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 Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisdi ...

Life

Erbery was probably born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. 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 refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

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 (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

. 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, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

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 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 ...

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