The History of PTO | Episode 4

How the Black Death, Protestant Reformation, and Christmas Riots Destroyed Medieval Workers' 170-Day Holiday Calendar

In 1647, an angry mob stormed Canterbury on Christmas morning, smashing shop windows and shouting royalist slogans. Their crime? Celebrating a holiday that Parliament had just made illegal. This violent uprising wasn't just about Christmas (though that was part of it). It was the explosive result of a century-long battle over who controlled workers' time off, and it marks a turning point in how we think about holidays and labor today.

Summary

• Medieval Europe had roughly 170 holy days per year (the most saturated holiday calendar in human history)
• The Black Death (1347-1351) killed 30-50% of Europe's population, giving surviving workers unprecedented leverage to demand better wages and cement their saint days as guaranteed time off
• Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation in 1517, which systematically dismantled the medieval holiday calendar by arguing that only the Sabbath was divinely commanded
• By 1559, England's official Church calendar had dropped from 170 holy days to just 27 plus Sundays
• Parliament banned Christmas in 1644, sparking riots across England (Canterbury being the most violent) that lasted for weeks
• Charles II restored Christmas in 1660, but the full medieval calendar never returned
• The Protestant work ethic cleared the calendar enough to make factory work possible, setting the stage for the Industrial Revolution
• Massachusetts Bay Colony banned Christmas from 1659-1681, and the celebration didn't truly return until the 19th century

Want the full story? Watch the video below to see how plague, Parliament, and Protestant reformers systematically tore apart the most generous holiday calendar the world has ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaVfY80XRKM&t=1s

The Black Death Created the First Labor Market in Modern History

When 12 Genoese trading ships arrived in Messina, Sicily in October 1347, they brought more than exotic goods. The sailors were dying of bubonic plague, and within four years, that plague killed between 30 and 50 percent of Europe's entire population. Some cities saw death tolls reach 60%.

The European workforce collapsed overnight. But the survivors found themselves with something they'd never had before: leverage.

Within one generation, real wages doubled. The old feudal system (where serfs were basically tied to the land) became completely unenforceable. Landowners who needed help were suddenly willing to offer better terms.

King Edward III's response? He passed the Statute of Laborers in 1351, ordering every able-bodied person under 60 to accept work at pre-plague wages. It was one of the first labor laws in modern Western history, and it was a complete failure.

By 1450, every English farm was paying double what they'd paid in 1346. Workers used their newfound leverage to cement the saint days they'd fought for (those 170 holy days we talked about in the last episode). They'd won, at least temporarily.

Martin Luther Started a Religious Revolution That Became a Calendar Revolution

In 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther kicked off what we now call the Protestant Reformation. The theological arguments are bigger than this post, but here's what mattered for workers: Protestants believed the Sabbath was divinely commanded (God told Moses to keep the seventh day holy), but every other holy day on the calendar was basically man-made.

And in their opinion, most of those days were just excuses to drink and be idle.

Luther himself was relatively moderate, keeping Christmas, Easter, and some major feasts. But the second generation of reformers? They went much further.

Over the course of a few different monarchs, their views became official policy. By 1559, the Church of England calendar listed just 27 holy days plus Sundays. Down from around 170 days.

That's an 84% reduction in time off.

Parliament Banned Christmas and Workers Rioted in the Streets

The English Civil War was about many things, and religion was a big part of it. After the Parliamentarian victory in 1644, it became explicit: Christmas was banned. Easter too. December 25th was now a normal work day.

The response across England was furious.

On Christmas morning in 1647, a mob took over Canterbury. They broke windows of shops that dared to open for business. They hung holly on doorways. They flooded the streets for weeks, and similar riots broke out across the country.

These weren't small protests. They were violent uprisings that became the political tinderbox needed to force change. Thirteen years later, Charles II returned to the throne in 1660, and one of his first acts was bringing back Christmas.

But here's the thing: the restoration brought back Christmas, but it didn't bring back that full medieval calendar of 170 days off. The Protestant work ethic had taken hold, and the calendar stayed relatively clear.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony Banned Christmas for 22 Years

While all this was happening in England, similar battles were playing out in the New England colonies. The Massachusetts Bay Colony banned Christmas in 1659, and that ban lasted until 1681.

But the celebration didn't really come back until the 19th century. The Puritan work ethic ran deep in early America, and it shaped how we think about holidays (or the lack of them) to this day.

The Protestant Work Ethic Made the Factory Possible

Sociologists call it the Protestant work ethic. The argument goes like this: the Reformation cleared the calendar, and with a clear calendar, the factory became possible. Workers could show up consistently, day after day, without constant interruptions for saint days and feast days.

This is still debated, but it's true that the countries that had the Industrial Revolution first were the Protestant Reformation countries. England, parts of Germany, the Netherlands. Places where the calendar had been systematically cleared of holy days.

The medieval worker had 170 days off per year. The post-Reformation worker had maybe 30. And soon, as steam power and factories took over, even those remaining holidays would come under attack.

In a small village called Cromford, something started happening that would take away all the British holidays that workers had left. That thing wasn't religion. It was steam.

If your team is still managing PTO on spreadsheets (or royal decrees), there's a better way. Try Vacation Tracker free and bring your time-off management into the 21st century. Because while we can't give you back those 170 medieval holy days, we can at least make tracking your current PTO less painful.

Nicholas Lydon

Nick is the Content Marketing Manager at Vacation Tracker, where he turns leave management, HR headaches, and the occasional oddly specific PTO question into content people  can watch. He spends most of his time creating videos, articles, campaigns, and creative experiments that make HR a little less boring.