Monarchs and parliaments in a Scottish context: the Scottish restoration parliament and the reassertion of the royal prerogative of Charles II as King of Scotland

This chapter examines the Restoration Settlement that was enacted in the Scottish Parliament of 1661-1663 and how the prerogative powers of the Scottish monarchy were reasserted in the aftermath of conquest by Oliver Cromwell and occupation of Scotland between 1651 and 1660. The longer-term perspective against which this monarchical reassertion was set was the experience of the Covenanting Parliaments of 1639-41. During this period, the Scottish Parliament had become more powerful at the expense of the monarchy. This had been legislated for in particular in the Scottish constitutional settlement of 1640-41. In essence, therefore, there were two important contexts in which Scottish parliamentary developments of 1661-63 should be viewed: foreign conquest and occupation and an earlier period of constitutional reform that had restricted the powers of the Scottish monarchy and increased those of the Scottish Parliament.