On the one hand you had the genuine religious reformers who thought "high time Oliver came to purge the land!" as Kipling memorably put it in "A Doctor of Medicine". And on the other, corrupt aristocrats in Charles I's court -- although Charles himself (though in some ways a pretentious prig) was almost incredibly moral and went to his death in a heroic manner that did him great credit.
But the overwhelming majority of the folks involved in the conflict were deep in the dispute between the Crown and Parliament over who was going to exercise the temporal power and collect the cash . . . once again as usual, it's "follow the money".
Thankfully, Richard was not the man his father was, or things might have gotten far, far worse. Of course, Charles II for all his considerable political acumen was a bad bargain for the reformers as far as his personal immorality and corruption were concerned.
The image that sticks with me is "pretty witty Nell" Gwyn leaning out of her carriage to address the London mob, "Peace, good people! 'Tis the Protestant whore!"
:-))