Valiant Sixty
Encyclopedia
The Valiant Sixty were a group of early leaders and activists in the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers). They were itinerant preachers, mostly from northern England who spread the ideas of the Friends during the second half of the Seventeenth Century, and were also called the First Publishers of Truth. There are actually more than sixty of them.
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Members of the Valiant Sixty traveled not only throughout England, but to the rest of Great Britain, to Europe, to North America. One of them, Mary Fisher, went as far as Turkey and spoke with the Sultan about her beliefs.
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers). They were itinerant preachers, mostly from northern England who spread the ideas of the Friends during the second half of the Seventeenth Century, and were also called the First Publishers of Truth. There are actually more than sixty of them.
Most Prominent Members of the Valiant Sixty
- George FoxGeorge FoxGeorge Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
is often considered the founder of the Friends movement. Some historians believe that he was one among several people with similar religious ideas who eventually banded together. He outlasted some of the other leaders, and his speeches and journal were very influential.
- Margaret FellMargaret FellMargaret Fell or Margaret Fox was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends. Known popularly as the "mother of Quakerism", she is considered one of the Valiant Sixty early Quaker preachers and missionaries.-Life:...
was one of the earliest sponsors of Fox and the Friends movement. She opened her home, Swarthmoor HallSwarthmoor HallSwarthmoor Hall is a mansion in Swarthmoor, in the Furness area of Cumbria in North West England. It was the home of Thomas and Margaret Fell, the latter an important player in the founding of the Religious Society of Friends movement in the 17th century. It remains in use today as a Quaker...
to Quaker meetings. She later married Fox.
- Edward BurroughEdward BurroughEdward Burrough was an early English Quaker leader and controversialist. He is regarded as one of the Valiant Sixty, early Quaker preachers and missionaries....
was an early preacher and apologist for the Friends who debated John BunyanJohn BunyanJohn Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
in a series of tracts.
- Mary Fisher was a preacher and missionary who traveled to the New World and to Turkey to spread Friends beliefs.
- Francis HowgillFrancis HowgillFrancis Howgill was a prominent early member of the Religious Society of Friends in England. He preached and wrote on the teachings of the Friends and is considered one of the Valiant Sixty--men and women who were early proponents of Friends beliefs and who suffered for those...
was already a NonconformistNonconformismNonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
when he met Fox. It is possible that he influenced Fox as much as Fox influenced him. His wife Mary was also a member of the Valiant Sixty.
- Elizabeth HootonElizabeth HootonElizabeth Hooton was one of the earliest preachers in the Religious Society of Friends and was beaten and imprisoned for propagating her beliefs; she was the first woman to become a Quaker minister . She is considered one of the Valiant Sixty, a group of daring Friends preachers...
was a former Baptist who joined the Society of Friends in its early days. She died on a trip to the New World with other Friends, including George Fox.
- James NaylerJames NaylerJames Nayler was an English Quaker leader. He is among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. At the peak of his career, he preached against enclosure and the slave trade....
was a very radical member of the Society of Friends. Fox and he had a disagreement about his more radical behavior, but he was certainly one of the most influential Friends in those days.
- George WhiteheadGeorge Whitehead (Quaker leader)George Whitehead was a leading early Quaker preacher, author and lobbyist remembered for his advocacy of religious freedom before three kings of England. His lobbying in defense of the right to practice the Quaker religion was influential on the Act of Uniformity, the Bill of Rights of 1689 and...
was a teenage preacher who traveled across England. James Parnell, Edward Burrough and Whitehead were the only teenagers in the Valiant Sixty.
Distinctives of the Valiant Sixty
These missionaries of Quakerism were unusual in their time. Most other preaching was done by well-educated ordained male clergymen, but most of the Valiant Sixty were ordinary farmers and tradesmen, and several of them were women. Because the Valiant Sixty came from the northern part of England they were considered backward. Many of them suffered imprisonment or corporal punishment or both, because they went against the church structure in place in England at that time. Once Quaker practices were outlawed, they technically broke the law and can therefore be seen as early practitioners of civil disobedienceCivil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
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Members of the Valiant Sixty traveled not only throughout England, but to the rest of Great Britain, to Europe, to North America. One of them, Mary Fisher, went as far as Turkey and spoke with the Sultan about her beliefs.
List of the Valiant Sixty
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