Lords of the Congregation
The Lords of the Congregation began not with a battle, but with a signature. In December 1557, a small group of Scottish nobles put their names to a document called the "First Band" or Covenant, committing themselves to making Scotland Protestant. At the time, Scotland was Catholic, France was the dominant foreign power, and the future Queen of Scots was about to be married to the heir to the French throne. The men who signed that first covenant were gambling against long odds. What followed was a decade of military standoffs, secret letters, shifting alliances, and two separate political crises that would reshape Scotland forever. Who were these lords? What drove them to challenge the most powerful forces in their world? And what happened when their religious cause collided with the very queen they claimed to be protecting?
On a December day in 1557, five Scottish lords signed the "First Band," a covenant pledging to advance the Protestant Reformation within Scotland. The initial signatories were the Earl of Argyll, his brother Colin Campbell, the Earl of Glencairn, the Earl of Morton, and John Erskine of Dun. They styled themselves "the Faithful," though the broader movement would come to be called the Lords of the Congregation.
Their immediate grievance was the planned marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Dauphin of France. Such a match threatened to draw Scotland permanently into the French orbit, subordinating Scottish interests to those of a Catholic continental power. Others quickly followed the original five; William Douglas of Whittinghame was among the early additions. The covenant set the template for how this movement would operate: through formal written bonds, public declarations, and letters that staked out their position in the language of religious duty and national liberty.
Religious riots in Perth gave the Lords their first opportunity to act militarily. After the unrest, they rallied troops to support the reforming preacher John Knox against the forces loyal to Mary of Guise, who served as Regent of Scotland. On the 22nd of May, the Lords wrote to French commanders in Scotland, including Henri Cleutin, and also to the Regent herself. The letter meant for Mary of Guise was placed on the cushion of her seat in the Chapel Royal of Stirling Castle. She found it and quietly slipped it into the pocket of her gown.
At Cupar Muir in Fife, the Lords demonstrated real military weight, fielding enough strength to face down a combined French and Scottish army led by the Duke of Châtelherault and by Cleutin. By July 1559, the Lords had occupied Edinburgh itself. They could not take Edinburgh Castle, however, and eventually withdrew under the terms of the truce known as the Articles of Leith, signed on the 25th of July 1559.
Two months later, a significant defection shifted the balance. In September 1559, Châtelherault, who as Regent had once backed the French match, changed sides and joined the Congregation Lords. His son, the Earl of Arran, came with him. On the 21st of October 1559, the Lords issued a proclamation stripping Mary of Guise of her authority as regent and declaring she had no right to issue coins. The Regent pushed back, arguing in November 1559 that the Lords were acting from secular ambition rather than genuine faith. Queen Mary and King Francis agreed, writing to her that the lords were acting maliciously under the name and cloak of religion.
By February 1560, the Lords concluded they could not win without outside help. Under the Treaty of Berwick, they secured an English army to resist the French troops still holding Scottish soil. The resulting military contest focused on the Siege of Leith, the fortified port that the Lords' own letter had called the principal port of this realm.
A letter to George Hay, Earl of Erroll and Hereditary Constable of Scotland, written on the 24th of January 1560, laid out their case in direct and forceful language. The letter described their people as being handled and suppressed by strangers, invaded by fire and sword, and warned of utter extermination and bondage if the French prevailed. The letter fell into French hands and could have been used against its authors. It was signed by James Hamilton the former Regent, along with Argyll, Glencairn, Rothes, Ruthven, Menteith, and Boyd. Their candor about seeking English military aid was a frank admission that the Scottish cause depended on foreign support just as much as the Catholic side did.
With the death of Mary of Guise in June 1560 and the conclusion of fighting at Leith under the Treaty of Edinburgh in July, the military phase ended. In August 1560, the Scottish Parliament formally enacted the Reformation.
A separate but related crisis emerged in 1567 when a different set of Scottish nobles rallied against Mary, Queen of Scots, after she was abducted by James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, and then married him. These nobles became known as the Confederate Lords. Mary had been to Stirling Castle before Bothwell took her to Dunbar Castle.
On the 1st of May 1567, a "Bond for the Queen's Safety" was signed at Stirling by the Earls of Atholl, Argyll, Mar, and Morton, along with Sir John Graham and William Murray of Tullibardine. The irony was sharp: some of these same men had earlier signed the Ainslie Tavern Bond in support of Bothwell's marriage to the queen. The wedding between Mary and Bothwell went ahead at Holyrood Palace on the 15th of May. A further bond, circulated after the wedding, drew in additional supporters and included an offer to Bothwell's ally James Balfour to hand over Edinburgh Castle.
The Earl of Morton, Lord Home, and the Earl of Mar convened at Liberton Kirk on the 10th of June 1567. The following day, the Lords entered Edinburgh and laid siege to Borthwick Castle just south of the city. Mary and Bothwell were defeated at the battle of Carberry Hill, and after Mary escaped from Lochleven Castle, she was defeated again at the battle of Langside. Gordon Donaldson examined the overlapping personnel of Mary's supporters, the Congregation, and the Confederate Lords in his 1983 book All the Queen's men: Power and Politics in Mary Stewart's Scotland.
The Confederate Lords used the printing press as a political weapon. During the June 1567 crisis, they issued three proclamations that were printed in Edinburgh by Robert Lekprevik as single-sided broadsides designed for public display. The first, declaring martial law, appeared on the 11th of June when the Lords entered Edinburgh. The second, on the 12th of June, condemned Bothwell by name. The third, dated the 26th of June, called for Bothwell's capture following the battle of Carberry Hill.
These texts were also entered into the register of the Privy Council of Scotland, giving them official standing alongside their street-level circulation. The Lords understood that controlling public narrative mattered alongside military strength. The council for policy of the Lords, listed in an October 1559 document, included figures like Henry Balnaves of Halhill, James Halyburton Provost of Dundee, and Kirkcaldy of Grange, who also provided one of the key personnel lists of the movement alongside Knox. The religious guidance for the Congregation came from John Knox, the English reformer Christopher Goodman, John Willock, and Alexander Gordon, Bishop of Galloway.
Common questions
Who were the original Lords of the Congregation in Scotland?
The original signatories of the 1557 First Band were the Earl of Argyll, his brother Colin Campbell, the Earl of Glencairn, the Earl of Morton, and John Erskine of Dun. They styled themselves "the Faithful" and pledged to advance the Protestant Reformation in Scotland.
What was the First Band signed by the Lords of the Congregation?
The First Band was a covenant signed in December 1557 committing its signatories to making Scotland Protestant. It was prompted in part by opposition to the planned marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Dauphin of France.
What role did the Treaty of Berwick play in the Scottish Reformation?
The Treaty of Berwick, concluded in February 1560, brought an English army into Scotland to resist French troops on behalf of the Lords of the Congregation. The resulting Siege of Leith ended with the death of Regent Mary of Guise and the Treaty of Edinburgh in July 1560, clearing the way for the Scottish Parliament to enact the Reformation in August 1560.
Who were the Confederate Lords and why did they oppose Mary Queen of Scots?
The Confederate Lords were Scottish nobles who opposed Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1567 after she married James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, following her abduction by him. A Bond for the Queen's Safety was signed at Stirling on the 1st of May 1567 by the Earls of Atholl, Argyll, Mar, and Morton, among others, and they defeated Mary at the battles of Carberry Hill and Langside.
How did the Lords of the Congregation use printed proclamations in 1567?
The Confederate Lords issued three proclamations in June 1567, printed by Robert Lekprevik in Edinburgh as single-sided broadsides for public display. The first declared martial law on the 11th of June, the second condemned Bothwell on the 12th of June, and the third called for Bothwell's capture on the 26th of June.
Who provided religious guidance to the Lords of the Congregation?
The Congregation received religious guidance from John Knox, the English reformer Christopher Goodman, John Willock, and Alexander Gordon, Bishop of Galloway. Knox and William Kirkcaldy of Grange also compiled key personnel lists of the movement's membership.
All sources
1 references cited across the entry