The ‘Declaration of Sports’‪.‬

The reigns of James I and Charles I were accompanied by great upheavals within the English society, the Anglican Church and the entire European balance of power. There were issues concerning marriage, foreign wars and religion. In so far the period does not vary so much from the reigns of other English monarchs. However, both kings had to deal with an issue that seemed to become stronger and stronger in the course of their power: the growing Puritan influence in the country and the resulting grievance and dissatisfaction within the English people. One of the characteristic features of the Puritan movement was an insistence on a strict keeping of the Christian Sabbath on Sundays. Of all the reformed movements on the Continent, none ever came anywhere close to the Puritans' extreme Sabbatarianism. It had long been a custom in England that Sunday mornings were dedicated to Christian worship, and were then followed by sports and games on Sunday afternoons. Sports always had an extraordinary importance in the lives of the English people. Already in the medieval time, around 1190, there are documents to be found stating that there had been a real enthusiasm about sports in England. Amongst these sportive activities were: jumping, archery, wrestling, throwing stones and fencing but also the annual rowing regatta on the river Thames.
The Puritans loudly objected to the practice of Sunday sports, believing that playing games on the Sabbath constituted a violation of the Fourth Commandment. In the early seventeenth century, Puritans came to dominate several localities and managed to succeed in banning Sunday sports. In 1617, in Lancashire, there was a particularly intense quarrel between the Puritans and the local gentry over the issue of Sunday sports. In response to the controversy raging in his diocese, Thomas Morton, Bishop of Chester, asked the king for a ruling on the propriety of Sunday sports. In response to Bishop Morton's request, King James issued the ‘Declaration of Sports’, a declaration claiming that it was lawful to play some sports on Sundays, but not others. Of course, the document was very controversial among the Puritans. The king commanded all Anglican ministers to read the ‘Declaration of Sports’ to their congregations.