This thesis is the first to explore the life and political thought of Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees (1635-1713). The first part reviews the life of his father, Sir James Stewart of Kirk field (1608-1681) to 1661, and Goodtrees' own life from birth to his admission to the Scots bar in 1661. This provides the backdrop of history necessary to appreciate his contributions as both writer and radical activist. Particular attention focuses on the conflict between Charles I and Charles II, on the one hand, and the Church of Scotland, on the other; the National Covenant (1638) and the Solemn League and Covenant of(1643); the British wars of religion; and the upheavals following the Restoration in the 1660s, culminating in the Pentland Rising of 1666. The next part develops Goodtrees' political philosophy from his two most important writings. Chapter 3 reviews and interprets Naphtali (1667), a defence of those who rose at Pentland. Chapter 4 reviews Andrew Honyman's Survey of Naphtali (1668, 1669), a rebuttal of Naphtali and standard Anglican case for royal absolutism. Chapter 5 reviews and interprets Goodtrees' Jus Populi Vindicatum, or The People's Right, to defend themselves and their Covenanted Religion, vindicated (1669), his rejoinder to Honyman. His Calvinist, covenantal constitutionalism is shown to be an important link between earlier resistance theorists like John Knox and Samuel Rutherford and the later Whigs, represented preeminently by John Locke. The third part (chapters 6-7) reviews Goodtrees' life and minor writings as radical critic of the Restoration monarchy; a participant in plots among British exiles in Holland to overthrow it; a member briefly of James's Scottish government before the Revolution; and lord advocate and churchman pursuing political, legal, and ecclesiastical reforms afterwards.

As one of the most remarkable of the Scottish Covenanters, George Gillespie had a reputation in England and Scotland as an orthodox Puritan theologian and apologist for Scottish Presbyterianism. He was well known for his controversial works attacking the ceremonies of the Church of England, defending Presbyterianism, opposing religious toleration, and combating Erastianism. He is best remembered as one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly in London, which sought to reform the English Church and establish a uniform religion for the two kingdoms. This study assesses his life, ideas, and legacy. In Gillespie's estimation revelation and reason played complementary roles in the Christian life. While the Fall had affected man's reasoning abilities, man could rely upon natural law and scholarship as long as one kept them within the limits of God's truth revealed in Scripture. Moreover, he insisted that the church structure its worship ceremonies, government, and discipline according to the pattern set forth in the Bible. In addition, he emphasized the central role of God's Word and the sacraments in the worship of God and stressed the importance of cultivating personal piety. At the heart of Gillespie's political thought lay the Melvillian theory of the two kingdoms, which led him to reject Erastianism as subordinating the church to the power of the state. Furthermore, his delineation of the limits of the authority of the civil magistrate, presented a challenge to the state's authority and led him to formulate a radical version of the Covenanter doctrine of resistance to the state. While Gillespie supported uniformity of religion between England and Scotland, opposed religious toleration, and rejected the Engagement with King Charles, none of these causes proved successful in his lifetime. Yet these ideas influenced generations of Resolutioners, Protestors, Cameronians, and other heirs of the Scottish Covenanter tradition.

While historians of Britain in the 1640s have long been attracted by the English New Model Army and in recent years by the English royalist armies, the armies fielded by the Scottish Covenanters have suffered a strange neglect. It was not until the work on this thesis was well- advanced that the crude nature of previous efforts became apparent. In an attempt to provide a basic understanding of the Covenanting forces, this thesis synthesizes a mass of material relating to the religious aspects of the armies. Two crucial questions emerged: did the military reflect Scottish society or any part of it; were the Covenanters' forces godly armies seeking to evangelize the areas they occupied? These themes have been interpreted broadly to include the rules of war, the army chaplains, religious manifestations in military life, the moral behaviour of the soldiers, and the role of the armies in spreading the presbyterian faith. In addition to those topics, an examination of the soldiers' relations with civilians and the political activities of the military have been included. The first most clearly allows one to determine whether the Covenanting armies attained the status of godly armies. The political question arises out of the close relationship between religious and political activities in the period. With the exception of family legal papers the entire spectrum of Scottish seventeenth-century sources was inspected. The records of the 1.Estates and its committees, the General Assembly and its Commission, form the basic sources for a view of national developments. At the local level the burgh, presbytery, family and kirk session records proved invaluable. Unfortunately few diaries, memoirs or letters survived. English materials primarily state papers, pamphlets and news books were also helpful. The findings of this thesis suggest that the armies of the Covenanters failed to achieve the ideals set for them.

Thesis (DTh (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology))—University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Stewart rulers of Scotland and England endeavoured to enforce Royal Absolutism on both countries. This included ecclesiastical pressure on the Scottish Presbyterians, giving rise to a movement known as the Covenanters. One identifying aspect was their fieldpreachings, or Conventicles, held in secret, frequently on the moors. As persecution increased, worshippers took weapons to these Conventicles for selfdefence in case of attack during the service. Royal efforts to impose Episcopalianism on Scotland intensified after the Restoration of 1660 and were met with resistance. In 1666 open revolt broke out in The Pentland Rising, which was put down with great severity after the Covenanters were defeated at Rullion Green. Open revolt broke out again in 1679, when some Covenanters defeated a small royalist force at Drumclog, but they were soundly defeated by the royal army at Bothwell Brig shortly afterwards. The Covenanters split into two factions, moderate and extreme; the extreme element becoming known as Cameronians after the martyred covenanting preacher Rev Richard Cameron, “The Lion of the Covenant.” The hypothesis researched was that; The development and actions of the Cameronian movement made a significant contribution to Freedom of Religion in Scotland. The hypothesis rests on whether Cameronian influence was significant, and to what degree. Subsequent to Bothwell Brig, the Covenanting movement virtually collapsed in Scotland. The leaders fled to Holland and the common people who remained were severely persecuted. But by early 1680, two covenanting ministers, Richard Cameron and Donald Cargill, had returned from Holland to preach in the fields against Erastian limitations on doctrine, worship, discipline, and church government. They were hunted down and killed, but their followers (now called Cameronians) formed their own ecclesiastical polity known as the United Societies. This was a presbyterial Church, separate but not sundered from the Church of Scotland (The Kirk), which had by now largely accepted a considerable degree of Erastianism. The Cameronians became a small but vociferous pressure group, not only persecuted, but denigrated by moderate Presbyterians. Throughout this period they ensured a considerable degree of freedom of religion for themselves, despite the ever intensifying persecution. Their stance was vindicated at the Glorious Revolution of 1688/9, one outcome being the raising of both a guard, and a regiment, of Cameronians, both of which enabled a period of comparative calm and safety to prevail, thus allowing Parliament and the General Assembly to finalise the Revolution Settlement for both Church and State, without any external threat from Jacobitism. The Cameronian clergy then became reconciled with the Kirk in 1690, and brought two-thirds of the United Societies with them, thus ending their period of isolation, and once more presenting a (virtually) united Presbyterian front to the world. Rev Alexander Shields was critical to both the formation of the regiment and reconciliation with the Kirk. The thesis demonstrates that the Cameronians made four significant contributions to freedom of religion in Scotland. Firstly, they made a significant contribution to freedom of religion by their struggle to protect the right to retain their own freedom of doctrine, worship, discipline and church government, resisting every effort to remove these by force. In 1690 they secured these freedoms. Secondly by their new-found military effectiveness, they secured a climate of comparative peace and stability in the latter half of 1689 and 1690, during which both Parliament and General Assembly were able to carry through vital legislation for Church and State, without any external threat. Thirdly, through the reconciliation of their clergy with the Kirk, the Cameronians were catalytic in the establishment of a [virtually] united Presbyterian front in Scotland,1 thereby ensuring that the Kirk was strong enough to accept the existence of other denominations without feeling unduly threatened. Fourthly, Rev Alexander Shields stands out as catalytic in the achievement of the Second and Third significant contributions. It can be argued that his behaviour, in itself, was a significant contribution to Freedom of Religion.