Remonstrants

The course got its name from the so-called Western Reconstruction on October 17, 1650 - the manifesto of radical covenanters against the concessions of the Scottish government to King Charles II and the "Ingegers". The central point of the ideology of repairmen was the conviction that Presbyterianism is the only true religion, and all other confessions or simply liberal views are to be eradicated as opposed to God. The remonstrants advocated the strengthening of the role of Presbyterian clergymen and the subordination of the state apparatus to the directives of the Church of Scotland . In addition to hostility to royalists and the "Ingadzers", the repairmen also negatively related to the idea of ​​religious tolerance, promoted by the British " Independents " led by Oliver Cromwell .

The social basis of the movement was Presbyterian clergy, fanatically minded social classes, as well as some citizens and lords . In territorial terms, repairmen had the greatest support in the areas of southwestern Scotland ( Kyle , Cunningham , Carrick , Galloway ). The movement lacked the participation of large nobility and authoritative secular leaders. One of the most prominent representatives of repairmen was Archibald Johnston , one of the authors of the National Covenant of 1638 .

The remonstrants were the main driving force behind the coup d'état of 1648, which overthrew the board of the "Ingers" and for two years established the domination of churchmen and ultra-Protestants in Scotland. However, later, after the execution of Charles I by the British and the conclusion of the Brad's Agreement with his son Charles II, and also under the influence of the threat of Cromwell's conquest of Scotland, the former leaders of the extreme Presbyterians ( Marquis of Argyll and others) were inclined to compromise with the royalists and the "playgirls". This caused in 1650 a split in the covenant movement into repairmen and resolutionists . Published on October 17, 1650 in Dumfries “Western Remonstration”, the radical wing of the covenanters began creating their own “sacred” army in the southwestern counties, into which only the most fanatically-minded soldiers were admitted. Despite the prayers in December 1650, the "holy army" was defeated by the English detachment of John Lambert .

In 1651, the majority of members of the General Assembly and the Scottish Parliament called for the unification of all the forces of the country (including the royalists and the "ingager") to fight England. The remonstrants filed their protest against this decree (hence the movement got its second name - the protestors), stating that majority decision making is contrary to divine institutions. The country began to create parallel authorities of repairmen and resolutionists. This conflict between the two branches of the covenant movement turned out to be much more serious for the country than the split into covenantaries and episcopate supporters in the early 1640s. Scotland is actually divided into two warring camps with their own control systems. This contributed to the relative ease in the conquest of the country by Cromwell: by the middle of 1652 all of Scotland was under the authority of the British troops.

The Cromwell government tried to reach an agreement with both the remonstrants and the resolutionists. The first with the English "Independents" were brought together by animosity towards the king and the royalists, and disregard for democratic principles. Therefore, at the first stage, scaffold workers were actively involved in the service of the new regime, and the British authorities often enforced the inclusion of protestors in church governing bodies, excluding resolutionists from there. In 1654, the appointment of clergymen (ministerials) was withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts and transferred to a group of repairmen. Resolutionists were expelled from universities and other educational institutions. However, in the long term, scaffold workers turned out to be unreliable allies of Cromwell: their uncompromising and sharp hostility to the principle of religious tolerance could not ensure the stability of the state apparatus. Therefore, starting from the second half of the 1650s, the repairmen gradually began to give up their places in the Cromwellian administration to more moderate resolutionists. Nevertheless, the leaders of repairmen continued cooperation with the British. So Archibald Johnston became one of the representatives of Scotland in the parliaments of Cromwell 1658 and 1659 .

The restoration of the Stuarts in 1660 brought the restoration of the episcopate and the abolition of all acts of parliament during the revolution. A group of repairmen gathered in Edinburgh to take up the address of the king against the episcopal device was arrested. In 1661, the Covenant was abolished, and repressions began in the country against those who collaborated with Cromwell. Johnston fled to France, the Marquis of Argyle was executed. The General Assembly was subordinated to the bishops and parliament. Repair priests were driven out of their pulpits for refusing to renounce the Covenant. These events had a particularly strong influence in southwestern Scotland: from half to four fifth of the ministers of Galloway, Ayrshire and Dumfries were displaced and replaced by more loyal clergymen. Together with the repairmen, most of the resolutionists lost their posts. As a result, having joined the opposition, these two radical movements in the covenant movement began to converge and in the future, in relations with the government and the king, they were united.

• Covenant movement
• Resolutionists
• Ingegers
• Arminians (Dutch repairmen)

• Article Remonstrants, Resolutioners & Protesters on the site of British Civil Wars.co.uk (English)