James Nayler (or Naylor; 1618–1660) was an English

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

leader. He was among the members of the

Valiant Sixty The Valiant Sixty were a group of early activists and itinerant preachers in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Mainly from northern England, they spread the ideas of the Friends in the second half of the 17th century. They were also call ...

, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. In 1656, Nayler achieved national notoriety when he re-enacted Christ's Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem by entering

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

on a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

. He was imprisoned and charged with

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 ...

Early life

Nayler was born in the town of Ardsley in Yorkshire. In 1642 he joined the Parliamentarian army, and served as

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

under

John Lambert John Lambert may refer to: *John Lambert (martyr) (died 1538), English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII *John Lambert (general) (1619–1684), Parliamentary general in the English Civil War *John Lambert of Creg Clare (''fl.'' c. ...

until 1650.

Religious experience

After experiencing what he took to be the voice of God calling him from work in his fields, Nayler gave up his possessions and began seeking a spiritual direction, which he found in Quakerism after meeting the leader of the movement,

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, he lived in times of social upheaval and ...

, in 1652. Nayler became the most prominent of the travelling Quaker evangelists known as the

. He drew many converts and was considered a skilled theological debater.

Rift with Fox

Fox's concerns over the acts of Nayler's followers

Beginning in 1656, Fox expressed concerns to Nayler that both Nayler's ministry and that of his associate

Martha Simmonds Martha Simmonds (or Simmons; ; baptized 1624 – 1665) was an English Quaker and author. She published a number of pamphlets after her conversion. She then obtained a release for James Naylor from Exeter jail. She then proceeded with him where he ...

were becoming over-enthusiastic and erratic. Fox's concerns apparently centred specifically on Nayler allowing a group of his followers to see in Nayler himself in some sense a great prophet or even a messiah figure. On 21 and 22 September 1656, Fox visited Nayler twice in prison at Exeter and admonished him. Over the visits, Nayler continued to reject Fox's words. Prominent Quaker author Rufus M. Jones provides a description of the strained encounter:

oxshowed aylerhow dangerous was the path of pride and how awful it was to turn light into darkness, but the frank, well-meant words of warning fell on deaf ears. Nayler tried to make a show of love and would have kissed Fox, but the latter would receive no sham kisses from one whose spirit was plainly wrong. "James," he said, "it will be harder for thee to get down thy rude company f followersthan it was for thee to set them up."

Bristol Palm Sunday Re-enactment and sentencing for blasphemy

In October 1656, Nayler and his friends, including Simmonds, staged a demonstration that proved disastrous: Nayler re-enacted the Palm Sunday arrival of Christ in Jerusalem. Following Nayler's Palm Sunday Re-enactment, Nayler and some of his followers were apprehended and subsequently examined before Parliament. It was found that many of 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. On 16 December 1656 he was convicted of

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. Subsequently he was imprisoned for two years of hard labour. The Nayler case was part of a broader political attack against the Quakers. Initially, it was discussed under the Blasphemy Ordinance of

1648 1648 has been suggested as possibly the last year in which the overall human population declined, coming towards the end of a broader period of global instability which included the collapse of the Ming dynasty and the Thirty Years' War, t ...

with the hope of imposing an authoritative

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

religious settlement on the Commonwealth – the Presbyterians had also attempted to use the Ordinance against John Biddle in the previous parliament. Ultimately the prosecution did not rely on any statute. Many of the speeches in the debates about Nayler centred on Biblical tradition on heresy (including calling for the death penalty) and generally urged MPs to quash vice and heresy. After the verdict, Cromwell rejected representations on behalf of Nayler, but at the same time wanted to make sure the case did not provide a precedent for action against the people of God. To modern eyes, Nayler's Palm Sunday Re-enactment might not seem particularly outrageous, especially when compared with other acts of some of the other early Quaker activists, who would occasionally disrupt church services, or sometimes go out disrobed in public, being "naked as a sign", and as a supposed symbol of spiritual innocence. At the time, Quakers were already being pressed to denounce the doctrine of the

Inner Light The inward light, Light of God, Light of Christ, Christ within, That of God, Spirit of God within us, Light within, and inner light are related phrases commonly used within the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) as metaphors for Christ's li ...

for its implication of equality with Christ, and Nayler's ambiguous symbolism was seen as playing with fire. The Society's subsequent move, mostly driven by Fox, toward a somewhat more organised structure, with Meetings given the ability to disavow a member, seemed to have been moved by a desire to avoid similar problems.

Aftermath

George Fox was horrified by the Bristol event, recounting in his ''Journal'' that "James ran out into imaginations, and a company with him; and they raised up a great darkness in the nation," despite Nayler's belief that his actions were consistent with Quaker theology, and despite Fox's own having occasionally acted in certain ways as if he himself might have been somehow similar to the Biblical prophets. Yet Fox and the movement in general denounced Nayler publicly, though this did not stop anti-Quakers from using the incident to paint Quakers as heretics or equate them with

Ranters The Ranters were one of a number of dissenting groups that emerged around the time of the English Commonwealth (1649–1660). They were largely common people and the movement was widespread throughout England, though they were not organised and ...

Reconciliation with Fox

Nayler left prison in 1659 a physically ruined man. He soon went to pay a visit to George Fox, before whom he then knelt and asked for forgiveness, repenting of his earlier actions. Afterwards he was formally, if still reluctantly, forgiven by Fox.

Final year, writings and death

Having been accepted again by Fox, Nayler joined other Quaker critics of the Cromwellian regime, condemning the nation's rulers. In October 1660, while travelling to rejoin his family in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, he was robbed and left near death in a field, then brought to the home of a Quaker doctor in

Kings Ripton Kings Ripton (traditionally King's Ripton) is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Kings Ripton lies approximately north-east of Huntingdon. Kings Ripton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

. A day later and two hours before he died on 21 October, aged 42, he made a moving statement which many Quakers since have come to value: James Nayler was buried on 21 October 1660 in Thomas Parnell's burial ground at Kings Ripton. According to the village website, "There is also a Quaker's Burial ground to the rear of 'Quakers Rest' on Ramsey Road."

Publications

*''The Works of James Nayler,'' by Quaker Heritage Press, a complete edition of Nayler's works including letters previously available in manuscripts. The editor modernizing the spelling, punctuation, etc. noting significant textual variants without changing the original wording . The set is available in book form or in an unabridged on-line edition. (2009). *''There Is A Spirit: The Nayler Sonnets'' is a collection, first published in 1945, of 26 poems by

Kenneth Boulding Kenneth Ewart Boulding (; January 18, 1910 – March 18, 1993) was an English-born American economist, educator, peace activist, and interdisciplinary philosopher.David LatzkoKenneth E. Boulding Commentsat personal.psu.edu. Accessed 24 April 200 ...

, each inspired by a four- to sixteen-word portion of Nayler's dying statement (and also includes the intact statement). Boulding gave permission for the publication of his ''The Nayler Sonnets'' to Irene Pickard who printed them in 1944 in the periodical she was editing from New York City, '' "''Inward Light". The "There is a spirit ..." statement forms section 19.12 of

Britain Yearly Meeting The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as the Britain Yearly Meeting (and, until 1995, the London Yearly Meeting), is a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England, Sc ...

's anthology ''

Quaker Faith and Practice A Book of Discipline may refer to one of the various books issued by a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, setting out what it means to be a Quaker in that Yearly Meeting. The common name for this book varies from one Yearly Me ...

''. The

Swarthmore Lecture Swarthmore Lecture is one of a series of lectures, started in 1908, addressed to Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The preface to the very first lecture explains the purpose of the series. “This book is t ...

has the title ''Ground and Spring'', taken from Nayler's "There is a spirit ..." statement. (2007). *''The Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus: James Nayler and the Puritan Crackdown on the Free Spirit.'' (1996). *''Refutation of some of the more Modern Misrepresentations of the Society of Friends commonly called Quakers, with a Life of James Nayler,'' by

Joseph Gurney Bevan Joseph Gurney Bevan (1753–1814) was a British Quaker, known as a writer of apologetics. Life The son of Timothy and Hannah Bevan, he was born in London on 18 February 1753. His father hired the English educator, historian, and Quaker Robert ...

. (1800). *''Memoir of the Life, Ministry, Trial, and Sufferings of James Nayler.'' (1719). *''Tracts of Nayler'' entitled ''A Collection of Sundry Books, Epistles, and Papers Written by James Nayler, Some of Which Were Never Before Printed: with an Impartial Relation of the Most Remarkable Transactions Relating to His Life'' (1716) edited by his friend (and important early Quaker) George Whitehead, though Whitehead omitted Nayler's more controversial works and freely edited and changed the text. Note that this volume appeared after the death of George Fox, who opposed the re-issuing of ANY of Nayler's writings. Fox, however, did appropriate and issue with only cosmetic changes as "Epistle 47" a 1653 letter written by Nayler as his own in the 1698 edition of Fox's epistles.''The Works of James Nayler.'' Volume I (Farmington, ME: Quaker Heritage Press, 2003) p. 317, n. 1. *''A Relation of the Life, Conversion, Examination, Confession, and Sentence of James Nayler.'' (1657).

Notes

References

External links

*
The Complete Works of James Nayler in four volumes
Quaker Heritage Press on-line edition; accessed 12 November 2014. *
''A Collection of Sundry Books, Epistles, and Papers Written by James Nayler, Some of Which Were Never Before Printed: with an Impartial Relation of the Most Remarkable Transactions Relating to His Life''
(1716), Internet Archive with downloadable pdfs of this copy of the George Whitehead edition. *

strecorsoc.org; accessed 12 November 2014. *

hallvworthington.com; accessed 12 November 2014. *

strecorsoc.org; accessed 12 November 2014. * Stuart Masters

aquakerstew.blogspot.co.uk; accessed 12 November 2014. *

by James Fawckner Nicholls and John Taylor (published 1882); accessed 12 November 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nayler, James 1618 births 1660 deaths Protestant missionaries in England Protestant mystics Former Anglicans Converts to Quakerism Deaths by beating in Europe English Caroline nonconforming clergy English Protestant missionaries English Christian theologians English Dissenters English letter writers English Quakers English religious writers English theologians Founders of religions Government opposition to new religious movements History of Quakerism Interregnum (England) Lay theologians Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War Nonconformism People convicted of blasphemy People from the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley People of the Interregnum (England) Quaker ministers Quaker theologians Quaker writers Quakerism in London Roundheads Trials in London 17th-century English clergy 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 17th-century Quakers 17th-century Christian mystics English male non-fiction writers Quaker missionaries