Quaker, James Nayler, convicted of blasphemy by Parliament and viciously punished

Historical Context Note

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Domains

Quakers

Dates

Date of occurrence 1656-12-17

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

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James Nayler, originally a farmer in the West Riding of Yorkshire, served with the Parliamentarian army in the First Civil War, and in 1652 had a vision calling him to become a Quaker. Having joined a group in London in 1655, he soon became a prominent preacher, and was caught up in various heated doctrinal disputes. On a journey from London to Bristol in October 1656, Nayler and his friends formed a procession, in which he travelled on horseback, and then sang and laid clothes in front of him. This was seen by the authorities as a blasphemous attempt to recreate Christ's entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Nayler insisted the procession had merely been symbolic, but those dissatisfied with the levels of religious toleration permitted under the Protectorate decided to make an example of…

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