During the decade of the 1650s, England had no King or Queen. Instead, an increasingly monarchical parliamentary system of government reigned. This government was controlled by Puritans, a hardline sect of Protestant Christianity. Although they were a religious minority and their laws relating to morality were unpopular, the Puritans pursued this policies with religious zeal linking seemingly innocuous activities, such as cock-fighting or a may-pole celebration with the supposed evils of Catholicism. Legal documents such as “March 1654: An Ordinance for prohibiting Cock-matches” and..
