[5] In 1647, Royalist defeat in the First English Civil War split the Covenanters into moderate Engagers and Kirk Party fundamentalists; both sides believed the institution of monarchy was divinely ordered, but differed over who held ultimate authority in clerical affairs.

[10] Sharp went to Oxford, allegedly seeking a position in the Church of England, but returned to Scotland and by 1642, was a regent at the University of St Andrews.

The kirk was restored as the national church, independent sects banned and all office-holders were required to renounce the Covenant; about a third of the clergy refused, around 270 in total, and lost their positions as a result.

[11] Most occurred in the south-west of Scotland, an area particularly strong in its Covenanting sympathies; some took to preaching in the open fields, or conventicles, which often attracted thousands of worshippers.

[12] After his appointment to the Privy Council of Scotland in June 1663, Sharp assumed responsibility for these evictions, making him a target for Presbyterian radicals.

He took an active role in suppressing the Covenanter-backed Pentland Rising in November 1666; he is reported as having condemned to death eleven prisoners who surrendered on a promise of mercy, telling them "You were pardoned as soldiers, but you are not acquitted as subjects".

The kirk split once again, this time between moderates, led by Robert Leighton, and 'hardline' Episcopalians under Sharp; over the next decade, policy alternated between persecution and reconciliation.

James Mitchell, who had been arrested in 1673, was executed in 1678, making him a Presbyterian folk hero; Sharp gave evidence at his trial and was accused of perjury.

[1] On 2 May 1679, a group of nine Covenanters, led by David Hackston and his brother-in-law, John Balfour of Kinloch, were waiting at Magus Muir, hoping to ambush the Sheriff of Cupar.

One of the group, James Russell, claimed he told Sharp he "...declared before the Lord that it was no particular interest, nor yet for any wrong that he had done to him, but because he had betrayed the church as Judas, and had wrung his hands, these 18 or 19 years in the blood of the saints, but especially at Pentland..."[18] Two of the nine, Hackston and Andrew Guillan, were eventually captured and executed; a third, William Dingwall, died at the Battle of Drumclog a month later.

[19] Sharp was buried beneath an imposing black and white marble monument in the Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews.

Designed by his son, Sir William, it has two main objectives; commemorating his father as a martyr, rather than a turncoat, and confirming his privileged status as archbishop.