Bishops' Wars

The Bishops' Wars were two distinct but related conflicts in 1639 and 1640 fought between Scotland and England with minor factional skirmishing within Scotland. These were the first of what became the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which also included the First and Second English Civil Wars, and the 1650 to 1652 Anglo-Scottish War.

The conflicts originated in who held supreme authority over the Church of Scotland. In 1637, Charles I, who was king of both Scotland and England in a personal union, attempted to impose changes in religious practice on the church. These reforms were strongly opposed by many Scots who, in 1638, expressed their strong political opposition by signing the National Covenant. Supporters of this movement became known as Covenanters. In December 1638, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland met in Glasgow and voted to expel bishops, who were generally seen as instruments of royal control. This turned differences over religious practice into a struggle for political supremacy.

Support for the National Covenant was widespread across Scotland. Covenanters gained control of the government and mobilised forces to oppose any attempt by the king, or by his Royalist supporters within Scotland, to restore his authority. In early 1639, the north-east of Scotland saw skirmishing between Royalists and Covenanters and by June, English and Scottish armies had mustered on the border near Berwick. However, both armies withdrew after a negotiated truce, ending the confrontation which would later be known as the First Bishops' War. The terms of the truce included calling of a new General Assembly and Scottish Parliament which met in August to resolve matters still in dispute. Rather, the decisions taken at Glasgow the prior year, were re-affirmed, continuing the political struggle.

Determined to reverse these changes, Charles mobilised another army but during the subsequent Second Bishops' War in 1640, the Scots invaded, defeated their English opponents and proceeded to occupy parts of northern England. A truce followed where the king agreed to pay for the Scots occupation pending negotiation of a final peace treaty. This financial necessity compelled the king to call a new English parliament in order to ratify the Treaty of London, which was signed 10 August 1641 formally ending the Bishops' Wars. The new English parliament which had assembled was strongly opposed to the king and his government and antagonism between them escalated to armed conflict in 1642: the start of the English Civil War.