ABSTRACT
After the Scots’ victory at Newburn and their occupation of Newcastle, Charles sought to buy time to rectify his strategic situation. He accepted the Covenanters’ offer for a cease-fire and convened a ‘Great Council’ of his English nobles in York, on 24 September. The armistice prevented the Covenanters from marching further south, giving his army time to prepare for the resumption of hostilities, which was his main goal.1 By summoning a council of nobles he provided a forum in which they could discuss their concerns and in which he could solicit their ideas about how the Scottish ‘invaders’ could be driven out of England.
