Treaty of Berwick (1639) facts for kids
The Treaty of Berwick (also known as the Peace of Berwick or the Pacification of Berwick) is one of several peace treaties between England and Scotland that go by the same name. This treaty was signed on 19 June 1639 and ended minor hostilities the day before. This treaty preceded the Treaty of Ripon which ended the Bishops' Wars in its entirety.
Contents
Background
The Bishops' Wars were a series of conflicts between the three kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland. Starting in 1639, the first Bishops' War was caused by King Charles I's attempts at reforming the Scottish Church. His predecessor, James VI and I attempted to unify the Church of Scotland and England to create a centralized state, but King Charles I had a different method of church reform which was essentially Catholic. This caused civil unrest with the opposing religious groups, so riots and protests broke out before an attempt at negotiation. However, King Charles I deferred these attempts and instead, asserted his authority by beginning the First Bishops' War.
Signing of the treaty
Strategically, the first Bishops' War was lost due to King Charles's own military decisions when he divided his forces for a three-pronged invasion in Scotland. English morale was already low as religion divided the British while it unified the Scots. Upon arriving at Berwick, the English army was unwilling to fight, so on 13 June 1639, Archibald Johnston and Alexander Henderson were sent by the Scottish for the negotiation of a treaty. They met King Charles I at the English army's camp and debated the conditions of the treaty for around 5 days. On 18 June 1639, the Treaty of Berwick was signed by the king and negotiators which brought an end to the first Bishops' War, although it was understood by both sides that it was only a temporary truce.
Aftermath
After the treaty was signed, King Charles immediately began to gather the resources he needed in order to strengthen his armies and the agreement was broken at the beginning of the Second Bishops' War. Then, a disastrous skirmish occurred at Kelso between the English advance guard and the Scottish Covenanter Army which forced the Earl of Holland to flee back to the king's headquarters at Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Earl of Antrim also failed to establish negotiations in order to bring the Irish army over. This, along with the unsuccessful English naval campaign at Hamilton, meant that Charles was forced to sign a truce where he conceded to the Scots the right to a free church assembly and a free parliament.
See also
- Bishops' Wars
- List of treaties
