Covenanters << KUHV uh nuhn tuhrz >> were members of a series of religious movements in Scotland during the last half of the 1500’s and the 1600’s. The Covenanters entered into covenants (agreements) with one another to defend their Presbyterian Church. They resisted opponents who tried to force them to accept other forms of worship and church government. In 1581, the first important covenant opposed efforts to restore Roman Catholicism to Scotland. When King Charles I tried to impose the Episcopalian prayer book and the English clergy on the Scots, they drew up the National Covenant of 1638 to resist him.
In 1643, the Church of Scotland and the English Parliament signed The Solemn League and Covenant, establishing Presbyterianism in Scotland, England, and Ireland. But the English rulers ignored this agreement and persecuted the Presbyterians. The Covenanters continued to fight for their beliefs until finally, in 1690, King William III permitted the free expression of the Presbyterian faith in Scotland.
See also Scotland, History of.
