Keywords
Toldervy, Quakerism, possession, pamphlet, conversion
Abstract
In the winter of 1655, ex- demoniac, dismissed apprentice, and sometime Quaker John Toldervy published a short memoir entitled The Foot out of the Snare.1 The pamphlet presented itself as a part conversion narrative and part anti- Quaker exposé, and told a startling story of demonic possession. After Toldervy became a Quaker, he told his readers, his mind was corrupted by a “seducing spirit” that convinced him that he was both Christ and the Archangel Michael and drove him to perform many bizarre acts.2 Two months later, after a brief pamphlet war with soon- to- be- disgraced Quaker James Nayler,3 Toldervy returned to Quakerism with the publication of yet another pamphlet.4 Despite presenting itself as a contrite proof of repentance, this last work was instead a carefully written non- apology that renounced little while reframing his previous writings in a way that would allow him to reenter Quaker society.
Recommended Citation
Veach, Hyrum
(2024)
"The Possession of John Toldervy Early Quakerism and the Polarization of Print Polemic in Cromwellian England,"
The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing: Vol. 53:
Iss.
1, Article 9.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thetean/vol53/iss1/9
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