In England after the Reformation all of the major religious groups observed some sort of religious calendar. The Romans obviously had the most traditional one, though the celebration of major feasts could not be done with as much pomp and gusto as on the continent because they were driven undeground. The Puritans had the most iconoclastic calendar, keeping Sunday as the only regularly occurring red-letter day, though they also observed special days of humiliation and thanksgiving which commemorated special events. The Anglicans had the most moderate calendar, which was Christological in emphasis and retained many New Testament saints. The many black-letter saint days that were retained ceased to be holidays. Their calendar also included national days (Gowrie Day, Gunpowder Day, Accession, King Charles the Martyr, etc.). Days of thanksgiving and humiliation, somewhat similar to those of the Puritans, were also recommended (Book of Homilies) and observed from time to time.
In the end, the Anglican calendar (and Church) ended up winning the day. The Roman calendar was too superstitious and conservative, and the Puritan too austere and joyless. Indeed the Puritans' strict regulations as to what was permissible and non-permissible on the Sabbath (e.g. games were forbidden) was one of the many things that ensured their later marginalization in the English Church and religious life. After Cromwell's dictatorship, the Restoration of the monarchy showed that the majority of English people preferred the moderate, reformed Catholicism of the English Church to eccentricities of Rome and Geneva.
