In popular culture, the Puritans of the XVII century get a fair bit of flack for banning Christmas. Oliver Cromwell in particular is often, unfairly, personally blamed for making the holiday illegal. In actual fact, the prohibition was passed by the Puritan-dominated Parliament of 1644, long before Cromwell’s Protectorate began in 1653. Nevertheless, the stereotypes promoted by his enemies, immortalised by the fabulous Horrible Histories song (Charles II-King of Bling), were that: “Old Olly, wasn’t jolly, he was glum and he was proud, would be as miserable as sin, only sinning’s not allowed”. Although Oliver did not revoke the ban during his years of personal rule, and presumably approved of its basic intention, was not especially dour when it came to his personal life. In fairness, Old Ironsides actually loved to laugh, was fond of practical jokes, and even had music and dancing at his daughter’s wedding.
The legal abolition of the feast was in keeping with measures adopted by radical Protestant communities in colonial America. Christmas wasn’t only problematic because of associations with Roman Catholicism, and religious practices which the Puritans regarded as idolatrous, but the holiday was a time when individuals were able to indulge in behaviours which would ordinarily be frowned upon, or even punished. Drinking to excess, gambling, kissing random people and subverting authority during that period were all treated as at least semi-acceptable, in a way which they weren’t for the rest of the year. The parallels with the modern office Christmas party are in some ways quite apt, but instead of one night, this celebration went on for the better part of two weeks.
Of course, in our own time there are plenty of debates about whether celebrations in the festive season are unhealthy and need to be reigned in. There are reports of some companies swapping the traditional Christmas bash for a conference, claiming that this option was more popular with their staff. Newspaper columnists, bloggers and the world in general argue about whether the frantic consumerism and pressure-cooker of emotional and social expectations in late December are damaging to our psychological wellbeing (not to mention our bodies and the planet).
Whilst many arguments from the Early Modern era come from a different world, the underlying themes of a clash between celebration, on the one hand, and a desire to curb excess, on the other, have stayed with us. There also remains an extremely blurred line between religion and culture. If you went up to the average late Medieval/Early Tudor reveller, just downing one more tankard before trying his luck at getting a dance with the blacksmith’s daughter, and asked whether he was doing this out of religious duty, it’s fair to assume that he would look at you as though you were bonkers. Christmas celebrations, in the widest sense, are about something more than purely an expression of religious belief.
We are still left with the longstanding dilemma of where to draw the line when it comes to appropriate behaviour, both socially and legally. Needless to say, for Christians, the season is one of the high points of the Church year, and has immense spiritual significance, and the same would be applicable to other faith traditions which have celebrations falling at around this time. Nevertheless, the wider social and cultural questions are collective ones for everyone to grapple with. As a society we have a culture of partying and consumption inextricably linked with this season, and need to decide upon our personal and collective response to the same. At purely practical level, we have to choose whether and how we participate, and more philosophically, what does our joining in or abstaining mean to us?
Also, whatever the negatives, this is a time of year when people in general do make an effort to demonstrate some extra kindness and goodwill, and for many of us, that is a positive in itself. We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers who celebrate it, a Very Merry Christmas, and to those of you keeping other festivals, we hope that these are equally meaningful and joyful. Not less importantly, we wish all of you a happy, peaceful, rewarding and exciting 2020.
Related Stories
Horrible Histories Song-Charles II King of Bling CBBC
Did Oliver Cromwell really ban Christmas? (Historic England)
We swapped the Christmas do for a conference (BBC News 18/12/19)
Oliver Cromwell never banned Christmas (The Times 28/12/17)
Margaret McClean, The Lord of Misrule and his band of “lusty guts” (Leicester University blog, 20/12/2016)
It shocks people that I refuse to lie: what parents tell their children about Santa (The Guardian 2/12/16)
The Surprising Truth: Christians once banned Christmas (Live Science 14/12/10(
