June: Punishment of Prynne, Burton and Bastwick

These three Puritans were fined and publicly mutilated for criticising the Laudian church.

July: Riot at St.Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh

When Charles attempted to impose the Prayer Book on Scotland, the Scots responded with Calvinist fury.

Charles and Laud had long resented the independence of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. They wanted to bring it more into line with the Laudian Church of England and aimed to reform its practices and prayer-book. In particular, Charles feared the Presbyterian dislike of bishops. Bishops were part of a hierarchy of church and state that led ultimately up to the King as Supreme Head of the Church. Any attack on any part of that chain was a diminution of the King's authority. James I had once perceptively warned, 'No Bishop, No King.'

Charles challenged Scottish independence with the introduction of a new Prayer Book. It was to set the three kingdoms on a collision course far faster than Charles could control. England, prosperous and at peace in 1637, was about to ignite the War of the Three Kingdoms. The so-called English Civil War began in Scotland. The catalytic event which ignited all subsequent conflict occurred in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh in 1637.

On July 23rd 1637, the Scottish ecclesiastical establishment was gathered together in all its pomp at St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh to partake of Sunday service according to the new Prayer Book designed by Laud and Charles. As soon as the Dean of the Cathedral began to read from the book, he was shouted down by a chorus of women 'of the meaner sort'. They proceeded to break up the service, shouting loudly 'the mass is come amongst us!'. When the Bishop of Edinburgh climbed the pulpit to appease the mob he was met with a volley of Bibles and then a stool flung from the back by another woman which only just missed him.

The bailiffs poured down from the gallery in an attempt to restore order. But across Scotland, congregations reacted with similar fury to the new service. In Glasgow, a minister was almost torn to pieces. The Bishop of Brechin adopted a more ruthless approach- by conducting the service over a pair of loaded pistols.

Content last updated: 07/01/2001

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