James Nayler 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 Sunday entry into Jerusalem by entering Bristol on a horse. He was imprisoned and charged with blasphemy.
James Nayler, with a "B" (blasphemer) branded on his forehead.
James Nayler in pillory
George Fox 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 war. He rebelled against the religious and political authorities by proposing an unusual, uncompromising approach to the Christian faith. He travelled throughout Britain as a dissenting preacher, performed hundreds of healings, and was often persecuted by the disapproving authorities.
A 17th century portrait of Fox
Memorial to Fox at his birthplace on George Fox Lane in Fenny Drayton in Leicestershire, England
A Quaker woman preaches at a meeting in London.
Cromwell was sympathetic to Fox and almost agreed to follow his teaching—but persecution of Quakers continued.