Notes for J. NORMENT:
J. Norment emigrated from Edenburg, Scotland early in the 17th Century and settled near the Rappahannock River in Virginia, then a British Colony (Norment Family Bible )
Covenanters
According to the obituary of his grandson, James Norment, Jr., J. Norment was a "Scotch Covenanter." From Encarta Encyclopedia, the "Covenanters" were 17th-century Scottish Presbyterians who were devoted to maintaining Presbyterianism as the sole religion of Scotland. They helped establish the supremacy of Parliament over the monarch in Scotland and England. Early covenants, the written documents which bound them to their cause, supporting Protestantism were signed in 1557 and in 1581. James VI of Scotland (later James I of England) was compelled to sign the second of these, and it was reendorsed in 1590 and 1596. The adherents became known as the Supplicants.
The National Covenant of 1638
When Charles I came to the throne in 1625, he was opposed by the Scottish bourgeoisie because of oppressive taxation and trade restraints and by the Scottish nobility because of his attempts to impose the Anglican church on Scotland. In 1638 the covenant of 1581 was revived, and its signatories added a vow to establish Presbyterianism as the state religion of Scotland. Charles, fearing a revolution, convened a General Assembly of Scotland in November 1638. Consisting exclusively of Supplicants, the assembly defied royal authority and abolished the Anglican episcopacy. The resulting First Bishops' War (1639) was settled by referring the dispute to another General Assembly and to a new Scottish Parliament. In 1639 the new assembly reaffirmed the decisions of its predecessor, and the new Parliament decreed limitations on royal authority. Charles broke his pledge to accept the decisions of these bodies. In the Second Bishops' War (1640) a Scottish army invaded England, defeating Charles at Newburn. At about this time the Supplicants became known as Covenanters.
The Solemn League and Covenant
Similar social and religious conflicts led the English and Scottish parliaments to take common action against Charles, and the Solemn League and Covenant was adopted by the two parliaments in 1643 during the civil war between Royalists and Parliamentarians. The signatories of the compact took an oath to preserve the reformed religion in Scotland and to work for religious reform in England and Ireland. The compact, however, was more a treaty of political and military alliance.
During the First Civil War (1642-46) the Covenanters fought with the Parliamentarians against the Royalists. Charles surrendered to the Covenanters in 1646; on his refusal to subscribe to the Solemn League and Covenant, he was turned over to the Parliamentarians in 1647.
In December 1647, alarmed by the growing strength of the English Independents (supporters of Protestant religious tolerance and of the English leader Oliver Cromwell), the Covenanters made a secret treaty with Charles against the Parliamentarians. In return for aid in regaining his throne, Charles consented to abolish the Anglican episcopacy. In the ensuing conflict between Covenanters and Independents, however, coinciding in part with the Second Civil War, Cromwell conquered (1649-50) Scotland.
When Charles II came to the throne in 1660, the episcopacy was reestablished. Throughout his reign and that of his Catholic brother James II, the Covenanters were cruelly persecuted, and they attempted several revolts. After the Glorious Revolution deposed (1688) James II, Presbyterianism was restored as the state religion of Scotland, although the covenants were not revived. ("Covenanters," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)
Child of J. NORMENT is:
