Confederate Ireland was the period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. During this time, two-thirds of Ireland was governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation or Confederacy, also known as the Confederation of Kilkenny because it was based in Kilkenny. It was formed by Catholic nobles, landed gentry, clergy and military leaders after the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and it included Catholics of Gaelic and Anglo-Norman descent. They wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination within the kingdom of Ireland, greater Irish self-governance, and to roll back the plantations of Ireland. They also wanted to prevent an invasion by anti-Catholic English Parliamentarians and Scottish Covenanters, who were defying the king, Charles I. Most Confederates professed loyalty to Charles I and believed they could reach a lasting settlement with the king once his opponents in the English Civil War had been defeated. The Confederacy had what were effectively a parliament (called the General Assembly), an executive (called the Supreme Council), and a military. It minted coins, levied taxes and set up a printing press. Confederate ambassadors were appointed and recognised in France, Spain and the Papal States, who supplied the Confederates with money and weapons.