View source for Engagers

{{Short description|Faction of the Scottish Covenanters}}
{{for|the engagement with the English parliament of 1649|Engagement controversy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
|name = The Engagers
|colorcode =
|logo = File:17thC dragoon's helmet.JPG
|logo_size =300px
|caption =A Covenanter's helmet from the period in the [[Museum of Edinburgh]]
|founded = December 1647
|dissolved = 1651
|predecessor =
|successor =
|split=[[Covenanters]]
|leader =
|ideology =
|position =
|religion = [[Presbyterianism]] ([[Church of Scotland]])
|national=
|country=Scotland
|colours =
}}
The '''Engagers''' were a faction of the [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[Covenanters]], who made "'''The Engagement'''" with King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] in December 1647 while he was imprisoned in [[Carisbrooke Castle]] by the [[English Parliamentarians]] after his defeat in the [[First English Civil War|First Civil War]].
==Background==
[[File:The Solemn League And Covenant.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Solemn League and Covenant]] agreed by English and Scottish Presbyterians in 1643]]
In the 17th and 18th centuries, politics and religion were closely linked; it is impossible to understand differences between Engagers, Royalists or [[Kirk Party]] political views without an appreciation of these distinctions.
'[[Presbyterian polity|Presbyterian]]' versus '[[Episcopal polity|Episcopalian]]' implied  differences in governance, not [[doctrine]]. Episcopalian meant rule by bishops, appointed by the monarch; Presbyterian structures were controlled by [[Elder (Christianity)|Elders]], nominated by their congregations. Arguments over structure or governance of the church were as much about politics and the power of the monarch as religious practice; political divisions often centred on different interpretations of this.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Main|first1=David|title=The Origins of the Scottish Episcopal Church|url=http://stninianscastledouglas.org.uk/history/the-origins-of-the-scottish-episcopal-church/|website=St Ninians Castle Douglas|access-date=2020-01-14|archive-date=2019-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407123926/http://stninianscastledouglas.org.uk/history/the-origins-of-the-scottish-episcopal-church/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The [[English Reformation|Protestant Reformation]] created a [[Church of Scotland]], or 'kirk', Presbyterian in structure and governance, but predominantly [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] in doctrine. When [[James VI and I]] became king of England in 1603, a unified Church of Scotland and England governed by bishops became the first step in his vision of a centralised, Unionist state.{{sfn|Stephen|2010|pp=55–58}} Although both churches were nominally Episcopalian, they were very different in doctrine; even Scottish bishops viewed many [[Church of England]] practices as little better than Catholicism.{{sfn|McDonald|1998|pp=75–76}}
[[File:1st Marquess of Montrose.jpg|thumb|right|[[James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose|James Graham, Marquis of Montrose]]; Royalist commander in Scotland 1644–1645, but a Covenanter general 1638 to 1640]]
Efforts by [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] to impose uniform practices led to the 1638 [[National Covenant]], whose signatories pledged to resist liturgical 'innovations'. In December 1638, bishops were expelled from the kirk; when Charles attempted to use military force, he was defeated in the 1639 and 1640 [[Bishops' Wars]], which left the [[Covenanter]] party in control of Scotland.{{sfn|Mackie|Lenman|Parker|1986|pp=204-205}}
Calvinists believed a 'well-ordered' monarchy was part of God's plan; as a result, the vast majority of Covenanters agreed monarchy itself was divinely ordered but disagreed on who held ultimate authority in clerical affairs.{{sfn|Macleod|2009|pp=5–19 passim}} Royalists and Engagers tended to argue the king held supreme authority, but that did not necessarily mean they supported bishops and individual motives were very complex. Many fought for both Covenant and king at different times, including [[James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose|Montrose]].{{sfn|Harris|2015|pp=53–54}}
When the [[First English Civil War]] began in 1642, Scotland initially remained neutral, but became involved in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641|Irish Rebellion]]; the bitterness of this conflict radicalised views in Scotland and Ireland.{{sfn|Royle|2005|p=142}} The Covenanter faction known as the [[Kirk Party]], led by [[Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll|Argyll]] saw religious union with England as the best way to preserve a Presbyterian kirk and in October 1643, the [[Solemn League and Covenant]] agreed a Presbyterian Union in return for Scottish military support.{{sfn|Robertson|2014|p=125}}
Royalists and moderates in both Scotland and England opposed union, as did the religious [[Independent (religion)|Independents]] like [[Oliver Cromwell]], who dominated the [[New Model Army]] and opposed any state-ordered church. Both Covenanters and their English allies saw the Independents as a bigger threat than the Royalists and when Charles surrendered in 1646, they began negotiations to restore him to the English throne.{{sfn|Royle|2005|pp=420·423}}
==The Engagement==
[[File:The Marquess of Argyll.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll|Marquess of Argyll]], whose [[Kirk Party]] opposed the Engagement]]
The Scots nominated three Commissioners to negotiate with Charles; [[John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale|Lauderdale]], [[William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton|Lanark]] and [[John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun|Loudoun]]. In December 1647, Charles agreed to impose Presbyterianism in England for three years and suppress the Independents, but his refusal to take the Covenant himself split the Scots.<ref>{{cite web | title=Gardiner: Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution | website=Constitution Society | date=1 June 1999 | url=http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur076.htm | ref={{sfnref | Constitution Society | 1999}} | access-date=27 June 2018}}</ref> It was not until April 1648 the Engagers achieved a majority in the [[Parliament of Scotland|Scottish Parliament]]; Argyll's Kirk Party did not trust Charles, objected to an alliance with English and Scots Royalists, and denounced the Engagement as 'sinful.'{{sfn|Mitchison|Fry|Fry|2002|pp=223-224}}
Most of the Scottish army had been demobilised and efforts to recruit new regiments were undermined when many refused to serve, including their most experienced generals, [[Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven|Lord Leven]] and [[David Leslie (Scottish general)|David Leslie]]. The inexperienced [[James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton|Duke of Hamilton]] was given command, with the [[James Livingston, 1st Earl of Callendar|Earl of Callendar]] as his subordinate. When deputy to Leven, Callendar's overestimation of his military abilities had led to constant conflict and this was repeated with Hamilton. His commander of infantry, [[William Baillie (soldier)|William Baillie]], had direct experience of the New Model Army and doubted their ability to defeat it.{{sfn|Royle|2005|p=424}}
After dispersing Kirk Party dissidents at [[Battle of Mauchline Muir|Mauchline Muir]] in June 1648, a poorly trained Engager army of 9,000 marched into England. The [[Second English Civil War]] was intended as a series of Royalist risings in England and Wales, with the Scots providing support. By the time Hamilton's army entered [[Lancashire]] in early August, the other revolts had been suppressed and Cromwell routed the Engagers at [[Battle of Preston (1648)|Preston]] on 19 August. Hamilton was taken prisoner and executed in March 1649.{{sfn|Royle|2005|p=470}}
==Aftermath==
Defeat at Preston led to the collapse of the Engager regime; the Kirk Party took control of [[Edinburgh]] and although repulsed at [[Battle of Stirling (1648)|Stirling]] in September, a new civil war seemed imminent. However, with Cromwell's support, Argyll took control and expelled his Engager opponents, with English troops being withdrawn.{{sfn|Royle|2005|p=470}}
The 1649 [[Act of Classes]] banned Engagers and Royalists from holding political or military office and established the Kirk Party as the government of Scotland. However, the execution of Charles in January 1649 was viewed by Covenanters as an offence against God; they proclaimed his son [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] King of Scotland and Great Britain. In the 1650 [[Treaty of Breda (1650)|Treaty of Breda]], they agreed to restore Charles to the English throne; in return he accepted the Covenant. Defeats at [[Battle of Dunbar (1650)|Dunbar]] and [[Battle of Worcester|Worcester]] resulted with Scotland being incorporated into the [[Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland]] in 1654.{{sfn|Royle|2005|p=520}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Tim|title=Rebellion: Britain's First Stuart Kings, 1567-1642|date=2015|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0198743118}}
* {{cite book|last1=McDonald|first1=Alan|title=The Jacobean Kirk, 1567–1625: Sovereignty, Polity and Liturgy|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=185928373X}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mackie |first1=JD |last2=Lenman |first2=Bruce |last3=Parker |first3=Geoffrey |title=A History of Scotland |date=1986 |publisher=Hippocrene Books |isbn=978-0880290401 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Macleod |first=Donald | author-link = Donald Macleod (theologian) |date=Autumn 2009 |title=The influence of Calvinism on politics|journal=Theology in Scotland |volume=XVI |issue=2|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/30318219.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mitchison |first1=Rosalind |last2=Fry |first2=Peter |last3=Fry |first3=Fiona |title=A History of Scotland |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138174146}}
* {{cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=Barry |title=Royalists at War in Scotland and Ireland, 1638–1650 |date=2014 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-1409457473}}
* {{cite book|last1=Royle|first1=Trevor|title=Civil War: The War of the Three Kingdoms 1638-1660|date=2005|publisher=Abacus|isbn=0349115648}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Stephen|first1=Jeffrey|title=Scottish Nationalism and Stuart Unionism|journal=Journal of British Studies|date=January 2010|volume=49|issue=1, Scottish Special|doi=10.1086/644534|s2cid=144730991}}
==External links==
* {{cite web |last=Plant |first=David |title=The Engagement, 1647-8 |website=BCW Project |date=1 November 2008 |url=http://bcw-project.org/church-and-state/second-civil-war/engagement |access-date=27 June 2018}}
* {{cite web | title=Gardiner: Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution | website=Constitution Society | date=1 June 1999 | url=http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur076.htm | ref={{sfnref | Constitution Society | 1999}} | access-date=27 June 2018}}
[[Category:Wars of the Three Kingdoms]]
[[Category:1647 in Scotland]]
[[Category:Covenanters]]
[[Category:Charles I of England]]
[[Category:Political party factions in Scotland]]