Rise of the Quaker Movement

Timeline

1. 1650–1652Pendle Hill and northern England · LancashireIn 1650 George Fox traveled preaching across northern England, proclaiming direct faith experience through the "Inner Light" and denying the necessity of clergy and sacraments. In 1652 he received the so-called Pendle Hill Vision on Pendle Hill in Lancashire, then gained the patronage of Lady Thomas Fairfax at Swarthmoor Hall, attracting many followers. That same year the term "Friends" became the adherents' self-designation, and the Quakers essentially took shape as an organized movement.
2. 1653–1659England · EnglandBetween 1653 and 1659 Quaker ministers (called "Valiant Sixty" or "Quaker pioneers") expanded massively into the English Midlands, the South, Ireland, and Scotland. Adherents were arrested and imprisoned in large numbers under the Blasphemy Act or local ordinances for refusing to uncover their hats before authorities, refusing to pay tithes, and interrupting sermons in church gatherings. James Nayler was sentenced to punishment for "blasphemy" in Bristol in 1656, sparking widespread public controversy. Despite this, by 1659 Quaker adherents were estimated at 30,000 to 60,000, and the movement began spreading to the North American colonies.