On the 23rd of March, 1208, Pope Innocent III laid a general interdict on England and Wales. Most of the Church's sacraments were restricted for the entire kingdom.  The spiritual lockdown meant that the people's ability to attend Mass was severely curtailed, as were the sacraments of extreme unction, the baptism of babies (only the parents and sponsors could attend), and weddings.  The dead could not be buried in holy ground. The interdict of England lasted for more than six years before it was finally lifted in July, 1214. David A. Carpenter writes in The Struggle for Mastery: Britain, 1066-1284, that Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall, observer of the effects of an interdict in France during the year 1200, was horrified: "O what a horrible and miserable spectacle it was to see in every city the sealed doors of the churches, Christians shut out from entry as though they were dogs, the cessation of divine office, the withholding of the...(Read Full Article)