The protestant puritan history is probably where the reputation for prudery comes from. The Roman Catholics knew how to party, buying indulgences to forgive sin

The protestant puritan history is probably where the reputation for prudery comes from. The Roman Catholics knew how to party, buying indulgences to forgive sins and continuing to celebrate roman festivals under the guise of Catholic holidays. The Protestant Puritans wanted to put an end to these festivals as well as marriage festivals and funeral traditions. They accomplished this in England with the 1642 Directory for the Public Worship of God based on puritan ideas. Since the festivals were not prescribed by the bible, they were to be replaced with Bible study and prayer. During the Interrugnum from 1649 to 1660 England was basically under Cromwell's puritanical military dictatorship until the Restoration of the effectively Catholic monarchy, which restored and soon increased religious freedoms.