Have you ever wished that Christmas didn't exist? If it was a normal working day, you wouldn't have to go to church, cook Christmas dinner, buy presents - the list is endless! On the other hand, you would have to go to work - not a pleasant thought!
In fact, Christmas was actually abolished in England by Oliver Cromwell, a devout puritan, when his followers, the Roundheads, won the Civil War.
The Reformation in Europe during the 16th century influenced many, horrified by the corrupt practices of the Catholic Church, to become Protestants. Many Puritans disliked processions, colourful ceremonies and plays, believing these 'Papist' traditions to be unchristian.
The Roundheads regarded the Feast of Nativity as a creation of the Church, not the Bible, because there was no objective evidence that Jesus was born on December 25. Christmas festivity, they thought, was a Catholic superstition and an example of self-indulgence. They were determined to abolish Christmas.
Anglicans and Royalists, on the other hand, believed that Christmas was not only the most important event in the Christian calendar but a matter of tradition, and should be preserved. They argued that only the King who had Divine Right to rule had the power to abrogate it.
The first orders that Christmas festivities could no longer be held were given during the Civil Was in 1642, but it was not truly abolished by Parliament until afterwards in 1647. Christmas celebrations, people were warned, would be severely punished. People were told that on the day "commonly called Christmas, no observance shall be had, nor any solemnity used or exercised in churches in respect thereof". Theatre plays, Christmas pies, and decorations were all forbidden. Greenery found on house decorations was removed and publicly burned as a warning. These orders were enforced on the whole of England and Wales.
Churches were forbidden to hold Christmas services; shops and markets were to remain open; and people were expected to go to work as normal. Even Parliament sat on Christmas Day.
The fanatical Puritans were largely successful in ending the celebration of Christmas as a Holy Day. Most churches were indeed closed - the diarist John Evelyn couldn't find a Christmas service until 1656 and even then it was held by Royalist clergy in a private setting.
When the wardens of St. Margaret, Westminster decked the church with holly and ivy for the service, they were arrested, together with the preacher.
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