Page "Jacobitism" Paragraph 6

From the second half of the 17th century onwards, a time of political and religious turmoil existed in the kingdoms.

The Commonwealth ended with the Restoration of Charles II.

During his reign the Church of England was re-established, and episcopal church government was restored in Scotland.

The latter move was particularly contentious, causing many, especially in the south-west of Scotland, to abandon the official church, attending illegal field assemblies known as conventicles in preference.

The authorities attempted some accommodation with Presbyterian dissidents, introducing official ' Indulgences ' in 1669 and 1672, meeting with some limited success.

Towards the end of Charles ' reign those with more radical Presbyterian opinions, known as the Covenanters, who favoured rejecting all compromise with the state, began to move away from religious dissent to outright political sedition.

This was particularly true of the followers of the Reverend Richard Cameron, soon to be known as the Cameronians.

The government increasingly resorted to force in its attempts to stamp out the Cameronians and the other Society Men, in a period subsequently labelled as the Killing Time.