Episcopacy in the Mind of Robert Baillie, 1637–1662

The covenanters are often considered to have been unrelenting opponents of episcopacy. In the Glasgow Assembly of 1638, when nearly all covenanters voted to ‘remove and abjure’ episcopacy in the kirk, the Glaswegian minister Robert Baillie was the sole named dissenter. Baillie's subsequent conformity to the covenanting regime after 1638 and his ultimate acceptance of the restored episcopate after 1661 have led historians to claim that he was pliantly obeying those in power. In order to offer an alternative explanation, this article explores the contours of Baillie's writings on episcopacy in the periods 1637–9 and 1658–62. His views were informed by hatred of the Laudian episcopate and his belief that scripture described a lawful form of episcopacy similar to the superintendents of the post-reformation kirk. Whilst Baillie protested against the restored episcopate in 1661, the reasons for his subsequent submission suggest one explanation as to why many presbyterian ministers acquiesced in Charles II's Erastian kirk settlement.