacy
French court
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Scottish Covenanters
url https://journals.openedition.org/erea/3678
work_keys_str_mv AT allanimacinnes covenantingexchangeswiththefrenchcourtduringthewarsforthethreekingdoms