This Thesis is an examination into the origin and development of the Protester-
Resolutioner controversy, the internecine feud which divided the hitherto unified
Covenanting movement during the Cromwellian invasion and occupation of Scotland,
1650-60. During the English invasion of Scotland in 1650, incipient divisions within
the kirk erupted as the moderate and radical Covenanters divided over the reception
of Charles II as king and the passing of the Public Resolutions, which allowed
"malignant" royalists into the army and state. When the 1651 General Assembly
approved the Resolutions, the schism was institutionalized and the kirk divided into
two factions: the Resolutioners, who supported the king and government, and the
Protesters, who disavowed the authority of both. After the English conquest in late
1651, these divisions were internalized as both factions engaged in numerous (albeit
unsuccessful) attempts to gain ascendancy in the kirk. In 1654, the Protester Patrick
Gillespie attempted to break the resultant stalemate when he sought and obtained an
ordinance from the English government establishing a system of "triers", which
superseded the authority of the kirk's presbyterian courts. In doing this, Gillespie
broke the factions' official policy of non-cooperation with the English and ushered in
a period during which both factions courted the favour of the Cromwellian regime in
an attempt to gain an advantage over their rival. From this point on, the fortunes of
the factions became linked inextricably with the ebb and flow of English politics, the
Protesters allying themselves with the radical officers of the English army and the
Resolutioners with the conservative forces of parliament. The benefits of such
alliances, however, proved transitory, serving only to intensify the factions' animosity.
By the eve of the Restoration in 1660, the schism had not been remedied and the
divided kirk proved an easy prey to its adversaries. This Thesis, in addition to
providing the first detailed account of this controversy, will also seek to bridge an
important gap in the history of the Covenanting movement by tracing the development
and divergence of the Protesters' and Resolutioners' thought on certain key issues,
including: the Covenants; the nature of presbyterian church government; the
relationship between church and state; religious toleration; and the nature of true
godliness. The way in which the factions handled these issues, all of which had their
origins in the 1630s and 1640s, was to have a profound effect on the ideology of the
presbyterian ministers and the way in which they interacted with the government
during the period following the Restoratio
