Cromwell and Scotland

Conquest and Religion 1650-1660

R. Scott Spurlock

• Publisher: John Donald
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9781904607779
• eBook ISBN: 9781788853378
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

This book examines the role of religion in the story of Oliver Cromwell's invasion and subsequent occupation of Scotland. Analysis of the printed propaganda produced by the Scots and the English makes it clear that both nations defined their positions, and gained support, in overtly religious terms. During their decade-long occupation of Scotland, the English Commonwealth actively sought to undermine Scottish Presbyterianism. Public disputes, public preaching and Scotland's printing presses were all used to weaken the influence of the Kirk, while eager English soldiers and chaplains tried to convert Scots to their own particular religious sects.Policies of the Scottish Kirk and State in the previous decade had ostracised a significant portion of the Scottish people. As a result, English missionaries found some Scots eager to hear alternative forms of Protestantism preached. Dispelling myths that the sectarian presence had little impact on Scottish religion, this book describes the endeavours of the Independents, Baptists and Quakers to gain converts, with varying degrees of success.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Conventions and Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 ‘The Covenant’ vs ‘The Lord of Hosts’: A Struggle for Public Opinion through the Printed Propaganda of War
• 2 ‘Go not to Gilgal nor Bethaven!’: Presbyterian Resistance to the Polemics of Sectarian Occupation
• 3 The Dead-Man’s Testament and A Litle Stone: The Commonwealth’s Campaign against the Scottish Presbytery
• 4 ‘Neirer the patterne of the word’: A Season of Indigenous Scottish Independency
• 5 The ‘Lamb’s War’ in Scotland: The Rise of the Quakers and the Fall of the Baptists
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index