Editing Commonwealth of England (section)

==== Reforms ====
Though the [[Church of England]] was retained, episcopacy was suppressed and the [[Act of Uniformity 1558]] was repealed in September 1650.<ref>27 September 1650 "Act for the Repeal of several Clauses in Statutes imposing Penalties for not coming to Church" {{harv|Firth|Rait|1911|pp=423–425}}</ref> Mainly on the insistence of the Army, many independent churches were tolerated, although everyone still had to pay [[tithe]]s to the established church.

Some small improvements were made to law and court procedure; for example, all court proceedings were now conducted in English rather than in [[Law French]] or [[Latin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/acts-ordinances-interregnum/pp455-456|title=November 1650: An Act for turning the Books of the Law, and all Proces and Proceedings in Courts of Justice, into English. |website=British History Online |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231209175631/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/acts-ordinances-interregnum/pp455-456 |archive-date= Dec 9, 2023 }}</ref> However, there were no widespread reforms of the [[common law]]. This would have upset the gentry, who regarded the common law as reinforcing their status and property rights.

The Rump passed many restrictive laws to regulate people's moral behaviour, such as [[London theatre closure 1642|closing down theatres]] and requiring [[Blue law|strict observance of Sunday]]. Laws were also passed banning the celebration of Easter and Christmas.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Durston |first=Chris |year=1985  |title= The Puritan War on Christmas 1642-60 |magazine= History Today |url-access=subscription |url=http://www.historytoday.com/chris-durston/lords-misrule-puritan-war-christmas-1642-60 |volume=35| issue=12 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200809150911/http://www.historytoday.com/chris-durston/lords-misrule-puritan-war-christmas-1642-60 |archive-date=Aug 9, 2020 }}</ref> This antagonised most of the gentry.