>>10335228
they were locking up the independent tradesmen, the guilds, i.e. those who had skills and were not indentured, because they had recently begun to read the Bible and noticed that Jesus said "swear no oaths" and decided they were no longer going to tithe 10%. Their economy started growing, and the churches, whether RC or Anglican, were going broke, so the King wanted everyone to take an oath, so they'd be under his jurisdiction (juris = oath and diction = spoken ) and those darn independent skilled worked refused.
SO THEY ALL GOT CHARGED WITH TREASON for not taking an oath. This is where the term Quakers arose: a devout man on trial told the judge that for inflicting this clear injustice he should "quake before the Lord God Almighty!" and the judge replied "'Tis thou who art the quaker here" and that stuck as a name for the group.
trials were very short. jails were emptied of criminals to make room for those convicted of treason. criminals roamed the country and people were afraid to go outside. Look up about "stand-in laws" to see what happened to the yungest daughters who were imprisoned in place of their breadwinner fathers (essential workers of their day!)
society was at a standstill and the pitchforks were massing. in order to not be dethroned a compromise was made. "Affirmation in lieu of oath" and they rounded up the violent criminals again.