Everything about Engagers totally explained
The Engagers were a faction of the Scottish
Covenanters, who made "
The Engagement" with King
Charles I in December
1647 while he was imprisoned in
Carisbrooke Castle by the English Parliamenterians after his defeat in the
First Civil War.
The Covenanters, a national
Presbyterian movement, governed Scotland from 1639-51, during the civil
Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They supported the English Parliamentarians in the
First English Civil War in return for the
Long Parliament agreeing to the
Solemn League and Covenant, supporting the church settlement in Scotland and promising reform in England "in accordance with the word of God and the example of the best reformed churches.". However, after the English Parliament's victory, they feared being sidelined - especially by the more radical
Independent faction that had a strong following in the
New Model Army both in the rank and file and among the
Grandees like
Oliver Cromwell.
As a result, some of their General Assembly members signed a secret treaty with
Charles I in
1647, known as
The Engagement which promised that Charles would support the establishment of
Presbyterianism, in England for a period of three years, in return for a military alliance with the Covenanters. Not all Covenanters agreed with The Engagement and a large faction known as the
Kirk party, strongly influenced by
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll were opposed, because King Charles refused to take the Covenant personally and they feared he wouldn't honour the agreement if he were restored to power. However the faction which supported The Engagement, known as
The Engagers, outmaneuvered the Kirk party and organised an expeditionary army. Neither of the more experienced Scottish Generals,
Lord Leven or
David Leslie, were willing to lead the army as they sided with Argyll, so the command was given to the less experienced
Duke of Hamilton.
The army was sent to England to try and enforce this deal, but were routed by Cromwell at the
battle of Preston in
1648 and Charles I was executed in 1649. This defeat discredited the Engager party. The more radical Covenanters, in the Kirk party, insisted that any future deal with the King or other would have to include the public endorsement of their demands and not the secret promise of concessions in the future. Charles II agreed to their demands in the
Treaty of Breda (1650), but his defeat at the Battle of Worcester 1651 at the hands of
Oliver Cromwell negated any agreements he'd made with the Covenanters. Later he averred that 'Presbyterianism is no religion for a gentleman'.
Further Information
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