The Scottish Presbyterian Movement in 1596

Abstract

In the century or so after the Reformation, Scottish religious radicals can often be identified as presbyterians, although they organized and campaigned on a number of issues. The evidence of 1596, when the movement attempted a coup d'état, displays it at a particularly assertive moment, and illustrates its membership and organization. The movement was a mixed lay and clerical network, comprising ministers, nobles, lairds, burgesses, and common people. Scottish presbyterians can helpfully be compared with English puritans.