ABSTRACT
Between 1638 and 1660, the covenanting dynamic evolved and stretched across the three Stuart kingdoms. The multiple links between the kingdoms were used to drive change and defend the legal, constitutional and religious settlement as outlined in the Solemn League and Covenant. The covenanting dynamic which appeared in Scotland in 1638 emerged as part of a wider Anglo-Scottish political and religious framework. In Scotland, the Covenant was a legal instrument to provide stability and to consolidate a federative Anglo-Scottish Union to protect the Scottish Reformation. In England, the idea of the Covenant was restricted to the defence of the Crown against the threat of Popery with little or no reference to the joint providential destinies of both nations. Previous to 1638, both English and Scottish Presbyterianism developed separately, but both shared a commitment to further reformation and to uphold the native laws and constitutions of their respective kingdoms.
