A Blessed Union? Anglo-Scottish Relations before the Covenant

This chapter provides a summary on the Anglo-Scottish relations before the Covenant. It specifically addresses the medieval inheritance of Anglo-Scottish relations. Undoubtedly, the fourteenth-century Wars of Independence hugely influenced the development of late medieval Scotland, leaving the Scots with a legacy of popular distrust of England. The new British state system with its composite monarchies was not unique, and multiple monarchies existed elsewhere in Europe. The structures put in place for the government of the new Britain had minimal or little impact on Anglo-Scottish relations, and what is surprising is how little governmental change took place. In terms of culture, the greatly improved Anglo-Scottish relations of the early seventeenth century had a modest impact. Religion was the single most damaging evidence of Scotland's distinctive traditions being compromised, and significantly it was on this issue that the Covenanters placed greatest emphasis in their subsequent negotiations with English parliamentarians in the 1640s.