The Bishops' Wars (First and Second)

• Charles believed in 1639 that the English Army would quickly overcome the Scottish.
• The Scottish had not won a war against England ever since 1314.
• Nothing suggested that the Scottish would win, even King Charles I did not expect to fight a real war with the Scottish.
• The Scottish were expected to desert rather than face their king which would pave the way for a negotiated settlement and the arrest of leading Covenanters.

Covenanter: A group of Scottish Presbyterians that were currently unhappy about the religious changes made by Charles I such as the New Prayer Book.

• English opponents of the Personal Rule watched the approach of war with alarm.
• Some members of the Puritan Network (e.g Lord Saye, Sele and Pym) began secret negotiations with the Scottish.
• Charles commanded his English opposition to take an oath of allegiance, Lords Saye, Sele and Pym refused and were imprisoned.
• The Commander of the Scottish, Alexander Leslie, was a veteran dueing the Thirty Years War and was supported by many more veterans.

The Puritan Network: The Puritan Network was made up of various high class Puritans connected both by business and blood (marriage).

• Charles' commander, the Earl of Arundel, rode to meet his troops in a borrowed coach decorated with the Popes' coat of arms.
• This was a confirmation to all that this was a Papist war against honest Protestants.
• Charles spent £185,000 on military operations that were unsuccessful.
• The result was the Truce or Pacification of Berwick On June 18th 1639.
• The Scottish refused to disband and the King prepared for another Bishops' War.

• Strafford recalled from Ireland, but the situation was irretrievable.
• He suggested recalling Parliament to fund the war as the City of London was not prepared to lend Charles money.
• Charles' treatment of the City of London in the past had meant he was offered £10,000 instead of the £100,000 he had asked for.
• He therefore recalled Parliament as he had no choice.

• Strafford believed that parliament could be won over by a combination of bribes, threats and skillful speeches.
• He counted on anti-Scottish patriotism to help guarantee the granting of subsidies for the war.
• However the view of the Scottish as heroic protestant rebels had now replaced the xenophobia of previous years.
• Charles wanted 12 subsidies and linked them to a promise to give up ship money.
• The Commons, led by Pym and Hampden were not going to grant him that until he dealt with their 'grievances'.
• Laud enflamed the situation further by issueing a new set of canons with clear support for the Divine Right of Kings.
• Charles dismissed the Short Parliament after only three weeks in May 1640.
• Attitudes were hardened after the dissolution.

• King Charles attempted a second campaign against the Scots, but once again, the army he raised was inadequate.
• Covenanters quickly mobilized their forces to suppress Royalist clans in the Highlands while the main Covenanter army under General Leslie marched into England.
• Leslie by-passed ineffective English defences on the borders and advanced on Newcastle.
• After Viscount Conway's forces were routed at the battle of Newburn in 1640, the English abandoned to the Covenanters and fell back to Durham.

• Due to the morale in the English army being shattered, the King was forced to negotiate a truce.
• The Second Bishops war ended after the signing of the Treaty of Ripon on the 21st of October 1640.
• Humiliation for Charles as he had to pay the Scottish £850 a day in costs to ensure they remained in Newcastle.
• With barely any finance to enforce the deal, Charles was forced to recall Parliament on the 3rd of November 1640.
• External events ensured the Personal Rule was over.