Declaration of Sports
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The Declaration of Sports (also known as the Book of Sports) was a declaration of James I of England issued in 1617 listing the sports that were permitted on Sundays and other holy days. It was originally issued at the request of Thomas Morton, bishop of Chester, to resolve a dispute in Lancashire between the Puritans and the gentry (many of whom were Roman Catholics). In 1618, James required all ministers to read the declaration from the pulpit, but there was strong opposition from the clergy and James withdrew his command.
The declaration listed archery, dancing, "leaping, vaulting, or any other such harmless recreation" as permissible sports, together with "May-games, Whitsun-ales and Morris-dances, and the setting up of May-poles". Amongst the activities that were prohibited were bear- and bull-baiting, "interludes" and bowling. The declaration rebuked Puritans and other "precise persons", and was issued to counteract the growing Puritan calls for strict abstinence on the Christian Sabbath (Sabbatarianism).
The declaration was reissued by Charles I on 18 October 1633, as The King's Majesty's declaration to his subjects concerning lawful sports to be used. It is thought that the new declaration was written by Charles' new Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. Charles ordered that any minister who refused to read it would be deprived of position. As the Puritans gained power in Parliament in the lead-up to the English Civil War, hostility to the Book of Sports grew. Attempts to enforce the declaration came to an end with the fall of Laud in 1640, and Parliament ordered the book publicly burned in 1643, two years before Laud was executed.
