ABSTRACT
Quakers were among many groups persecuted in the Interregnum, but they were uncommon in their understanding and utilization of suffering to promote an identity as martyrs. Early Quaker letters are riddled with examples of punishments at the hands of the state, religious authorities, and neighbors. Various actions incurred the wrath of the authorities. Some of the most frequently prosecuted behaviors included refusal to pay tithes, negation of hat honors and other avoidances of social differentiation such as the use of “thee” and “thou,” disturbing the peace, interruption of church services, blasphemy, and vagrancy. These actions were met with a variety of punishments, including fines, confiscation of goods, and rare occasions of corporal punishments such as branding, boxing of ears, boring tongues, and even death. The most common punishment, singularly or in conjunction with another, was imprisonment.1
