Majesty or laic patron". If a congregation refused to accept a suitable nominee, the Patron was entitled to enjoy the fruits of the original bequest - stipend, lands, house, etc. By the beginning of the 17th century, Patronage was well established in custom and law. A Patron could be the King, one of the Universities, a Town or Burgh Council or a landowner, such as the Duke of Argyle (who had nine patronages). Seventeenth century Turmoil The Golden Act was repealed as regards Church government by Charles I, but lay Patronage was not repealed. In 1649, just before the execution of Charles I, the Parliament of Scotland passed an Act abolishing Patronage, but it never received Royal Assent and Scotland was soon overrun by the English. Despite further changes to Church government, (even despite Scotland having been conquered by, and incorporated into, the Puritan Commonwealth of England), Patronage was not formally repealed. Nor was it during the Restoration and the reigns of Charles II and James VII. Glorious Revolution Following the Dutch invasion of England by the Presbyterian William of Orange, the so-called Glorious Revolution definitively restored Presbyterianism as the only legal form of Church government in Scotland. A 1690 Act (again, by the Parliament of Scotland) did not abolish patronage, but vested this power instead in the heritors and elders of each parish, who could propose a candidate to the whole congregation, to be either approved or disapproved by them. If they disapproved, they needed to give their reasons. Disputes were to be resolved by the presbytery. Presbyteries were to pay compensation, typically a year's stipend, to the owner of the abolished patronage, who was to provide a formal, written renunciation in return. 1707 – Union of Great Britain The Treaty of Union, signed between Scotland and England in 1706, preserved and guaranteed the separate legal system in Scotland. By separate Acts of Union in the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England, whilst the English Parliament abolished itself the Scottish Parliament was prorogued, and set up a single Parliament of Great Britain. A further act guaranteed the Presbyterian status of the Church of Scotland. It was to be important to future disputes on patronage that the Church of Scotland as a legal corporation had been established by Act of Parliament. Disputes hung upon the differences between the civil benefices (depending upon civil law) and the spiritual benefices