* A term applied to
those Scottish Presbyterians subscribing to various bonds or covenants for the
security and advancement of their cause. The first was entered into by the
Lords of the Congregation in 1557 and another by ordinance of King James VI in
1581. In 1638 the National covenant was directed against the Laudian
prayer-book imposed by Charles I. In 1643 a Solemn League and covenant pledged
the Scots and their English Parliamentarian allies to preserve Presbyterianism
in Scotland and to establish it in England and Ireland. The name Covenanter is
particularly applied to those who adhered to the Covenants after they were
declared unlawful in 1662. Between the Restoration and the Revolution of 1688
they were harried and proscribed but exhibited a brave and often fanatical
resistance. See Cameronians. [BD]
¿ 12.04.94 Zu
