The Rye House Plot 1683 Monmouth The Ryehouse Plot was a scheme in 1683 with the object of assassinating King Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York (later James II ) in order to secure the succession of the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II and Lucy Walter. Born in […]

A Private Statute made by the Clergy, without Consent or Knowledge of the Commons. 1382. On the face of it this `private` statute was a gross interference in the political processes and the authority of the House of Commons, seeming to convey authority for the execution of heretics. It was more likely meant to enable […]

In this letter Cranmer writes of the official divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon and the coronation of Henry’s next Queen, Anne Boleyn. He speaks of the legal meeting in which Catherine was informed that the King rejected the Pope’s authority over the marriage and of the obvious pregnancy of Anne at her […]

The Hampton Court Conference, Jan. 1604. ( Extracted summary from Select Statutes and Constitutional Documents – Elizabeth I and James I. Ed G.W.Protheroe,  Clarendon Press (1894)).  The sum of what was concluded at this conference will appear in this following authentic paper, which seems to be [by] the hand of the Bishop of London [Bancroft]. […]

Ratification of divorce and declaration on the succession. Extract from Foxes Monuments. Ed Rev Geo. Townsend (1846) vol 5 p 67-8. A Table of Degrees, prohibited by God’s Law to marry  The son not to marry the mother nor stepmother. The brother not to marry the sister. The father not to marry his son’s daughter, […]

The King’s Proclamation for the abolishing of the usurped power of the Pope, 9 June 1535. [ Acts and Monuments, John Foxe, Ed G Townsend, Seeley Burnside, London (1844) vol v p 69-70.] Trusty and well beloved we greet you well. And whereas not only upon good, and just, and virtuous grounds and respects, edified […]

The United Irishmen and the United Scotsmen. The United Irishmen movement began at a meeting off Crown Entry in 1791 in Belfast with quite philanthropic objectives  – to secure equality under the law and representation for all people without regard to religious beliefs and stemmed, amongst other things, from the desire of The Catholic Committee […]

Glossary (supplementary). It would be a Herculean task to give a glossary of every obscure word in the Scots dialect. This glossary is confined to  words and terms that occur in the articles on this site. A more detailed Glossary of 17C Scots that appears in eg verbatim quotes of business in Parliament and the […]

The Six Johns. The six Johns were Knox, Spottiswoode, Willock, Row, Douglas and Winram, who jointly produced the First Book of Faith. This gave a creed to the new Church and, amongst other things, justified the action taken by the Congregation. They also produced the First Book of Discipline, or the Policie and Discipline of […]

November 1559 – July 1560. Inevitably the Act of Separation and letter to the Regent Mary informing her of the decision hardened attitudes. First to enter the lists was the Congregation who by sound of trumpet and declaration sought the French troops and foreign Scots ( also soldiers in the main) in Leith to leave […]

DOUBLE DATES IN SCOTLAND, AND DATE CHANGES IN THE UK. —By an Act of the Privy Council of 17th December 1599, it was ordained that, in agreement with the general practice on the Continent, the 1st of January should, beginning with the year 1600, be reckoned as the first day of the year. Prior to […]

The First Covenant. Ane Godlie Band For the maintenance of the Evangel maid be ye Erle of Argill and uyer Noble men. Subscribed at Edinburgh 3 December 1557. Cited Johnston`s Treasury  p24-5 . Hewisons  Covenanters, vol i , p11-12 Works of Knox vol 6  p 674. “We, perceiving how Satan in his members, the Antichrist of […]

St Giles Cathedral , Greyfriars Kirk and the National Covenant. A stool was thrown On Sunday, July 23, 1637 at St. Giles Cathedral in the Old City of Edinburgh a woman by the name of Janet or Jenny Geddes objected to the use of a new prayer book written by Scottish Bishops and largely amended […]

The Court of High Commission,   The original Court of High Commission was created by Elizabeth I in 1559  by which she gave authority  to a mixed committee of knights, counsellors and clerics to enforce  `an Act for the uniformity of Common Prayer` and An Act restoring  to the Crown the ancient jurisdiction` [of the […]