Final answer:
The statement that Protestant sects including the Puritans enacted prohibitions against many physical activities and sports after the Reformation is true. They saw such activities as sinful distractions and sought to enforce a more disciplined and pious lifestyle.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks whether it is true or false that following the Reformation in the sixteenth-century, Protestant sects, including the Puritans, enacted rigid prohibitions against many physical activities and sports. This statement is true. The Puritans, a group of religious reformers, sought to "purify" the Church of England from practices associated with the Catholic Church and to promote greater purity of doctrine and worship. As part of this effort, they indeed imposed restrictions on various social activities, including sports and entertainment considered decadent or sinful, like bear-baiting and theater-going.
Puritans emphasized a life of discipline, viewing idleness as a sin. This belief led to a societal environment where the emphasis was placed on spiritual and religious practices rather than on leisure activities. In the context of sixteenth-century England, Puritan attitudes brought them into conflict with traditional forms of festive culture and they worked to suppress these, considering them distractions from pious living.