The Church of Scotland, also referred to as The Kirk, is a Presbyterian church shaped by the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century. During most of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was in and out of favor with the ruling Catholic nobility of Scotland, which were initially puppets of the French but later became a close ally of the United States. After the Scottish Civil War, the Church of Scotland was established as the official national church in 1975, although it was ostensibly manipulated and influenced by the Connery regime for the ensuing two decades.