1603 - 1649

1603
James VI, King of Scots, takes the title of James I, King of Great Britain at the death of Elizabeth I. He will return to Scotland only once.

1607
An Act of Union is passed to unite the kingdoms of Scotland and England (including the Principality of Wales), but the treaty will not actually be signed until one hundred years later.

Birth of Archibald Campbell, 8th Earl of Argyll, whose leadership of the Scottish anti-royalist party during the "English" Civil Wars of the 1660's will do much to keep his nation free from political and religious domination by England.

1610
James VI encourages the plantation of Ulster that will settle thousands of Presbyterian Scots on lands that belong to the native Irish Catholic population. James also encourages emigration to Arcadia, in North America, part of which will later became Nova Scotia.

1611
The use of the "King James Bible" by Scottish Protestants further hastens the decline of the Gaelic language.

1614
John Napier published his "Description of the Marvelous Canon of Logarithms" that will remain a most valuable aid to mathematical calculations until the invention of the computer.

1616
An Act of the Scottish General Assembly puts into place a network of schools to instruct the young of every parish in "godliness and knowledge" and to teach them to read and write in the English language at the expense of Gaelic, termed "the chief cause of the barbaritie and incivilitie of the people."

1618
King James' attempts to push his Five Articles (dealing with matters of worship and religious observances) on the people of Scotland at a General Assembly at Perth is mostly ignored. The Clans continue to worship as Catholics and to use the Gaelic language.

1621
William Alexander Stirling becomes proprietor of Nova Scotia which later became the first British colony to exercise the prerogative of a government responsible to the people through elected representatives.

1625
Charles I succeeds James as king of Scotland and England. His lack of understanding of Scottish affairs and his attempts to turn back the clock in matters of religion will cost him dearly. In particular, his Act of Revocation, restoring lands and tithes to the Church will make him a permanent enemy of the Scottish nobles.

1629
The Scots are outraged at the demands of Charles I that their religious practices conform to those established in England.

1630
Birth of the future Charles II. 1632 William Lithgow publishes an account of his travels around Europe and the near East. It provids much cultural and economic information about parts hitherto unknown: "The Total Discourse of the Rare Adventures and Painful Peregrinations of Long Nineteen Years Travayles".

1633
Charles I is crowned King of Scotland in Edinburgh, but the ceremony seemed too "popish" for many of his Scottish subjects.

The Scottish Education Act of 1616 is ratified by the Privy Council to raise a land tax in each Parish "to establish and maintain such schools," thus universal elementary education will be continued as a religious obligation.

1637
The first reading of the Revised Prayer Book for Scotland causes a riot. Alexander Henderson refuses to procure copies for his parish of the book of canons and the book of worship imposed by Charles I. His disobedience will find national expression in the National Covenant of 1638 and the eventual imposition of the Presbyterian system in Scotland.

1638
Charles' attempts to persuade the General Assembly to re-establish the authority of the established Church leads to the First Bishop's War.

1639
The Edinburgh Town Council erects Parliament House, where the Scottish Parliament will meet until 1707.

The Scottish army defeats Charles who agrees to refer all disputed questions to the General Assembly or to Parliament. The National Covenant rejects the theory of the Divine Right of Kings, and the imposition of episcopacy.

1640
The Treaty of Ripon ends the Second Bishop's War in which the Scots once again defeat Charles I's attempts to impose the English liturgy in Scotland.

1642
The Civil Wars begin in England and will greatly affect her Scottish neighbor.

1643
By the Solemn League and Covenant (signed by the Covenanters and the English Parliament) the Scottish army is to attack the forces of Charles in England in return for a reformation of religion in doctrine, worship and government and "the extirpation of popery and prelacy."

1646
Alexander Leslie Leven, distinguished soldier who has been serving under Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, returns home to lead the armies of Parliament against Charles I, who surrenders to Leven at Newark.

1647
The Scots hand over Charles I to Parliament, but enter into a secret agreement to support him by armed forces against Parliament in return for his promise to restore Presbyterianism in Scotland.

1648
Birth of Robert Barclay, whose "Apology for the True Christian Divinity" will become the standard statement of Quaker doctrines, further extended in the "Apology" of 1678 that argues for the "inner light" of faith against the doctrines of the Catholic, Anglican and Protestant churches.

The defeat of the Scottish forces, under the inept James Hamilton by Oliver Cromwell at Preston, does much to ensure the downfall of Charles I and the growing strength of Parliament.

1649
Charles I is executed in London. The Scots proclaim Charles II as King, inviting an invasion by Cromwell.