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The collections of Museums & Galleries Edinburgh contain some unique and astonishing documents from the 17th century. It was a turbulent time in Edinburgh’s past, when a series of power struggles, civil wars, reprisals and in-fighting saw life in the city torn apart.
The trouble started in 1637 when King Charles I tried to impose a new prayer book on the Presbyterian church in Scotland. He was trying to force the Scots to conform to his Anglican way of things, but they were not going to let him get his way. What started as a peaceful petition to the king, reminding him of his legal rights and limits to power over the Kirk, soon spiralled out of control. Add to that, revolts in Ireland, dissent in England and a stubborn, inflexible King, and a few years later the entire nation was embroiled in civil war.
This is a story of Edinburgh’s experience of war but is also a snapshot for the nation as a whole.
