The signing of the National Covenant on February 28, 1638, was not merely a religious petition; it was a gauntlet thrown at the feet of the Stuart monarchy. To King Charles I, who viewed his authority as a sacred trust handed down by God, the events at Greyfriars Kirkyard were a personal betrayal and a direct challenge to the cosmic order. His response would transition from disbelief and diplomatic maneuvering to an all-out military confrontation that would change the British Isles forever.
The King’s Initial Shock: A Crisis of Authority
When the news of the mass signing reached Charles at his court in London, his reaction was characterized by a mixture of cold fury and genuine bewilderment. Charles was a man of orderly mind and rigid principles. He believed in the beauty of holiness—a structured, hierarchical church that mirrored the structured, hierarchical state. To him, the Scots were not “protesting” a prayer book; they were rejecting the very foundation of his rule.
Charles initially viewed the Covenant as the work of a few “factious” noblemen who had misled the “ignorant” populace. He could not grasp that this was a truly national movement that transcended social class. His first instinct was not to negotiate, but to demand absolute submission. He saw the Covenant as a “Standard of Rebellion” and famously declared that as long as the document was in force, he had no more power in Scotland than a “Duke of Venice”—a figurehead with no real teeth.
The Marquess of Hamilton and the Policy of Delay
Realizing that he lacked an immediate army to crush the Scots, Charles sent his trusted advisor, James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, to Scotland as his High Commissioner. Hamilton’s mission was essentially one of “divide and conquer.” He was instructed to offer minor concessions to appease the moderate Covenanters while secretly preparing the ground for a royalist military intervention.
Hamilton arrived in Edinburgh to find a country in a state of high-alert. The Covenanters had already begun organizing. They were not intimidated by the King’s representative. When Hamilton attempted to publish royal proclamations that condemned the Covenant while offering vague promises of “considering” their grievances, he was met with formal “protestations” read by Covenanter leaders from the same mercat crosses.
Charles’s response during this period was a classic example of “too little, too late.” He offered to withdraw the hated Prayer Book and the Five Articles of Perth, but he refused to abolish the office of Bishop. To the Scots, the bishops were the “eyes and ears” of the King within the church—the mechanism of his control. By refusing to budge on the episcopacy, Charles ensured that a peaceful resolution was impossible.
The King’s Covenant: A Failed PR Campaign
In a desperate attempt to reclaim the narrative, Charles authorized the creation of the “King’s Covenant.” This was a rival document that looked remarkably similar to the National Covenant in its defense of the Protestant faith but added a crucial clause: the preservation of the King’s authority and the existing church structure.
It was a transparent ploy, and the Scots saw right through it. While a few royalist strongholds (most notably Aberdeen) signed the King’s version, the vast majority of the nation ignored it. This failure only deepened the King’s resentment. He felt he had tried to be “merciful” and “reasonable,” and in his mind, the Scots’ rejection of his Covenant was further proof of their inherent treason.
The Escalation to War: The First Bishops’ War
By early 1639, the King’s patience had evaporated. He turned his attention to military force. However, Charles faced a massive obstacle: he had been ruling England without a Parliament for eleven years (the “Personal Rule”). This meant he had no legal way to raise the taxes necessary to fund a professional standing army.
His response was to patch together a force through “feudal” means—calling upon nobles to provide men and equipment, and taking “voluntary” loans from supporters. The result was a disorganized, poorly trained, and unenthusiastic English army.
In contrast, the Scots were highly motivated and exceptionally well-led. Thousands of Scottish soldiers who had been fighting as mercenaries in the Thirty Years’ War in Europe flooded back to their homeland. They brought with them modern tactics, professional discipline, and a zeal for the cause. They were led by Alexander Leslie, a veteran general who transformed the Covenanter militias into a formidable fighting machine.
When the two armies finally faced each other near Berwick-on-Tweed in June 1639, Charles looked across the border and saw a disciplined, entrenched Covenanter force that vastly outmatched his own. He realized that a battle would likely end in a humiliating defeat that would jeopardize his throne in England.
The Humiliation of Berwick and the Glasgow Assembly
Forced into a corner, Charles signed the Pacification of Berwick. It wasn’t a peace treaty; it was a ceasefire. He agreed that a new General Assembly and a new Parliament should be held in Scotland to resolve the religious and civil disputes.
However, Charles had no intention of honoring the spirit of the agreement. He hoped the Assembly would be more manageable than the “rabble” in the streets. He was wrong. The General Assembly met in Glasgow and, in a breathtaking display of defiance, not only abolished the Prayer Book but formally removed all bishops from the Church of Scotland.
When the King’s Commissioner tried to dissolve the Assembly, the members simply refused to leave. They argued that their authority came from God, not the King. Charles’s response was to declare their proceedings null and void and to begin planning for a second, more decisive military campaign.
The Second Bishops’ War and the Path to Revolution
The King’s response to the Glasgow Assembly was to double down on force. He recalled Thomas Wentworth (the Earl of Strafford) from Ireland to help organize a more effective campaign. But the financial situation in England was now critical. To fund a second war, Charles was finally forced to call the English Parliament in 1640—the “Short Parliament.”
When the English Parliament refused to grant him money unless he addressed their grievances against his rule, Charles angrily dissolved them after only three weeks. This left him in a desperate position. The Scots, sensing his weakness, didn’t wait to be attacked. They crossed the River Tweed, defeated a royalist force at the Battle of Newburn, and occupied the city of Newcastle.
Charles was now utterly beaten. He was forced to sign the Treaty of Ripon, which required him to pay the Scottish army £850 a day to stay where they were until a final peace was reached. To get that money, he had no choice but to call another Parliament—the “Long Parliament”—which would eventually strip him of his powers and lead him to the scaffold.
The Legacy of the King’s Response
Charles I’s response to the 1638 Covenant was defined by a fatal inability to understand the nature of the people he ruled. He treated a national, ideological movement as a mere disciplinary problem. By choosing iron over ink at every turn, he transformed a Scottish religious dispute into a British constitutional revolution.
For those who “stravaig” through the glens and kirkyards today, the scars of this response are still visible. The King’s refusal to listen created the “Covenanter” identity—a group of people who realized that to protect their conscience, they would have to be prepared to wander beyond the limits of the law.
Quick Facts: Timeline of Covenanter Battles and Milestones
| Date | Event / Battle | Significance |
| Feb 28, 1638 | Signing of the National Covenant | The foundational moment of defiance in Greyfriars Kirkyard. |
| Nov 1638 | General Assembly of Glasgow | The Kirk formally abolishes bishops against the King’s direct orders. |
| June 1639 | First Bishops’ War (Berwick) | A standoff. No major battle, ends in the “Pacification of Berwick.” |
| Aug 28, 1640 | Battle of Newburn | Covenanters defeat Royalists and capture Newcastle, forcing the King’s hand. |
| Oct 1640 | Treaty of Ripon | Humiliating terms for Charles I; he must pay the Scots to occupy northern England. |
| Sept 1643 | Solemn League and Covenant | Scots join the English Civil War on the side of Parliament against the King. |
| July 2, 1644 | Battle of Marston Moor | Covenanter and Parliamentarian forces decisively defeat the King’s northern army. |
| 1644–1645 | Montrose’s Rising | A bloody civil war within Scotland between Covenanters and Royalist clans. |
| Sept 13, 1645 | Battle of Philiphaugh | The Covenanter army destroys the Royalist forces of Montrose, ending the internal threat. |
| 1679 | Battle of Bothwell Bridge | A later, tragic defeat for Covenanter rebels during the “Killing Time.” |
