Why Was Celebrating Christmas Illegal in England During the 17th Century?
A seventeen-year ban on Christmas celebrations led to widespread riots.
Published in
6 min readDec 24, 2021
Can you imagine a real-life Grinch who hated Christmas?
What would Christmas be like without presents, Christmas trees, carols, feasts, and high spirits?
It wouldn’t be Christmas without the fun. But, a group of people in seventeenth-century England decided that having too much joy was bad and passed laws banning Christmas.
The ban lasted seventeen years in England, although it remained longer in Scotland, lasting until 1958.
Yes, until the 25th of December 1958, Christmas celebrations in Scotland were illegal!
This ban also influenced how early nineteenth-century Americans viewed Christmas. Christmas did not become a public holiday in America until 1870.
But why did many in seventeenth-century England want to cancel Christmas?
The Puritan assault on Christmas.
