In the mid-17th century, a wave of religious reform transformed the way in which Christmas was celebrated in England.
Oliver Cromwell - a statesman and General responsible for leading the parliamentary army during the English Civil War - took over England in 1645. Supported by his Puritan forces, Cromwell believed it was his mission to cleanse the country of decadence.
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| Public notice from 1659 in Boston regarding the banning the celebrations of Christmas | image: Public Domain |
One of the stories goes that in 1644 he enforced an Act of Parliament banning Christmas celebrations. The pamphlet The Vindication of Christmas, published the same year, argued against these laws, illustrated with one of the earliest depiction of Father Christmas. Christmas was regarded by the Puritans as a wasteful festival that threatened core Christian beliefs. Consequently, all activities relating to Christmas, including attending mass, were forbidden. Not surprisingly, the ban was hugely unpopular and many people continued to celebrate Christmas secretly.
The Puritan War on Christmas lasted until 1660.
Other sources claim that it's a popular myth that Cromwell personally ‘banned’ Christmas during the mid seventeenth century. Instead, it was the broader Godly or parliamentary party, working through and within the elected parliament, which in the 1640s clamped down on the celebration of Christmas and other saints’ and holy days.
However, although he had not been personally responsible for ‘cancelling Christmas’ in the first place, it is evident that both Cromwell and the other senior members of his regime were behind the ban, frequently transacting government business on 25th December as if it were a day just like any other.
Only with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 was ‘old Christmas Day’ finally brought back in from the cold, to widespread popular joy.
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| The pamphlet The Vindication of Christmas, author: John Taylor | Public Domain |
