Scottish Presbyterians of the 17th century who made convenants in which they pledged to maintain specific forms of worship and church government.
After the signing of the National Covenant of 1638, the Scottish Assembly abolished the episcopal system. In the Bishops' Wars of 1639–40 the Scots fought against England to maintain their religious liberty. In England the expenses of these wars were a factor in the Charles II came to the throne in 1660. Episcopacy was brought back, and the Covenanters endured severe persecutions. Not until the Glorious Revolution of 1688 was Presbyterianism reestablished in Scotland.