Puritan

Puritans were radical Protestants. They were extraordinarily devout, dedicated to doing away with the pomp and ceremony of the Roman Catholic Church. They believed that worship should be simple and regular.

They also believed that most forms of luxury and pleasure were inherently sinful and should be avoided at all costs. This last fact may well explain why Puritanism never became as popular as Catholicism.

To the Puritans of Elizabethan England all forms of entertainment, especially the theatre, served as a graphic illustration of the moral decline of the country. Many Puritans called, without success, for a complete ban on such activities.