The ''Declaration of Sports'' (also known as the ''Book of Sports'') was a declaration of

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

issued just for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

in 1617, nationally in 1618, and reissued by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

in 1633. It listed the sports and recreations that were permitted on Sundays and other holy days.

Issue under James I

It was originally issued in consultation with Thomas Morton,

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, to resolve a dispute in

between the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

s and the

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

(many of whom were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

s). The initial declaration was just for

, but in 1618, James made the declaration national. The 1618 declaration had largely the same main text as the 1617 version, but with an additional paragraph at the beginning explaining that the king had decided to make the declaration applicable to the whole of England. James transmitted orders to the clergy of the whole of England to read the declaration from the pulpit, but encountering strong opposition he withdrew his command. The declaration listed

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ...

dancing Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

, "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". Also allowed: "women shall have leave to carry rushes to the church for the decorating of it, according to their old custom." Amongst the activities that were prohibited were bear- and

bull-baiting Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving pitting a bull against dogs. History England Crowds in London during the Royal Entry of James VI and I in March 1604 were entertained by bull-baiting. During the time of Queen Anne, bull-baiting w ...

, "interludes" and

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

. On the one hand, 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). On the other, it condemned Catholics and others who did not attend church services in their

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

, as the declaration specified that only people who had first attended divine service were entitled to participate in recreations afterward.

Re-issue under Charles I

The declaration was reissued by

on 18 October 1633, as ''The King's Majesty's declaration to his subjects concerning lawful sports to be used''. It was claimed by

William Prynne William Prynne (1600 – 24 October 1669), an English lawyer, voluble author, polemicist and political figure, was a prominent Puritan opponent of church policy under William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (1633–1645). His views were presb ...

that the new declaration was written by Charles' new

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

, but Laud denied this and there is only evidence that he supported and facilitated the reissue. Moreover, the 1633 declaration has the same main text as the 1617 and 1618 declarations of King James, with the primary differences an additional introduction and conclusion adding wakes and ales (countryside festivals) to the list of sanctioned recreations. Charles ordered that any minister who refused to read it would be deprived of position. As the Puritans gained power in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in the lead-up to the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

, hostility to the ''Book of Sports'' grew. Attempts to enforce the declaration came to an end with the fall of Archbishop Laud in 1640, and Parliament ordered the book publicly burned in 1643, two years before Laud was executed.

Footnotes

Bibliography and further reading

*Craigie, James, ed. ''Minor Prose Works of James VI and James I''. Scottish Text Society, 1982: 217–241. *George, David, ed. ''Records of Early English Drama: Lancashire''. University of Toronto Press, 1991. *Govett, L. A. ''The King's Book of Sports: A History of the Declarations of King James I. and King Charles I. as to the Use of Lawful Sports on Sundays''. London, 1890. *Parker, Kenneth. ''The English Sabbath: A Study of Doctrine and Discipline from the Reformation to the Civil War''. Cambridge University Press, 1988. *Semenza, Gregory M. Colón. ''Sport, Politics, and Literature in the English Renaissance''. University of Delaware Press/AUP, 2003. * Tait, James. "The Declaration of Sports for Lancashire". ''English Historical Review'' 32 (1917): 561–568.

External links

{{wikisource, Declaration of Sports *Text of the ''Declaration of Sports'', 1633

*Digital version of the Lancashire Records of Early English Dram

1617 works 1633 works History of Lancashire Sports law Sport in the United Kingdom 17th century in England 17th century in Scotland Christianity and sports Sabbath in Christianity