James Nayler
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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-ena
James Nayler, with a "B" (blasphemer) branded on his forehead
James Nayler in pillory
Pillory
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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 hum
James Nayler
…of blasphemy in a highly publicised trial before the Second Protectorate Parliament. Narrowly escaping execution, he was sentenced to be put in the pillory 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…
Daniel Defoe in the Pillory (Eyre Crowe, 1862)
The 17th-century perjurer Titus Oates in a pillory
Stone pillory from the 18th century preserved in situ in Mespelare, Belgium. It is decorated with the coat of arms of the Goubau family, who at the time were the lords of the village.
The pillory at Charing Cross in London, c. 1808