The British civil wars had begun in part as a result of protests (in the English Parliament and in Scotland) against what they saw as King Charles I's attempts to change the Anglican Church in the direction of Roman Catholicism. As the conflict went on, however, the focus of power in the Parliamentarian camp shifted from 'defending' the Church to reforming it in a Puritan direction. By the Commonwealth period, even Presbyterian MPs had been purged from the House of Commons. In April 1650, Parliament passed an Act requiring strict observance of the Lord's Day, and making a failure to do so a punishable offence.
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