1651 - 1699

1651
Charles II is crowned at Scone by the Covenanters whose army, led by the Macleans, are slaughtered by the English army at Inerkeithing. Cromwell then defeats another Scottish army at Worcester. Charles II flees to France.

1652
A Treaty of Union abolishes the monarchy and unites Scotland with England and Wales as part of the Commonwealth. 1655 Publication of "The History of Scotland 1423-1542" written by William Drummond, who died in 1649.

1657
George Fox makes a missionary journey to Scotland on behalf of his Society of Friends (Quakers).

1658
Upon the death of Cromwell, Charles II comes back to Scotland to reclaim his throne at the request of General Monk. The king seems ignorant of how deeply established Presbyterianism is in Scotland.

1667
James Gregory publishes "The True Squaring of the Circle and of the Hyperbola" thus he will be endeared to countless generations of advanced school children all over the world by making higher mathematics a subject to be studied. Gregory also designed the first practical reflecting telescope.

1679
When the Covenanters murder Archbishop Sharp, an army under James, Duke of Monmouth is sent to punish them in the period known to Scottish history as "the Killing Time."

1681
James Dalrymple publishes "Institutions of the Law of Scotland". It was to become highly influential in the development of Scots Law for centuries.

1682
Sir George Mackenzie establishes the Advocates' Library, later to become the National Library of Scotland.

1685
After the death of Charles II, the new king comes to the Scottish throne as James VII of Scotland (James II of England), an openly-avowed Catholic whose attempts to afford complete toleration to all his subjects only fosters suspicion and resentment.

The Royal College of Physicians is chartered in Edinburgh.

1688
The forces of James VII defeat a rebellion led by James Duke of Monmouth supported by Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll, who is executed for his part.

King James VII flees to the Continent when his large army, threatened by the forces of William of Orange, completely disintegrates. William and Mary now rule the Kingdom of Great Britain as joint monarchs.

1689
The Convention of States declares that James VII has forfeited the Scottish Crown; they offer it to William and Mary. The Convention is then converted into a Parliament. Viscount "Bonnie" Dundee raises an army to fight for the deposed king.

The Scottish Jacobite forces, led by Bonnie Dundee (who is killed in the fighting) defeat those of the new King William at the Battle of Killiecrankie, thus giving false hopes to the clans for future success. A defeat at Dunkeld heralds the gloomy future for their cause.

1690
The Battle of the Boyne, July 1st, completes the Protestant conquest of Ireland as the forces of William III defeat those of James II and his French supporters. James is forced to flee to France.

1691
The majority of the Scottish clans swear allegiance to King William. The MacDonalds are massacred at Glencoe after John Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, suppresses news of their oath. John Bell is born. His 1714 mission to Russia, followed two years later by one to China, alerts the Western world to those hitherto mostly unknown and ignored regions.

1693
The charter for the founding of the College of William and Mary is received by James Blair, Scots immigrant, rector of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.

1694
Scots financier William Paterson leads a company of merchants to begin The Bank of England in London.

1695
As Lord High Chancellor of Scotland during the reign of William III, John Hay Tweeddale formally assents to the Act that establishes the ill-fated Darien Company.

1698
William Paterson is the main backer of the disastrous attempt to settle Darien on the Isthmus of Panama, failure of which will certainly help persuade Scottish investors to welcome the Union with England of 1707.

1699
The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge begins its policy of hostility to the Gaelic language.