Dorcas Erbery (fl. 1656–1659), was an English militant Quaker preacher. She was arrested with others in Bristol for blasphemy.

James Nayler James Nayler (or Naylor; 1618–1660) was an English Quaker leader. He was among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. In 1656, Nayler achieved national notoriety when he re-enacted Christ's Palm ...

was convicted and he was sentenced by the English parliament to cruel and unusual punishment.

Life

Erbery was probably born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. Her mother, Mary, was a Quaker preacher and her father, William, was an unconventional member of the clergy. He expected that a regime of 'saints' would (in the later 1640s) carry out God's will in England. She came to notice in June 1656 when she and her mother were arrested in Cardiff. Mary and Dorcas Erbery were arrested with Toby Hodge because the three of them had been disrupting the service of an established clergyman and they were sent to prison. Her biography is shaped by the actions in Bristol on 24 October 1656. On this day

who had just been released from jail in Exeter made a ceremonial entry into the city of Bristol. He was riding a horse and accompanied by his supporters. They were welcomed by local Quakers, but the authorities considered their behaviour blasphemous as they were reenacting Jesus Christ's entry into Jerusalem. On the 27 October they were questioned by local magistrates. Dorcas said that James Nayler had raised from the dead despite the denials of Nayler. Nayler and some of his followers were apprehended and examined before Parliament. It was found that Nayler's followers had referred to him by such titles as "Lord", "Prince of Peace", etc., apparently believing that Nayler was in some manner representing the return of Jesus Christ. Hannah Stranger refused to say if she called him "Jesus", but Erbery was noted for calling him "son of God". On 16 December 1656 he was convicted of

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

in a highly publicised trial before the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in t ...

. Narrowly escaping execution, he was sentenced to be put in the

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...

and on there to have a red-hot iron bored through his tongue, and also to be branded with the letter B for Blasphemer on his forehead, and other public humiliations. Erbery, Martha Simmonds and Hannah Stranger gathered around the pillory where Nayler was tortured in a way that recalled the followers of Christ at his crucifixion. Subsequently Nayler was imprisoned for two years of hard labour.William G. Bittle, ''James Nayler 1618–1660: The Quaker Indicted by Parliament'', York: Sessions of York, 1996, pp. 131–145.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erbery, Dorcas 17th-century Quakers People from Cardiff Itinerant living