Flashcards I'm Struggling with
1
Q
What were the concerns of the Puritans concerning popular festivals?
A
- Sabbath Day of rest: Puritans thought that Sundays should be for rest and prayer. They were particularly keen to stop people dancing, drinking and doing other activities on the Lord’s day
- Catholic practices: Puritans didn’t like some popular customs because they were associated to the Catholic Church which had existed in England before the Protestant Reformation
- Stopping pagan practices: Some popular festivities such as Christmas candles, feasting, mumming, maypoles and Midsummer bonfires could be traced back to pagan times. The Puritans felt they were inappropriate for Christian communities
- Preventing disorder: Sometimes unruly crowds at popular festivities became violent and disorderly. The Puritans were concerned about this as they were trying to create orderly Godly communities
- Preventing unwanted pregnancies: Puritan ministers complained that dancing and drunkenness could lead people to the sin of sex outside of marriage
2
Q
What were examples on Puritan intervention on popular pastimes and festivities?
A
- Lancashire 1587: Edward Fleetwood persuaded the local gentry to ban all music, dancing and drinking on Sundays. (Protecting the Sabbath)
- Oxfordshire 1589: A puritan minister and his uncle, who was a high constable, issued an order banning all maypoles, church ales, May games and morris dancers in the villages around Banbury
