Factionalism in the Kirk during the Cromwellian invasion and occupation of Scotland 1650 to 1660: the Protester-Resolutioner controversy

Abstract

This Thesis is an examination into the origin and development of the Protester- Resolutioner controversy, the internecine feud which divided the hitherto unified Covenanting movement during the Cromwellian invasion and occupation of Scotland, 1650-60. During the English invasion of Scotland in 1650, incipient divisions within the kirk erupted as the moderate and radical Covenanters divided over the reception of Charles II as king and the passing of the Public Resolutions, which allowed "malignant" royalists into the army and state. When the 1651 General Assembly approved the Resolutions, the schism was institutionalized and the kirk divided into two factions: the Resolutioners, who supported the king and government, and the Protesters, who disavowed the authority of both. After the English conquest in late 1651, these divisions were internalized as both factions engaged in numerous (albeit unsuccessful) attempts to gain ascendancy in the kirk. In 1654, the Protester Patrick Gillespie attempted to break the resultant stalemate when he sought and obtained an ordinance from the English government establishing a system of "triers", which superseded the authority of the kirk's presbyterian courts. In doing this, Gillespie broke the factions' official policy of non-cooperation with the English and ushered in a period during which both factions courted the favour of the Cromwellian regime in an attempt to gain an advantage over their rival. From this point on, the fortunes of the factions became linked inextricably with the ebb and flow of English politics, the Protesters allying themselves with the radical officers of the English army and the Resolutioners with the conservative forces of parliament. The benefits of such alliances, however, proved transitory, serving only to intensify the factions' animosity. By the eve of the Restoration in 1660, the schism had not been remedied and the divided kirk proved an easy prey to its adversaries. This Thesis, in addition to providing the first detailed account of this controversy, will also seek to bridge an important gap in the history of the Covenanting movement by tracing the development and divergence of the Protesters' and Resolutioners' thought on certain key issues, including: the Covenants; the nature of presbyterian church government; the relationship between church and state; religious toleration; and the nature of true godliness. The way in which the factions handled these issues, all of which had their origins in the 1630s and 1640s, was to have a profound effect on the ideology of the presbyterian ministers and the way in which they interacted with the government during the period following the Restoration