Deadwardian Witchy Sh**

I would like you to know that the festivities of Pope Night are not dissimilar to the festivities that led Puritans to ban Christmas. You can ban fun, but people will find some excuse to put their revel on. Just don’t be surprised if the new version is more fucked up.

Puritanism in the Boiling Isles Part 2: The Origins of Puritanism and Puritan Theology, and its Impacts

Part 1, which discusses Calvinism, the theological framework that forms the basis of Puritanism, can be found HERE:

A Brief History of Puritanism

Mary’s reign would, like her brother’s, last 5 years. When her sister, Elizabeth became queen, most of the Marian exiles would return to England, bringing Calvinism with them, becoming, by and large, the original Puritans. Before we get into that, we do need to get into one important thing that many Reformers got up to while with Calvin in Geneva.

An English Bible Translation for the Masses

Much of what the Puritans valued was in opposition to that of the Catholic Church. One major point of contention was the perceived gatekeeping of the Bible. They wanted the Bible to be read by everyone, which meant translations into the vernacular. An early reformer, William Tyndale, had translated and printed large chunks of the Bible into English, but it was never completed. Henry VIII had, during his lifetime, commissioned an English language version, but it was very much intended for church use only. It was large, and it was expensive. An update of that Bible commissioned by Elizabeth was not much better.

While in exile, a team of scholars undertook to create their own translation, relying heavily on Tyndale’s original translations. It would become known as the Geneva Bible, owing to its origins. Compared to the translations authorized by the English monarchs, the Geneva Bible was far cheaper to print. It remained by far the most popular edition for English laypeople until well into the seventeenth century until the King James Version finally overtook it, after the Puritan migration to New England had tapered off. The Geneva Bible would still be the preferred translation in New England long afterward, and this is the version that Caleb and Phillip would have been familiar with.

A Meandering Trip to Scotland, because Misogyny

In the introduction, I said most Marian exiles returned to England. That qualification is because there was one particularly spectacular a-hole that Elizabeth refused to allow into the country, a well-known author who lived in Scotland, one who alienated a bunch of former allies by publishing a deeply bigoted screed, one who would ultimately double down and exercise their considerable influence on the Scottish Parliament, one with the initials “J. K.” I am, of course, talking about John Knox.

John Knox was a Scottish minister and theologian who had been captured by the French after fleeing Scotland, then exiled to England prior to Mary’s reign. Like many reformers, he would flee to Central Europe and meet John Calvin, who would influence his own theology. While in Geneva, he would publish his best known pamphlet, in which he would attempt to make a theological argument against the sort of monarchs responsible for his frequent banishment: Women.

You see, Mary of Guise, acting as regent for her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, was responsible for his arrest by the French. After some time in the French Galleys, he was exiled to England, until Mary Tudor forced him into exile from England! A logical person would see that the cause of his banishment was the Catholic vs. Protestant tit-for-tat. But no. The problem is women.

The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women is a steaming pile of misogynistic dung. The best thing about that pamphlet is that it provides the name for possibly my favourite Discworld novel, Monstrous Regiment (GNU Sir Pterry). Knox appeared to have sensed that his pamphlet was utter drivel, because he had it published in secret, initially anonymously, without the prior knowledge of his friends, including Calvin. Their general reaction was “dude, this is a little much.” Again, these were his friends.

Knox’s pamphlet was ridiculously short-sighted. One of the Catholic queens he was railing against was at an age where the odds of her successfully producing a Catholic heir were miniscule. Her presumed heir was Protestant! Her heir was…also a woman.

Elizabeth was royally pissed, and, from all accounts, she never forgave him for the offense. Knox was not allowed to return to England. He decided to return to Scotland, but the quickest and safest way to get there was through England. Elizabeth refused to even grant him a passport. Poor boy had to take the long way around.

I bring up Knox not just because I find Elizabeth’s understandable anger at him hilarious. And not just because of the Discworld plug, either. Knox got up to a lot of politics when back in Scotland. He would lead a revolution that would ultimately see Mary of Guise deposed. When she died suddenly, the road was wide open for the Scottish parliament to establish a new, Protestant, Church of Scotland.

One problem: Mary of Guise had been acting as regent for her daughter, who at that point was in France. The year following her mother’s deposition and death, Mary, Queen of Scots, would return to Scotland. Knox was the leader of a fairly popular revolution however, and he would use the intimidation of the masses to install himself as an advisor close to the queen. He did not last long in this position, but he did have the political acumen to avoid getting charged with treason.

Shortly thereafter, at the youthful age of 50, he would marry the 17 year old daughter of a friend. Even in the 16th century, eyebrows were raised.

Knox would not be deeply involved in politics after this point, although he did preach a number of very influential sermons and write a book on the Reformation in Scotland. Queen Mary gave birth to a son, James, in 1566. Not long after he reached a year, at which he was considered to have survived infancy, the Protestant nobility around Mary had her deposed and exiled to England. A Protestant regency for King James VI would be established. Knox would preach at the young king’s coronation.

Folks in England Start Getting Ideas

Knox would die in 1572, but his legacy was profound. While the ultimate origin of Puritanism was the return of the Marian exiles, those same people in England would see Knox’s reformation in Scotland and decide that was their goal. Knox’s writings would prove deeply influential on the reformers in England. It was somewhere around this point when the word “Puritan” started appearing in print in conjunction with the group.

It was an insult. Turns out, “Puritan” back then meant the exact same as it does now. The actual Puritans preferred to use words such as “the saints,” or “the elect” (all those Calvinist words earlier). Shakespeare used the word in that context, which, considering the Puritans wanted to get rid of theatre altogether, seems like a fairly mild offense.

Elizabeth would appoint bishops that were, on the whole, Calvinist, but this was not good enough for the Puritans. Elizabeth was almost certainly wary of them, but she was wary of everyone. While she had excellent reasons to eschew marriage altogether that are not at all relevant to this discussion, the experience of her cousin in Scotland indicated that even declaring her heir publicly might empower her enemies to depose her. Negotiations with potential heirs were conducted through coded letters. Had the Puritans known that King James VI of Scotland had become her preferred choice, they likely would have been chomping at the bit to see him on the English throne. He had been raised Scottish Presbyterian, after all, by those of John Knox’s ilk.

James Thinks the CofE (& Witch Hunting) is Pretty Cool

The Puritans were destined for disappointment. They weren’t the only ones. James was king of playing the middle of the field, and I am not just talking about his rumoured bisexuality. Puritans saw his Calvinist upbringing and saw an opportunity to purge the Church of England of its remnants of Catholicism. Catholics saw someone who took a genuine interest in other religious practices and saw an opportunity for more religious tolerance. If you remember the 5th of November (the gunpowder treason and plot), it was YET ANOTHER act of violence in the ongoing Catholic v. Protestant back-and-forth sweeping across Europe at the time. That time, English Catholics were the perpetrators, disappointed that James had not loosened anti-Catholic restrictions as they expected.

James became king in England, and he thought the Church of England, as it was under Elizabeth, was pretty awesome, actually. His reign in Scotland had been characterized by constantly butting heads with the Kirk, the church structure. James saw the Church of England as the natural middle ground between Protestant and Catholic, to the extent that he got it into his head that he would be the one to solve the 30-years-war that was being waged across the European continent. He would arrange marriages for his children (or attempt, in the case of his son Charles) with the goal of encouraging peace on the continent. It didn’t work, because of course it didn’t.

Before you decide James sounded okay, if painfully naive at times, one his monikers is “the witch hunter king.” One of the reasons for the witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth is because Scotland had been associated with witches as a result of James’ witch hunts prior to his reign in England. He wrote the Daemonologie, one of the major witch hunting texts. James also did a lot of stake burnings, although in many (most?) cases that was a means of dealing with the body after they were hung.

The first group of Puritans, the “Pilgrims” of first Thanksgiving fame, would settle in Massachusetts during James’ reign, fed up that they were not allowed to tell other people what to do.

Charles Throws a Temper Tantrum

James’ son, Charles I, was a Divine Right of Kings guy. To be fair, so was James—he literally wrote a book on the subject—but James was much more cognizant of the practical limitations of claiming “God put me here, you have to do what I say.” The way his grandmother and mother were both deposed likely left some impression. Charles did not learn that lesson, or if he did, it wasn’t until his neck was on the block.

As mentioned before, James had previously attempted to arrange a marriage for Charles, to the Infanta of Spain. The idea of Charles marrying a Catholic was about as popular as the plague, and the Puritan faction of Parliament and the clergy strongly objected. The lesson Charles learned from this was “don’t give Parliament a chance to object.”

Almost the first thing Charles did upon the death of his father was marry 15-year-old Henrietta Maria of France. Yes, she was Catholic. He was 25. He consummated the marriage before he called his first Parliament. This is noteworthy because, contrary to what pop culture would have you believe, royal marriages did not always consummate right away, at least not that young. Royals would be married, sometimes by proxy, in order to secure alliances, but consummation would wait until the woman was considered old enough to safely carry a potential heir to term. Fifteen was borderline.

Unsurprisingly, Parliament did not take well to this. So Charles stopped calling Parliament. The first waves of the Puritan “Great Migration” were largely a response to this act.

The Calvinist bishops in the Church of England also disapproved of Charles’ marriage. So Charles appointed bishops ascribing to a more Arminian theology (broadly speaking, anti-Calvinist).

The bulk of the Puritan Migration was in response to this, specifically the appointment of William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury. The aspect of the Puritan mythos claiming to have been fleeing persecution did not come out of nowhere. Laud was a big fan of torture for non-conforming bishops, and, if you couldn’t tell, Charles did not opposition in a particularly mature manner.

Puritan Theology and its Evidence in The Owl House

The Puritanism Belos grew up in arose out of all of this. 70 years passed between the return of the Marian Exiles and the first wave of the Great Migration. That time allowed it to take more shape, to develop into the form that would characterize the communities in New England. The ability to get the Bible into more hands would shape Puritan thinking. Ministers seeing their teachings in practice in their congregations see questions arise from that experience, and they would determine answers. Most importantly, between John Knox’s success in Scotland and Charles I’s general incompetence, gaining wider control started becoming central to how they thought about things.

Similar to Part 1, I will explain these theological developments partly by how they can be seen in The Owl House.

Trinitarianism and Belos’ Personal Imagery

This theological point is probably the least relevant to the Owl House, but I did want to mention it for the sake of thoroughness. I’m mentioning this first to get it out of the way.

The idea of the Trinity is the idea of God as three-in-one: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. That specifically does not come up in the show at all, although I do find it interesting how much Belos incorporates triangles in his personal imagery. The magic of the Boiling Isles is based on circles; Belos forces a triangle onto it.

If you think that’s a stretch, you should see my notes on how a structural load path could be used as a giant magic circle. The danger of the “calculus is arcane knowledge” trope, one clearly evoked in Phillip’s diary, is that sometimes the weird math and physics nerds will try to make it make sense.

But back on triangles, there is a possible read on Belos’ triangle imagery in conjunction with how he presents himself in relation to the Titan, but more on that later.

Biblical Societal Roles: A Possible Inspiration for the Coven System

A stopped clock is right twice a day. There was one thing that the Puritans unequivocally got right: they strove for universal literacy. That in and of itself doesn’t directly connect into the Owl House, other than explaining why Phillip is able to read and write in the first place. Given the brothers’ implied lack of wealth, at that time in history, they would have likely been illiterate literally anywhere else.

While the Puritan emphasis on literacy was a good thing, the primary goal was so that everyone could read the Bible. In and of itself, that is not bad either. It is a good thing for all worshippers to have access to their holy texts. However, the Puritan idea of what would result from Biblical literacy was naive at best.

Christians, in general, do not know how to disagree with each other. This is not a Puritan thing. That is just history. There are so many different sects of Christianity when compared to any other religion because whenever anybody disagrees with somebody, they start a new denomination. In the early modern period, those splits accompanied times of great violence, as that disagreement was seen as heresy, a capital offense (so many stake burnings).

The Puritans had some weird idea in their head that if everyone could read the Bible, then everybody would come to the same conclusion and everyone would get along. Well, if all of “the saints” could read the Bible anyway. That two different people could read the same exact thing and come to different conclusions did not seem to occur to them. One major purpose of religion, throughout history, is to provide answers to difficult questions. Puritans thought that, by following the Bible, they could have their perfect little utopian community.

The Puritans saw order, as defined in the Bible, as the way to achieve societal perfection. It therefore became critical for everyone to stay in their assigned roles. While Puritans were remarkably egalitarian when it came to literacy, it was important for everyone to stay in their place. Mixing of men and women’s activities could lead to adultery. While Puritans did eschew sartorial excess, there was still an expectation that those of lower class would not dress above their station.

And here is where we get into the Boiling Isles. I often see discussion on exactly how much of the draining spell that the Collector was responsible for. My headcanon is that the Collector was responsible for the mechanics, Belos was responsible for the implementation. The “pretty colours go boom” feels like the sort of twisted kid chaos that characterizes the Collector. The Coven System, on the other hand, is extremely Puritan. Or proto-fascist as the case may be. Same diff.

The coven system is the exact sort of thing I could see coming out of the mind of a person who had been raised to believe that keeping to your assigned role was the key to societal perfection.

Belos may have a number of issues that affect his critical thinking, but he’s not, generally-speaking, stupid. He has difficulty applying that critical thinking towards himself and his own actions. He’s perfectly capable of applying it toward other people.

He needs to figure out how to control the populace to convince them to brand themselves. What exactly are these brands, and how would he sell it? The sigils are a way of assigning a role, something Puritans ascribed to. What did his people say was the benefit of keeping to your role?

Of course, he isn’t among his fellow saints. These hellspawn aren’t going to care about God’s proper order of things; it isn’t worth his time to try. How to convince the people to choose order over chaos? Seeing the general reverence for the Titan, even if only as a form of respect for the land you live on, and the way witches and demons use magic, perhaps he can utilize that as an angle.

The way Belos presents the coven system maps fairly cleanly onto Puritan thinking. The Titan wants you to live your life in accordance with his order, and that means accepting the “purification” of your magic, accepting a set role. The “talked to the Titan” less so—that sounds more like Quakerism—but Belos doesn’t have a Bible equivalent he can refer to. If he doesn’t have any prophets to reference, he’d have to create his own.

The sigils themselves don’t have a Puritan analog as much, but it is easy to extrapolate from other signifiers of devotion that Belos would likely have been aware of. My personal headcanon is that the idea behind the sigils is a hybrid of the Mark of the Beast and the idea of a “witch’s mark,” one of the things that 17th century witch hunters would look for. That seems like the sort of sick sense of humour expected from a guy who would name at least one clone of his reformed witch-hunting brother he murdered “Hunter.”

The sigils do tie back to the Calvinistic idea of “the Perseverance of the Saints.” There’s no take-backs, however, unlike the vague status of election by God, the sigils actually enforce it.

Sanctification and the “Protestant Work Ethic” As Seen in The Emperor’s Coven

Talk to almost anyone steeped in Calvinist theology, and one of the questions that often arises is that of grace versus works. The core of the debate is this: there is nothing you can do to affect your own salvation; it is entirely the grace of God. God’s grace covers all sins. You also believe that, apart from God, people are infinitely depraved. The issue is, that combination isn’t exactly conducive to a functioning society. When you tell everybody they are no more than their base impulses, but hey, God’s grace covers all the worst of it, some people are going to be more likely to give into their worst impulses.

The Puritan answer to this was a concept called sanctification. Salvation is from God alone, but once you are saved, Christ will work within you to sanctify your soul. When you are saved, you should be doing good works automatically. The extension of this is that you can tell other people are saved by their good works. It circles back to legalism very quickly, where your faith in your salvation is based on your good works (because everyone around you sees your good works).

Ask two different Puritan ministers their opinion on where the line is, and you will get two different answers. One of the first big challenges the Puritans in Massachusetts faced as a community ultimately came down to that dispute. The Antinomian Crisis was an indicator of how the Puritans would handle disagreement in their ranks. The Puritan hegemony ultimately came down on the side of fascistic enforcement of sanctification.

What a hardcore focus on sanctification looks like, practically speaking, is a little thing sometimes referred to as the “Protestant Work Ethic.” “Protestant Work Ethic” is a fancy way of saying “push yourself to the edge of burnout.” Because anything fun is associated with depravity, given the fundamental nature of humanity, you shouldn’t want to do that. You should want to be contributing to society. Given that Puritan communities had a fairly large merchant class, this did, by implication, mean economically. American capitalism had its roots in Puritan New England.

Oh, also, you should be happy about it. You should be happy, because God is working within you so you don’t need to relax or have fun!

It’s this work ethic that is most evident in the Owl House, in particular the Emperor’s Coven. That also makes sense. The members of the Emperor’s Coven are Belos’ special select witches. They are held to higher standards. Conveniently, those same higher standards tend to leave them too overworked to question their actions. “Any Sport in a Storm” definitely hit me right in the painful memories, which is probably not the episode most people would list as one of their most personally triggering.

“Teens are probably into the same things as me. Like authority and rules!” Oh Hunter, baby, that’s the lack of free time talking. Hunter’s undereye circles make the results of that “work ethic” crystal clear. I would like to remind you that Hunter is a kid. Hunter did not understand how to have fun if it wasn’t part of some grand mission.

I suppose it should also come as no surprise that Puritan children were rarely afforded the opportunity to play.

Millennialism: Belos’ Theological Justification for the Day of Unity

There are interesting parallels between the way that Belos presented the Day of Unity and Puritan eschatology (understanding of the apocalypse). Millennialism, in the Christian context, refers to a passage in the Bible that says that Satan will be bound away in chains for 1000 years prior to the Last Judgment. The point of discussion is determining where Christ’s second coming fits into that. The “Rapture” is one such approach, however, not relevant here. The rapture, as a concept, did not start to become popularized until the 1800s.

Puritans generally held a premillennialist point of view. Premillennialist means that Christ’s second coming immediately precedes the 1000 years of Satan being bound in chains. The lead-up to that is the “tribulation,” where the persecution of the faithful increases as Satan becomes more desperate.

Puritans started to popularize the idea of mass conversions being a sign of the second coming, including conversion of Jewish people. In that sense, there was a missionary aspect to Premillennialism. Tying back into the previous point, sanctification also played a role in Puritan eschatology. It was was considered a critical component of preparing oneself for Christ’s second coming. After the second coming, Christ would make the world a utopia in which he would reign on Earth amongst his faithful.

It’s not difficult to see Puritan Premillennialism in the way Belos presented the Day of Unity. Witches and demons joining covens, turning against “wild magic,” is clearly analogous to the mass conversion idea. Belos places an emphasis of preparation for the Day of Unity, connecting to that sanctification idea. It is important for those in covens to recruit more witches. In the vision he showed the Coven Heads in “Hunting Palisman,” you can see a connection to the idea of a kingdom on earth, one which Belos explicitly describes as a “utopia.”

To take an even darker perspective, it is possible to interpret Belos’ motivations as a delusional attempt to bring about the millennium himself. I mentioned much earlier in this part the idea of the Trinity, and finding it interesting in connection with Belos’ triangle imagery. One thing I have not explicitly mentioned at this point, but is hopefully evident, is that Belos positions himself in a role analogous to that of Christ a lot. He is the only one who can purify your magic. He is the one who is in communion with the Titan. Maybe his motivations did not start that way, but so long of presenting himself as such could have warped his thinking even more. It is possible that he actually saw himself as a Christ figure. The Day of Unity was his way of “locking away Satan,” at which point he would return to earth.

If the Earth he returned to was the same as the Earth he left, he absolutely would have been executed as a heretic, a crime even worse than witchcraft.

——-

Witteclaw kids in colour! I redrew Haven’s arm and added Toast, who Haven bonded with after Caleb’s death (for those who haven’t seen my comments on the angst-heavy death pic, I headcanon Toast has been in the family a LONG time; Caleb carved her as a mate for Flapjack).

When doing some research, I discovered that the gene that causes piebaldism (my explanation for why the grimwalkers look “different”) is dominant. Haven inherited it; Kallyn didn’t.

Haven’s nonbinary. They came out a few months prior to Caleb’s death, demanding to wear breeches like their friends who were boys were getting to (yeah, I’m still keeping breeching in the Boiling Isles. I like it). They declared they weren’t a boy either, but they still want breeches. Caleb was…confused. Ultimately supportive, but there might have been a some feet put in mouth. Look, I just wanted to write a confused ex-Puritan.

Haven’s ultimate existence is because, while Caleb and Evelyn THOUGHT they were being safe, the spermicidal potion they were using APPARENTLY isn’t as effective on humans. Look, it works for both witches and demons, humans aren’t THAT different, right?! They got an effective one figured out afterward, hence the 6 year age gap.

Puritanism in the Boiling Isles, but Not How You’d Expect

A Comparison of Puritan Theology and Society with Messages and Imagery Present in The Owl House

Introduction

“Puritan” holds a number of connotations for people today. Witch hunting is one (hey, this is an Owl House analysis, gotta acknowledge it). Sex-repressed is another one, and bigotry beyond that. None of those are entirely fair in the historical context. Witch hunting, yes, to an extent, however that was widespread throughout the 17th century regardless of religious sect. Sex-repressed isn’t entirely deserved. They were relatively sex-positive, provided sex was in the confines of marriage. They were more extreme on the enforcement of the marital limitation, but they also punished men who failed to please their wives. And bigotry is…complicated. Like with witch-hunting, they weren’t particularly unique in that regard. The form it took, however, was not the form it took elsewhere.

This is not to say Puritans were good, or even morally neutral compared to everybody else. No, they very much sucked, and the positive impacts of the society they built in New England are few in comparison with the harms. Those harms have stuck with us, but by focusing on the stereotypes, we excuse ourselves from deconstructing them.

As part of that deconstruction, one of the most remarkable things about The Owl House is how we see Puritanism displayed. Not in Gravesfield, mind you. That’s all stereotypical tourist-friendly Puritanism. I’m talking about Puritanism in the Boiling Isles.

This essay is an analysis of the way we see the reality of Puritanism in The Owl House. We call Belos a cult leader. Well, that’s because the world he was raised in was a cult. We see a world that enforces conformity, shunning and imprisoning those who refuse to fit the mold. That is a major component of Puritanism. We see the way the people closest to the Emperor, his own coven, are denied fun and relaxation so they claim being “better.” That is possibly the most Puritan thing in the entire show.

To make it clear: I am NOT going to be talking about witch hunting in this essay, other than the occasional aside. Number 1: it was hardly unique to Puritans, and frankly, I think the focus on it is overblown in terms of this show anyway. Witch-hunting was, in my opinion, Belos’ coping strategy, the same way Azura was Luz’s. You can read my essay elucidating my thoughts on the matter here:

Number 2: It’s not relevant to what I am trying to explore. This is about the more subtle ways Puritanism works its way into who Belos is, the empire he created, and how the character of Luz provides a counterpoint to all of it. This is an exploration of how Belos was able to incorporate Puritanism into a world of witches and demons. Through this, it will hopefully be easier to see the ongoing toxic legacy of the Puritans on modern society.

I will be splitting this essay into two parts. Part 1 explores the impacts of Calvinism, the theological framework that characterized the Puritan movement. Part 2 will explore ideas that Puritans developed in England from framework, incorporating it into the society they created in New England. The nature of that split means that Part 1 is going to be more character-focused, looking primarily at Belos’ motivations, but also the way we see anti-Calvinist themes in the arcs of other characters, primarily Luz and Caleb. Understanding Calvinism provides a means for understanding who likely Caleb was, because it means understanding exactly how much of his core identity he would need to leave behind to leave the Human Realm.

Part 2 Will focus more on the Boiling Isles as a whole. That is where I will be exploring how we see Puritanism in Belos’ empire.

Part 1: The Impacts of Calvinism

The Origins of Protestantism In England

To understand how Belos brought his society of origin to the Boiling Isles, it is helpful to understand that society. Understanding that means understanding some of what Puritans were reacting against. That starts with the Protestant Reformation.

The exact start of the Reformation is less important to this particular discussion, but, in summary, throughout the Medieval Period, the Roman Catholic Church had a monopoly on religion in Western Europe. As tends to happen in any group with so much power, corruption is incredibly common. The early reformers such as John Wycliffe and Jan Hus had definite grievances, and the Church came down hard on them. Eventually with Martin Luther, an opposition would gain a foothold in Europe, aided largely by the invention of the printing press. Self-ruling cities in the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) would become relatively safe havens for those disillusioned with Catholicism to develop their theology.

Henry VIII wants a Divorce

Protestantism came to England for considerably less high-minded reasons. Protestantism came to England because the Catholic Church wouldn’t grant Henry VIII an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which would allow him to marry Anne Boleyn. Henry already had a wandering eye, but Catherine had reached menopause, only providing Henry with one surviving child, a daughter, Mary. Henry’s quest for a male heir is a thing of infamy. The Catholic Church wouldn’t give Henry what he wanted.

Those of the Protestant bent residing in England saw an opening, although it was not entirely people like Thomas Cromwell whispering in Henry’s ear. A whole lot of it was Henry being pissed at being told “no” and taking it out on the priests and bishops in England. Henry would get his annulment, marry Anne, and pass the first Act of Supremacy, making himself the head of the Church of England.

Religion under Henry was largely indistinguishable from Catholicism, except where it benefited Henry, like the dissolution of the monasteries to get the Church’s money. He would, famously, only have a daughter, Elizabeth, with Anne Boleyn. He would have Anne beheaded. He eventually had his desired son, Edward, with his third wife, Jane Seymour, who would die less than 2 weeks after.

Reforms under Edward

Edward was only 9 years old when he became King Edward VI. His regency council had a considerably more Protestant bent, one which Edward shared. He wasn’t just a manipulated kid; he was a true believer. Many will point to this as the true schism between the English Church and Catholicism, because all of the CoE offshoots (in particular American Evangelicalism) really don’t like admitting the divorce-based roots.

During Edward’s reign, the Book of Common Prayer was authorized, providing the Church of England with a source for prayers and liturgy. The Act of Uniformity of 1549 would remove Catholic rituals considered superstitious from Anglican worship services. The same year would see clerical marriage be legalized, and soon, the remaining traditionalist bishops would be removed from office or forced to resign. Catholic clerical vestments would be confiscated to fill the royal coffers. A second Book of Common Prayer was published when church leaders argued that the original was still too Catholic. This was all within Edward’s five year reign.

Mary Tudor Makes it Personal

There’s someone we forgot in all this: Henry’s eldest daughter, Mary. To say that Henry did not treat the teenaged Mary well during his “Great Matter” would be an understatement. When Henry’s marriage to her mother was annulled, Mary officially became a bastard, removed from the line of succession. The same would happen to Elizabeth after Anne’s execution. Elizabeth was considerably younger, however, and wouldn’t hold quite the same resentment. It was all that she knew.

Henry VIII’s daughters would not be restored to the line of succession until Catherine Parr, Henry’s sixth and final wife, persuaded him to pass the Third Succession Act of 1544. When Henry died in 1547, however, Mary still had to endure her younger brother’s reign. He put considerably more pressure on her to recant her Catholicism than her father had. She spent most of her time at the estates inherited from her father, appearing in court as little as possible. In spite of that, the tension between Mary and Edward was so great that during one Christmas party, they engaged in a shouting match that brought both to tears.

Edward would die at 14, and after a short stint (< 2 weeks) where the Reformers attempted to install Edward’s cousin, Jane Grey, as queen, Mary would become Mary I, the first undisputed queen regnant of England. She would immediately set about re-establishing Catholicism as the official religion in England with the fury of one who, somewhat understandably, saw Protestantism as the source of every misery in her life.

Given the Catholicism, this meant stake burnings for heresy. SO many stake burnings.

(Witchy side note: Puritans didn’t burn purported witches at the stake. Stake burnings were too Catholic. Also, the Puritan John Foxe kinda made getting rid of them his life’s mission, but more on him in Part 2 Edit: Part 3. This went long.)

Mary’s wrath would send many prominent ministers and theologians into exile on the continent. Many of them would find shelter in Geneva, Switzerland. It is here where they would meet John Calvin and be exposed to his teachings.

Calvinism and its visibility in The Owl House

John Calvin was a French theologian and minister who would eventually make his home in Geneva, Switzerland, establishing a church there. He was a key proponent of Reformed Theology, which was largely about further separating Christianity from Catholicism. It is worth noting that Calvinist, or Reformed, is not a sect of Christianity. It is more of a descriptor. “Reformed” typically means “this denomination, but with Calvinism.” Or more Calvinism, as the case may be. But what exactly is Calvinism?

Tulips Should Just Be Flowers

Calvinism has five major tenets. They are remembered using the acronym “TULIP,” which, c’mon, what did tulips ever do to you? I suppose that it’s somewhat appropriate as the Netherlands during the Tulip Mania was largely Calvinist, but that’s more of a coincidence.

(Tulip Mania is wild. In summary, during the 17th century, tulips in Holland were like NFTs, or like Beanie Babies before them. Holland being largely Calvinist was one reason for this, because Calvinists value austerity. It was socially acceptable to display your wealth with cool flowers, though, hence it turning into an economic bubble.)

But I digress. The five tenets of Calvinism are as follows:

T: Total Depravity. Humans are, by their nature, completely corrupt. There is no innate good in them.

U: Unconditional Election. God doesn’t care how shitty you were prior to accepting him. If you are one of God’s chosen, you are one of God’s chosen.

L: Limited Atonement. Jesus’ Christ’s sacrifice works only for those whom God has elected.

I: Irresistible Grace. If you are one of the elect, you don’t have a choice in the matter. You will always accept God’s grace. You were chosen before you were born; it is not a question of if you will accept grace, it is when.

P: Perseverance of the Saints. There’s no take-backs. Once you accept grace, God will work in you to make you one of the saints. Turning away from Him is an indication that you were never one of the elect in the first place.

To better understand these tenets, well, that is where The Owl House comes in.

Unconditional Election, or, the Idea of Being “Special”

One of the overarching themes of the Owl House is the deconstruction of the “chosen one” narrative. Luz wants to be the chosen one, but is disabused of that notion pretty quickly. Belos believes he is the chosen one, and will go to extreme lengths to discount any evidence to the contrary. Both Luz and Phillip were raised on Chosen One stories, however, Luz was raised with the knowledge that they were fictional.

Phillip was not. Phillip was raised with the idea of predestination, a word that primarily encompasses the “unlimited election” aspect of Calvinism, as well as some aspects of the other four. Phillip was raised to believe he was one of the Elect, one of God’s chosen. He was among a select few for whom Christ had made atonement.

The very existence of the Boiling Isles should have raised some questions in Phillip’s head, but when you have been raised to believe you are one of God’s special boys, it is incredibly hard to give that up.

Irresistible Grace as seen in Belos’ Offer to Luz

The other aspects of Calvinism are largely encompassed by the idea of moral absolutism. Calvinist thinking is extremely black-and-white. While there is some room for shades of grey prior to someone hearing the word of God, after that point, that’s it. That was one of the justifications for the Puritan colonization of the Americas: spreading the word of God amongst the Indigenous. You gotta give everybody the chance to receive God’s grace. If they don’t want that grace, well, clearly they aren’t among God’s chosen. THEN you can wipe them out.

Puritans really liked the idea of “Praying Indians.” It was validation for their actions. Racism was, in general, far more subtle amongst the Puritans. It was that sort of condescending racism that tries to seem benevolent, but is fundamentally infantilizing. Oh, those people just haven’t heard about Jesus yet; they don’t know better.

I bring this up primarily to explore the dynamic between Belos and Luz. I often see people comment on Belos attempting to get Luz, an Afro-Latina girl, on his side. They are surprised that he is not overtly racist or sexist towards her. No, his behaviour is entirely consistent with Puritan behaviour.

Puritans were, on the surface, less overtly racist and sexist than many other colonizers. Less is the operating word. If you were willing to play their game, they were cool with you. Playing their game meant you were one of the elect, and they aren’t going to shun one of God’s chosen. However, if you were in any of those marginalized groups, they would come down even harder upon you if you refused, or even if you didn’t play by their exact rules.

The hand of “friendship” that Belos proffers is exactly the sort of evangelism that Belos would believe was the proper way of dealing with the human heathen. Give God the opportunity to do his magic. If He didn’t, then clearly this person isn’t among His elect. THEN you can kill them. (Diplomatic limitations aside. Belos doesn’t have those.)

The Disposability of The Depraved

Human, of course, is the operative word in the last paragraph. That does not apply to the witches and demons of the Boiling Isles. The only reason he needs to even try to play nice with witches and demons is because of the aforementioned “diplomatic limitations.” Particularly early on, he needs to be affable to remain alive. Palisman eating isn’t going to save him if somebody throws him off a cliff before he can eat a Palisman.

Witches and demons are completely disposable otherwise. Providing the opportunity for grace only applies to humans. Witches and Demons are, like humans, totally depraved, but, unlike humans, there is no hope of salvation for them. Humans matter, in spite of race, because God might still choose them. He’d never choose a witch or a demon.

The idea of total depravity doesn’t, by default, express as anger and hatred at those who do not profess your beliefs. It expresses as indifference.

I often see people surprised by how “chill” Belos seems regarding gender and sexuality in the Boiling Isles. However, that’s how the idea of total depravity messes with your head. Any queer folks run into evangelicals pretending their sexuality is no big deal because “all have sinned”? It’s like that. I haven’t found much historical evidence regarding Puritan views on homosexuality, so I really can’t comment from a historical angle. From a personal experience angle? To Calvinists, non-conformance to cis-heteronormativity is just as bad as murder. Everybody is just as bad as everybody else without God’s influence. Belos is “tolerant” of these things because they are already witches and demons. Why should he care?

Caring about issues like that generally requires it to be personal. People jump to the idea of the closeted bigot far too quickly, but that stereotype does exist for a reason. Something being personal doesn’t mean it is a supposed sin you feel personal shame for, however. Sometimes it is because you see it as a corrupting influence on the people you care about. Many times, that bigotry is because that group has been made a scapegoat for all your problems.

When you believe that all sins are equal, making a big fuss about some sin being committed by a group that is outside of God’s grace is simply not worth the energy. Unless gender non-conformity or queerness starts actually affecting Belos, it won’t be something he will be concerned with. He wants to kill all these people anyway.

Self-Delusional Atonement, or, How to Succeed in Calvinism Without Really Trying

The idea of Total Depravity will mess with your head in ways other than how you see and treat others. Calvinism is a theology that can be incredibly difficult to hold to if you possess any amount of negative self-talk. Every mistake will have you questioning your status among the elect. Yes, there is the atonement of Christ, but that atonement is limited only to the elect. What if you have been fooling yourself this entire time? What if your mistakes are a sign that your sins have not been atoned for?

Limited Atonement tends to incentivize a certain level of self-delusion. Never questioning your status among the elect is mentally safer. However, that tends to deny people a certain level of self-reflection. You’re one of God’s chosen; He wouldn’t let you go down a path of evil! If you can justify something as part of God’s plan, it’s good, clearly! Genocide is in the Bible, y’all! Any sins before God granted you grace don’t matter, they’ve all been atoned for! That also extends to sins made since, although there will be some expectation that you aren’t going to go scenery chewing villain in front of people.

Belos doesn’t have a Puritan community around him to call him out on going scenery-chewing villain. He only has his own delusions. He doesn’t question his own use of magic in his goals, because he failed to consider that the use of magic for him would be a bad thing. Ends justify the means! Killing all witches is a good thing, so him using magic is a good thing! Right?

Caleb, the Grimwalkers, and the Perseverance of The Saints Denial of Agency

Possibly the most tragic expression of Calvinism, or, at least, Belos’ twisted interpretation of it, is in Caleb and the cycle of Grimwalkers. The moral absolutism that accompanies the “perseverance of the saints” is a pain that many ex-evangelicals know well. The story goes as this:

You are living your life the best as you can, in a way consistent with your beliefs. You devote yourself to your faith, to the things you are taught in the Bible. Many times you may question, because as humans, we are all imperfect, and every mistake has you questioning your salvation. But you keep trying, because, with every ounce of your being, that is what you believe.

Eventually though, something breaks. Maybe somebody in the church hurts you. Maybe you see the church hurt others. Maybe you realize things about yourself that make evangelicalism untenable, queerness being a common example. Maybe you are hit with the sort of tragedy that causes you to question the existence of a loving God. Maybe you get outside the evangelical bubble and realize that the idea of “total depravity” is rubbish, that most people don’t need the threat of hell to be nice to others. Maybe you are just too damn tired.

So it all falls apart. It doesn’t often happen all at once, but once you start questioning some things you start questioning others. Maybe you find your faith somewhere else, whether it be in a different sect of Christianity, or a new religion entirely. Maybe your faith becomes far more personal, separated from any church. Maybe you lose your faith entirely. Exactly what happens doesn’t matter. You aren’t doing Christianity correctly. Losing your faith means you never had it to begin with. You were never saved. You were always a devil in disguise.

Many family members that subscribe to Calvinism would write off the apostate family member. They will just refuse to talk about that person. They are lost to God, that means they are lost to the family. Sometimes though, the family member, most often parents, cannot handle that this person would choose differently than them. They will lash out, doing everything they can to regain control of that person’s life. True autonomy does not exist in the confines of Calvinism. God does not give you a choice. Why should your family?

How Caleb and the grimwalkers created from his bones fit into this is likely obvious. It’s why I personally latched onto his story. Caleb chose to leave. This wasn’t a case of a disagreement with some minutia of dogma that caused him to be kicked out. If that was the case, he could still tell himself that he was correct, but that his fundamental worldview didn’t have to change. No, Caleb left. Caleb chose witches and demons, in spite of every indoctrinated fiber of his being screaming at him. He was choosing explicitly to go against God, and that meant that his faith was never that strong to begin with. He did some unforgivable things in service of that faith; he was party to the witch hunts after all. Choosing the Demon Realm meant acknowledging that his actions were unforgivable, and furthermore abandoning any hope of forgiveness. This was not just following a pretty face on an impulse. The existence of the rebuses proves that this was planned. Caleb came from a world that told him true autonomy was an illusion, and he chose to leave in spite of it.

I can have some sympathy for Phillip in this situation. Caleb’s choice not only meant that he was leaving Phillip at that moment, but he was choosing against the hope of an eternity in Heaven with Phillip. Caleb clearly didn’t mean that to mean never having his brother in his life again, but he knew all they had was this life. But, as much as abandoning his faith would be a big deal for Caleb, it would just as much be a big deal for Phillip.

Not that any of that excuses Phillip’s actions, but it does provide some explanation. Fundamentally, Phillip could not respect Caleb’s choice, in part because he had been indoctrinated to believe that Caleb making that choice meant that Caleb was never the good person Phillip saw him as. The motivation of every good thing Caleb had ever done for Phillip would be put into question.

The answer to that should have been either to realize that Caleb choosing this now did not negate his past actions, or, barring that, to accept Caleb’s decision and let him go. Phillip couldn’t do that though. There is no way within the Calvinist framework to justify Caleb’s murder. I certainly have my theories, but those are outside of this discussion. Calvinism just helps to explain Phillip’s emotional turmoil.

To make it worse, Phillip couldn’t even accept his brother’s death at his hands. He had to make the grimwalkers. And eventually, each one would “betray” him. It was almost inevitable. Caleb chose the Demon Realm, having been in the Puritan cult. The Grimwalkers only knew the Demon realm. And, to be clear, given the Puritan view of autonomy (or lack thereof), I do not believe that many of them truly betrayed Belos. Some of them may have fallen in love with witches, but I don’t think that “betrayal” required a purported crime of that scale. Belos expressed his desire to kill Hunter long before Huntlow was a possibility. I think the betrayal was any choice that shattered the Caleb-shaped illusion, the same way the actual Caleb did. If this version was better, he wouldn’t have thought he had a choice to begin with.

This is why Hunter choosing what he wanted, regardless of what he felt he “owed” his uncle, regardless of how similar or dissimilar his desires were to those of his ortet, was such a huge part of his character arc. It was what he wanted.

We also see an exploration of choice in Luz’s character arc. While she is disavowed of the notion of being special in a good way pretty quickly, she holds onto the notion that, because of how she helped Phillip in the past, she is destined to become like Belos. This all-or-nothing obsession over one mistake leads her to her darkest moments. However, even with that fear in the back of her mind, when it comes down to it, Luz will always choose kindness. And, when the time comes, she chooses to accept Papa Titan’s power in order to defeat Belos once and for all.

It wasn’t fate. It wasn’t destiny. It wasn’t because of some innate goodness or evil inside of her. She was there, she had the opportunity, and she chose to do something about it.

——-

That’s it for part 1. I’m hoping I will get part 2 done next weekend. Optimistically I can get most of it done on weeknights, but we shall see.

Edit: Part 2!

Anyway, I may have started writing up a complete Belos backstory narrative as if it were a script for a series of podcast episodes in the style of Behind the Bastards. The question I have is that, if I get it finished and decide to share it, how far do I lean into the Behind the Bastards ripoff? Are we talking Boiling Isles parodies of Robert and Sophie here?

Oddly enough, we didn’t cover Wuthering Heights in Fundie School. We did read Jane Eyre though. And listened to the cast recording of the musical adaptation, because my British Literature teacher was a theatre nerd. “In the Light of the Virgin Morning” became a running joke between one of my (also closeted queer) friends and I.

I should probably dig that one up on Apple Music and give it another listen. I’ve been titling chapters with musical references, and given the amount of fundie school experience I’m channeling into this fanfic, not referencing the one that fueled one of my peak “closeted queer clique” experiences seems like a missed opportunity.

One result of my Antinomian Controversy exercise is that I am now certain I am going to make Gravesfield distinct from Wethersfield. Furthermore, Gravesfield is going to be yet another town established because somebody was mad at John Cotton.

First, I like the idea of alluding to its creation because of Cotton complaining about it. It would be before Providence and Hartford too, and gradually revealing that being a pattern amuses me.

The minister of the Gravesfield church holding a grudge against Cotton allows for an interesting dynamic between him and Caleb, because Caleb also has a grudge against Cotton, but he’s not going to admit his reasons out loud.

Furthermore, it gives me an easy way for Caleb to find out about the pamphlet war between John Cotton and Roger Williams, because the lead minister at his church has kinda been collecting them obsessively.

The Antinomian Controversy Part 9: Epilogue

Please see my introduction here:

As I’ve mentioned, my primary purpose in telling the Wittebro story is as a deconstruction narrative for Caleb. You see enough people’s deconstruction stories, and you notice patterns. In our 5 “Free Grace” advocates, you can see about the full range of responses when the church has fucked you over.

Caleb is another point in that range of responses, and to a certain extent, Phillip, although he was a little young to quite understand what was happening. They don’t have the means to truly leave like the others. They’re the ones still dependent on the church structure for basic survival. Caleb has to figure out how to cope, knowing how easily things can turn against him. That takes its toll.

Trigger warning, this is (still) equal parts depressing and infuriating. Women in history don’t usually get their own Wikipedia pages unless they were A) royalty or B) went through some shit. Occasionally both. Unfortunately, our women still have shit to go through.

(I’m not including Roger Williams in the 5, but he would eventually be considered one of the founders of the Baptist Church in America. This is different from the Southern Baptists of today, if they are your first association. The Southern Baptists split off from them in the early-mid 19th century because of abolition. They were against it. Or, I’m sorry, they “supported states’ rights.” Obviously. Why else would there be Southern Baptists?)

John Cotton

John Cotton is the Rowling. He talked a good game, and inspired a bunch of people, but, when it came down to it, he showed where his priorities truly lay. He was a pretty big advocate of punishing crimes of faith, and distinctly anti-democratic, pro-theocracy. On that note, I am going to need to get into a dive on Connecticut history/governing structure soon. Thomas Hooker, the “father of Connecticut” left Massachusetts partly due to disagreements with John Cotton over voting access. Connecticut was still very much Puritan, but they didn’t disenfranchise you quite as easily.

That doesn’t matter right now though. What matters is that Cotton went full “fuck you” to Williams and Hooker, the preachers known for even more “radical” positions.

Henry Vane the younger

Sir Henry Vane the Younger is the radical. Not an atheist in this case, although his writings on faith were even further from the norm. No, he went hardcore on separation of church and state, strongly believing that the church needed to keep its ass out of the government’s business, and vice versa. This is probably NOT what Archbishop William Laud was expecting when he encouraged him to go to Massachusetts.

Look, I was getting a little down while writing part 6 and decided to meme. I wish I had a funny idea for the last two parts, but those were just depressing

This radical standpoint and his god-tier charisma were likely factors in his execution in 1662. Separation of church and state aren’t just threats to Puritans seeking a theocracy; it’s pretty threatening to other governments as well. The King WAS the head of the Church of England, after all, and that isn’t even getting into the “divine right of kings” thing.

Vane was deeply involved in the Interregnum, but while he did want to see Charles I removed as king, he kept himself out of the decision to have Charles beheaded. By all rights, he should have been granted amnesty after the Restoration, when Charles II was made king. Amnesty was granted to those not involved in the regicide. Vane was kept in the Tower until he was put on trial. He was offered no legal counsel, yet apparently his defense of himself amongst a jury of royalists caused him to be deemed “too dangerous to live.”

In an ironic echo of the pre-election speech he was not allowed to give, his attempt to deliver the speech he made before he went to the block would be unheard, drowned out by trumpets brought below the scaffold.

If you caught my note in Part 4 about Caleb witnessing Vane’s death, that’s why. It’s a lot easier to witness it when you know exactly when it will be. Caleb took to watching stupid parliamentary/royal drama after his death, which he called watching “The Crown” post-restoration, and pretty easily found out about it.

John Wheelwright

John Wheelwright was able to mostly do his thing. He didn’t have the position like Vane to go full radical, but he remained a minister. He hopped around a bit in modern-day New Hampshire (said hopping being because of the Massachusetts Bay Colony expanding into New Hampshire). Eventually he would be allowed back into Massachusetts. His assistant at the church he was at there would be the one minister murdered during the Salem Witch Trials, for a random connection back to literal witch hunting. (He apparently had a lot of debts, largely because he wasn’t getting paid like he should have been. As I’ve said, witch hunts are rarely in a vacuum.)

Mary Dyer

Mary Dyer is an example of someone who held on to faith, but was able to find it elsewhere. She and her husband were in the group that went to Rhode Island. Things were not drama-free there, because things never are. It’s a lot of politics that isn’t really important theme-wise. Short version: there were 4 settlements on the Narragansett Bay. Roger Williams wanted them united as a single colony, which would receive royal recognition, for their protection. And let’s be 100% clear here. The protection was NOT from their indigenous neighbours. The protection was from Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut, which were all encroaching on Providence and Rhode Island. The guy who was governor of the island was not happy with that and went to England to get a new charter where he was “governor for life.” William and Mary Dyer would go to England with Williams to procure a more permanent charter.

It’s here where she would convert to Quakerism. She would stay in England for a few years after her husband’s return to Newport, but she would eventually return with a widowed friend who needed to go to Boston to settle her family’s estate. This is another example of what I described as “tenacious empathy” in Dyer’s introduction. Massachusetts was beginning to crack down hard on Quakers, and Quakers had a manner of dress that identified them. She returned to Boston, knowing all of that, to support a friend. She was identified as a Quaker and arrested, and her husband needed to travel from Newport to bail her out. Mary Dyer was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony, and her husband swore she would not return.

She did not comply, even though Massachusetts Bay had introduced capital punishment for spreading Quakerism. When two of her friends had been arrested for Quakerism in Boston, she would still make her way back to Massachusetts to visit them in prison. She would be arrested as well, and sentenced to death alongside them. After watching her friends die, she would receive a last-minute reprieve. It was clear that the only purpose of the reprieve was to prevent them all from being seen as martyrs. They were using her to minimize the consequences for their earlier actions. Mary refused the reprieve. John Wilson was the attending minister at her execution.

Mary Dyer had the most backbone of anyone in this whole story.

I don’t have a good way to directly acknowledge her fate in-text, but I have a few dialog ideas to allude to it. The thing with Vane only works because Caleb has the emotional distance from British politics to find some weird entertainment in watching it. That’s not the case with anything in New England.

Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson appears to have been traumatized by the whole ordeal. She’s the one who made every effort to keep as far away from that old part of her past as possible. Unfortunately, that ended up costing her her life. William Hutchinson died in 1641, and with him, died a lot of the protection that Anne had. It was around this time that Roger Williams would go to England to secure a royal patent for the Narragansett Bay colonies, because as mentioned, Massachusetts Bay absorbing Rhode Island was a legitimate threat.

Rather than risk it, Anne moved her family (6 kids, IIRC; the others were adults with families of their own) out of reach of New England entirely, to New Netherlands, now New York, which was in Dutch control. She would be caught in the middle of Kieft’s War, between Dutch Colonists and the Siwanoy people. In 1643, her entire household, with the sole exception of Susanna, would be killed in a raid.

Puritan authorities, notably, did NOT express the same outrage at this killing of a British colonial exile and her children as they had for Stone and Oldham. Instead, there were engravings portraying it, in a similar vein as engravings celebrating war victories.

And Caleb, dealing with the trauma of losing everyone but Phillip for a second time, has to shove down over 2 years of his life, possibly the happiest he’d ever been, because people knowing who Anne Hutchinson was to him and his brother would put an immediate target on their backs. You shove that away and refuse to think about it, and a lot of things you forget. He remembers her kindness to him when he needed it most, but a lot of things got left by the wayside. Moreso, he’s even more out of his depth when it comes to raising Phillip. He was way too young to be playing parent to begin with, but now any attempt to teach what he’d learned from her has to be couched and coded.

Susanna would be a captive of the Siwanoy for 3 years and was released in an exchange in 1646. From some notes in Winthrop’s journal (ugh, him again), Susanna may have been dealing with some sort of post-traumatic issue that left her non-verbal for a time. And, between the way people in general tend to treat you like you’re stupid when you can’t speak, and the Puritan inability to acknowledge that sometimes shit happens, and it ISN’T some judgment from God, she’d likely be treated as an oddity, if she wasn’t shunned altogether.

I’m writing her as passing through Gravesfield en route to her eldest brother’s home in Boston (he had been in England during most of the controversy and hadn’t had time to do anything to get banished). Caleb risks people realizing the depth of his connection to Anne Hutchinson, because he remembers the feeling of having lost everything, deeply affected because of how horrifying that loss was, and the stares from other people. Her mother was the one person to show him genuine kindness and understanding when he went through that. He’s probably thinking of Mary Dyer’s nerves of steel as well.

A certain witch happened to be in Gravesfield at that time, primarily concerned with drawing a bird with striking red plumage she had seen in a tree. She witnessed that exchange, and it’s the only reason she gave Caleb ANY chance when they met again, properly, over a year later. The second time they meet is…uh…NOT so positive. Look, when that exchange between Caleb and Susanna happens, Phillip is trying to teach himself Latin from the Malleus Malificarum and is more than a little put out that Caleb’s dragging him over to say hello. The witch hunting is coming.

Somehow Flapjack remembers Caleb, even though he didn’t actually exist then. Evelyn was just creating a drawing she would use as a reference for carving later. Don’t ask how that one works. (‘Cause I wanted it to, that’s how it works.)

Well, that’s it for my writeup on the Antinomian Controversy. I may post writeups for other aspects of history I’m including, as well as some Biblical tie-ins, but none of them have as clearly defined a narrative as the Antinomian Controversy does.

The Antinomian Controversy Part 8: A Smothered Flame

Find the intro (and general trigger warnings) here:

I’m hoping that by mentioning Mary Dyer’s stillbirth in advance, you are prepared for what’s coming.

The previous parts have involved a lot of politics, not as much of the stereotypical Puritan superstition and such. Well, not to worry, we’ve got that too. We haven’t seen a religious trial yet.

Note to myself for “how things work”: Sundays are church services, Thursdays are lecture days. Wheelwright’s sermon was on a Thursday; both days of Hutchinson’s church trial were Thursdays.

A Season of Isolation

Anne Hutchinson was unable to return home, but instead was held at the home of the brother of one of the Newtown ministers, in Roxbury, about 2 miles from Boston. Winthrop did not want her staying in Boston proper, because he did not want to risk her being able to inspire more people.

It wasn’t a great distance, and, while she wasn’t technically restricted from having visitors, the harsh winter weather that year meant she effectively was. Her family was rarely able to see her. Many of her supporters would leave for Rhode Island and New Hampshire during this timeframe, and those that remained were cautious to do anything that might endanger their livelihood. The only people she saw with any regularity were the ministers of various churches, ostensibly there to correct her, but also to collect “error” as evidence to use in trial. From that list of errors, it was determined she would stand trial at the Boston church (like there was any doubt).

I’m undecided on how Caleb and Phillip fit into this at the moment, given that I’m basically eliminating most of the isolation period. I’m trying to figure out how to include some of the isolation’s effects on her without it being a full 4 months.

The Church Trial - part 1

After 4 months in isolation, Hutchinson was in poor health, exhausted at an almost spiritual level, the day finally arrived for her trial at the Boston church. It was the 15th of March, 1637 1638. Although it was her home church, many of her supporters had left, so she did not have them to buoy her morale. Two of her adult children and a much younger sister were her only family there. It probably felt hopeless.

A nine-hour interrogation followed a lengthy list of charges, all stemming from her theological “errors.” That day’s session ended with John Cotton’s villain moment. The ministers overwhelmingly agreed that she was doing more harm than good with her beliefs, and that she was a danger to the community (CULT CULT CULT CULT CULT).

John Cotton admonished her for many errors, but possibly the most egregious was this: You know how I said I thought the Puritans might have seen the “free love” of the familists as that kind of free love? Yeah, I’m 100% certain that is the case now, as I’ve cemented this part of the narrative in my head. Cotton explicitly tied her to the familists, stating that because women’s sinful nature is to be promiscuous, any gathering of both sexes without any regards to marriage would almost inevitably lead to…I dunno, an orgy, I guess?

I would like to remind you. Everybody knew that men were attending, and nobody. had a problem with it. The fucking governor of the fucking colony was attending, and nobody had a fucking problem with it. If this was such a big deal, why didn’t somebody say something then?

This is the nature of witch hunts, even though Hutchinson was not considered a witch. The accusation was bullshit, useful for getting her out of the picture. It was not a problem before, like the early forms of medicine used by midwives and similar were only a problem when somebody wanted to get rid of someone. If the community needs a scapegoat, or you’ve become too troublesome, they will find their reason.

He then told Hutchinson she needed to think long and hard about what she’d done. (Paraphrasing, obviously). Hutchinson was then instructed to return in one week.

Recantation Pressure

Cotton was able to convince the court to allow Hutchinson to spend the week at his home, where another recently arrived minister was staying (Staying in Henry Vane’s old room? If saying it was gives me snark opportunity, than sure). They then spent the week pressuring her to recant the opinions that had given offense. She was too tired to fight anymore. If she agreed to recant, at least they’d stop pressuring her to do so. With their supervision, she wrote a formal recantation to be read at the next church meeting.

The Church Trial - part 2

At the start of the 22 March meeting, Hutchinson would stand and read her recantation to the congregation, considerably more subdued than she had been. She would admit to having been wrong about all of her beliefs, including the things that she never believed in the first place, including that works/sanctification could be evidence of justification. She recanted. It should have been over.

John Wilson could not have that though. He brought forward an accusation made by Thomas Shepherd made a week prior, which brought on a new verbal beatdown. Hutchinson still held some dignity, however, and she would not admit to holding some of those beliefs prior to her isolation period. She was then accused to be lying about her recantation. Shepherd called her an imposter, and that there was never any grace in her heart.

The humiliation of the recantation was not enough for those two. They needed her destroyed. Cotton signaled that he was not going to defend her any longer, and Wilson pronounced the sentence.

She was cast out, excommunicated. She would from that point be in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, be delivered to Satan, to be a heathen, and a publican, and that she should leave the church as a leper.

Which is ironic. According to the Bible, Jesus healed the lepers. He freely associated with the heathens and the publicans (usurers/tax collectors IIRC). Why condemn her with those words?

Not that it mattered. Their job was done. She was a shell of herself, and she would stand to leave.

Anne Hutchinson, kept in effective isolation for months. Anne Hutchinson, spiritually beaten down and broken. Anne Hutchinson, excommunicated, banished, the enemy of the entire colony. Anne Hutchinson, someone so ostracized, providing her with any emotional support would bring retribution down upon you and yours.

Knowing all of this, Mary Dyer got up, went to her friend, and walked with her, arm-in-arm, out of the Boston meetinghouse.

In this case, the retribution was almost immediate, delivered by a single question from a person in the watching crowd. “Isn’t that the woman who had the ‘monstrous birth’?”

The so-called “monstrous birth”

It’s not clear how that information got into the Boston rumour network, but it didn’t matter. John Winthrop overheard the question and immediately launched an investigation. He questioned Jane Hawkins, the other midwife. He questioned John Cotton. He tried to find whoever the third woman was, but was apparently unsuccessful. Eventually, a crowd of over 100 would go to the place the infant was buried to see the body exhumed.

I am NOT going to quote Winthrop’s description, because frankly, those words are repugnant, and I don’t think it adds anything to include them. Puritans embellishing things they don’t understand to make it seem like a judgment from God is a trait that has made it into the modern zeitgeist. (Now if only we can get the idea that Puritan communities were less Corpse Bride, more Stepford Wives into the modern zeitgeist.)

Suffice to say, this discovery was propaganda fuel for decades. It was still following Mary Dyer more than 20 years later. The “monstrous birth” as it was called was the sort of sensationalism that would really hammer home how the Puritans wanted people to view the Antinomians. It’s easy for the theology of the matter to go over people’s heads. The effect of exaggerating the chaos supposedly caused by Wheelwright’s sermon dulls over time. But something so intimate and personal like this, that sticks with you. Fall in line, or God’s judgment will come upon your family.

Caleb’s involvement in this is ultimately what sends Caleb and Phillip to Saybrook. When the body is exhumed, his joinery master recognizes his work. He decides to end Caleb’s apprenticeship contract before anyone else can make the connection. He’s already been disarmed, and, facing a number of other penalties, decides he can’t deal with being involved in this as well. Besides, the boys have an uncle! They’ll be fine. Right?

The speed at which that all occurs is why the boys head to Connecticut without telling anyone they were coming. They didn’t have an option; Caleb’s apprenticeship was the last thing that could have allowed them to stay in Boston. They had to take it on faith that their uncle was still able to take them in.

Anne Hutchinson and her family, the Dyers, and many others would head to the towns being established on Rhode Island. It was over. The Puritan hegemony had successfully stamped out the first real internal conflict of their little experiment. That success would only enable the abuses that came later. If you crack down so drastically on dissent for the smaller things, like disagreement with a sermon, that doesn’t leave much room for dissent with bigger things, like the persecution of non-Puritan sects and the murder of Quakers and so-called “witches.”

Given the way a woman’s personal tragedy was sensationalized to keep people in line, it is somewhat appropriate that the sensationalizing of the witch trials is how we remember Puritans. However, by reducing our understanding to that sensationalism, we ignore the actions that led to that, actions that we are very much repeating today.

Up Next: The fates of our major players

The Antinomian Controversy Part 7: Stacked Courts, Silencing critics, and other tools of Authoritarianism

Find the intro (and general trigger warnings) here:

I’ve normally just pointed to my introduction post for trigger warnings and left it at that, but I’m going to get into a specific one here. This one is HEAVY. Honestly, it doesn’t get any better from here on out. Trigger warnings for stillbirth, birth defects, and acknowledgement of the way Puritans view those sorts of things. The next chapter will also deal with that.

I’m kinda seeing why we don’t see dramatizations of this, because while it definitely has a narrative through line, it is just a real downer. It’s one of those things I knew was a downer, but getting the narrative together as I get the characters in my head just sucks. I’m really glad I’m juxtaposing all the childhood portions on Caleb’s initial deconstruction arc, because at least that provides a more hopeful counterpoint.

Solidification of Conservative Control, both religious and political

Beginning the 30th of August, the ministers held a synod (work conference) basically so they could keep their story straight against the Free Grace Advocates. It was a little embarrassing how easily the Antinomians could logically disarm them by pointing out that they couldn’t even agree on things. They came up with a list of 90 things the Antinomians were preaching that was “wrong,” although 90 is stretching it. Many of the items were repeats of the same thing, with different wording.

It wasn’t clear from what I saw whether Cotton attended, so, if he hadn’t, either they kept him out on purpose, or this was limited to the lead ministers of every church. The latter makes sense, as the length of time would require somebody doing the job during the lead minister’s absence. I suspect Cotton would have made a fuss if he was excluded specifically.

But let’s be clear. Whether or not Cotton’s exclusion was calculated or not, this was absolutely a first step so they could justify purging the Free Grace advocates from the Puritan ranks.

Ostensibly this was supposed to stop people from being able to teach the “antinomian” perspective. It is incredibly difficult to shut down an idea when it has been initially spread, however. Cotton began to fall in line with the orthodox doctrine, however. Hutchinson still held her conventicles.

October brought the elections of deputies to the General Court. There was a huge amount of turnover, as many towns were frustrated by all the chaos occurring. Given that this was a theological government structure…and the way these things go…it is quite probable that the ministers were preaching messages that pinned any and all issues on the Antinomians. Ah, propaganda. The result was that, other than the two deputies from Boston, the deputies were entirely in opposition to Hutchinson, Wheelwright, and their supporters.

It was now time to take action.

Personal Tragedy Strikes

In that same month, on the 11th, Mary Dyer went into premature labour. The delivery resulted in a still-birth, although that was going to happen either way. While it is difficult to tell, given Puritan embellishments, the best guess from later descriptions is that the infant had anencephaly, or partial to complete lack of a brain. It is very much one of those “incompatible with life” conditions.

Two midwives were present, and apparently a third woman, who fell asleep. I’m probably ignoring that person, unless I can think of a narrative purpose for her. The midwives were Anne Hutchinson and another, Jane Hawkins

In a random, not completely depressing aside, apparently Jane Hawkins was secretly a familist, that sect that believed in “free love.” I feel like when that particular accusation comes up in connection with the Antinomians, she may be the source of several amusing almost-slipups.

The women immediately know that this is bad news. Whether or not they believe it themselves, they know that everyone is going to see the infant as judgement from God on their group of Free Grace advocates. Hutchinson immediately went to John Cotton, her mentor, for his advice on the manner. Cotton would advise them to bury the infant in secret, apparently thinking of how he would react if the child was his own son. I know I’ve been shit-talking John Cotton, but he is actually capable of some empathy.

In my narrative take on things, Caleb is the one who goes to fetch John Cotton after the birth. Hutchinson runs out to do so herself, but sees him so she can go back and tend to Mary. He later asks why she had him go, and he figures out that it’s because he understands the importance of keeping it quiet more than anyone. His self-doubt over what his own physical and mental disabilities say about him is a whole thing. Hutchinson says it’s because he knows the baby isn’t a monster, but Caleb can’t help but feel the unstated part is that everyone would think HE is, particularly because he’s only barely shoving those PTSD symptoms big feelings right now. Nonetheless, he volunteers to make a coffin for the infant, partly because he thinks it’s right, but partly because it’s a way of claiming his own humanity.

Since I mentioned the deconstruction arc juxtapose, this is the point where adult Caleb gets a little obsessive over that abomination-powered wheelchair I posted quite a while ago (I’ll link it at the bottom), has a realization of what it is to treat all people with “human” (not technically human, but you get it) dignity, and promptly freaks the fuck out because he’s got a lot of shit to process. There’s a reason I spent a lot of time with that chair.

The November Court - John Wheelwright’s sentencing

November 2, 1637 marked the start of the next session of the General Court, this time held in Newtown. Here is where things start sounding more than a little like fascism. You remember that petition that a large portion of the men of the Boston church signed in support of Wheelwright? In creating that petition, they created a list of political opponents to silence.

The first order of business was to examine the credentials of the recently elected deputies. One of the Boston deputies was identified as a signer of the petition, and a motion was made to dismiss him. This was done with a show of hands. Another Boston deputy, also a church deacon, was ejected by a show of hands because of his strong reaction at this injustice.

The Bostonians present were understandably angry, but they were willing to replace the two removed deputies with two others. One of the two eligible for the position was a signer of the petition (yeah, that’s going to come up later).

The next item was to finally sentence John Wheelwright. John Winthrop opened with the most flowery description of Stepford, Connecticut a peaceful, idyllic community, one that had only erupted into chaos at the arrival of John Wheelwright, in particular after his fast day sermon. I love a good purple prose challenge. Wheelwright’s demeanor was unchanged, but he remained unsentenced.

Day 2: at the opening of court, one of the two new deputies was also identified as a signer of the petition and dismissed, leaving Boston with 2 out of 3 deputies (the 2 quote from earlier was probably earlier in the colony’s history). Can’t have ALL the fascism all at once though. Then it would be obvious. You need to space it out. It’s not like Boston could do much to stop the inevitable. Wheelwright was sentenced to be disfranchised (all civil power removed) and banished. He had to leave Massachusetts Bay within two weeks.

One of the two deputies from the previous day, the church deacon, was then called forward and charged with having a loud reaction to injustice in a public court. Okay, it was probably something that sounded like an actual charge, but it was always going to be bullshit. The court was divided on banishing him, but they did disfranchise him.

The other deputy was brought forward for signing the petition. He was sentenced to banishment for not bowing down to keep the peace like a good little Puritan should. Oh, wait, I’m sorry. “contemptuous behaviour.”

I would like you to remember: This is a world where elections are often accompanied by fist fights. This was only an offense worth banishment because the court needed an offense worth banishment.

With all of that out of the way, it was time for the main event.

November Court - Anne Hutchinson’s trial

On the 7th day of November, Anne Hutchinson was brought to trial. Winthrop was leading the prosecution. He began to question her on her association with the troublemakers, and her meetings. She was able to shrug off the questioning by responding with questions and with scripture. Additionally, as mentioned before, she was careful to avoid her name being linked to any documented actions, which did make it harder to actually charge her with anything.

She was thrown off-guard when the deputy governor, Thomas Dudley, quoted earlier statements of hers from one of the ministers’ gatherings, regarding her opinion of the other ministers’ preachings. This wasn’t because she hadn’t said it, but because she only stated those things in private, and VERY reluctantly. She had the understanding that any of those statements would be kept in confidence. I’m going to have to choose which minister she said that to and have her stare daggers at him.

She responded with just that, her understanding that she only said those statements when approached in a manner of friendship. Given the emphasis on “reluctance,” I expect she did specifically ask if her words would be “on the record” so to speak. The court didn’t care. Yay, entrapment.

Day 2 of Hutchinson’s trial, she went on the attack against the ministers. They violated their mandate of confidentiality. She TRIED to keep her mouth shut. If they’re going to try her for causing offense to the other ministers, like they had Wheelwright, then why did they press so hard to get an answer that would offend them? (Definitely reading between the lines on that one). She insisted the ministers testify under oath.

This was agreed to, but only if the defense witnesses spoke first. The first two gave brief, rather milquetoast statements (pressured possibly?). John Cotton was the third. The answers to questions that were documented mostly consisted of “I don’t remember that,” or “I don’t think she meant that.” He also pointed out that they only appeared to become outraged at her statement from that prior meeting well after the fact. After that though, the exchange between John Cotton and the court stopped being recorded.

At this point, Hutchinson asked for leave to address the court. She then let loose with all of her anger at these proceedings, at the injustice and their failure, at the things they were preaching. She then prophesied that, should they continue their current path they would “bring a curse upon [them] and [their] posterity.” The judges were aghast. Cotton made a half-hearted attempt to defend her. William Coddington, one of the Boston deputies, questioned the legitimacy of the proceedings, as the magistrates were both judge and accuser, which was against court rules. Both attempts were shut down by the magistrates.

One of the pages I saw was uncertain why Hutchinson would say those things in the first place, given the case against her was fairly shaky at that point. I can only speculate, but I will need to so I can write this scene. I mentioned a conflict with my health teacher in previous parts, and here’s where it comes up again. At some point, when you are being targeted like this, when you’re being worn down, when it is SO CLEAR that your accuser will take nothing you say in good faith, sometimes you snap. I think Hutchinson reached that breaking point. The snapping didn’t lead her to shout and interrupt, but the snap was her realizing this was a lost cause. There was no benefit to her, or, in her mind, anyone, for this to continue. She wasn’t going to convince anybody. Her request to speak was her going out on her own terms.

(I didn’t do this in my health class because going out on my own terms would cause blowback on my classmates, but hooooo boy did I consider it.)

I do suspect that the questioning of John Cotton may have had something to do with that, at least, that’s how I’m going to write it. Why was his questioning not recorded in the transcript but others’ were? I think that it didn’t look good for the prosecution, and, furthermore, it didn’t look good for Cotton, in Hutchinson’s eyes anyway. If she no longer has confidence in his support, what else does she have to lose?

I’m not sure how I’m going to address the prophecy side of it; I will probably figure it out as I write the scene. One angle I’m considering is that this was as much prophecy as Vane’s earlier statements about this conflict drawing God’s judgment, but Hutchinson’s words were being taken in as bad faith. It wasn’t prophecy, it was common sense, but Hutchinson saw her common sense as “the Holy Spirit inside her.”

Another, one that doesn’t preclude the first, is to frame it in a way so it could be read as a prophecy, i.e. from our modern lens, she was right. The destruction wasn’t literal, however. It was the destruction of any amount of respect Puritans would have amongst the masses. It was that this “city on a hill” they were trying to create would be seen in history as deeply flawed. Which, given how most people see Puritans is true…barring the people I grew up around. But they want to bring that back.

However I choose to portray Anne’s dramatic “reason you suck” speech, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. She was found guilty, and a vote was taken, sentencing her to banishment from the colony. She would be declared a heretic and an instrument of the devil.

I’m probably going try to tie the prophecy and direct revelation from the spirit thing as a case of Phillip taking the absolutely worst lesson from this. Direct revelation wasn’t really a thing for the Puritans, clearly, and his takeaway from his time in Boston being an idea for his whole “spoken with the Titan” shtick does make some amount of sense. It’s weird the memories that stick around when you are six.

Wait, don’t all the second amendment folks like these guys?

They weren’t going to try every person who signed the petition (probably because that would have economically devastated Boston. You’re still kept around if you are useful). They did call and disfranchise some, although they were not banished.

The real kicker is that, within a week, constables were sent door-to-door to every person who signed the petition, demanding they give up their weapons, including powder and shot. Can’t let our political adversaries have any chance to decide to actually fight this bullshit, right?

Many would recant upon being faced with being disarmed, particularly the ones who needed their guns for their livelihoods. The ones who didn’t recant, but still gave up their arms were faced with further ostracization from the colony.

Excuse me for a moment. PURITAN. NEW. ENGLAND. WAS. A. CULT. This is classic behaviour and emotional control. Shunning is a key way cults manipulate you.

With that out of the way, many would leave the colony. John Wheelwright and some others would head to Exeter, New Hampshire. Another group, including Anne’s husband, William, would band together to purchase Aquidneck Island, called Rhode Island, from the Narragansett, signing the Portsmouth compact. They would leave to begin building a community there.

But there was still more to do. Anne Hutchinson still had to be tried by the church, to determine if she would be excommunicated, as well as banished.

But, you know, in March. Because the ministers still have other shit to do. The actual banishment would wait until then.

This is probably where I am taking the biggest liberties historically. I’m sorry, I don’t want the brothers sticking around all winter, but I also want them to be around for the church trial.

Up Next: The Church Trial

Here, you want something that isn’t super depressing and/or infuriating?

The Antinomian Controversy Part 6: Some of this sounds depressingly familiar

Find the intro (and general trigger warnings) here:

I stated up front that this does not have a happy ending. Well, it’s starting to go to shit now.

A random aside for earlier character choices: I mentioned in the last post that Wilson was going to have aspects of my health teacher, and thinking about it more, it’s not as much that Wilson has aspects of my health teacher as I can see aspects of my conflict with my health teacher in the conflict between Anne Hutchinson and John Wilson.

Which, on that note, I’m probably going to draw from a very specific interaction with my health teacher early on. It will help explain why Anne says some of the things she does about Wilson. More importantly, it’s an excellent way to establish the character traits that are important to my portrayal of Mary Dyer. The actions of a friend of mine in that particular incident are consistent with how I’m envisioning Mary. And she really does need more key moments earlier on. Unfortunately, women typically don’t get written down in the history books unless they’re royalty, or that they really got put through the wringer in their lives, so I have to make stuff up.

In case you forgot about the Pequot Wars

In early spring, the Pequot, who had until that point had primarily been besieging Saybrook, rallied their allies and began attacking towns along the Connecticut River. Massachusetts Bay Colony began recruiting soldiers to reinforce the colonists in Connecticut. Men in Boston refused to sign up. Why did they refuse to sign up? Because John Wilson was serving as the expedition’s chaplain.

Ignoring the colonizer bullshit of it all, you sort of have to feel for the colonists in Connecticut at that. They likely didn’t know about that particular item of church drama, not at that moment. Boston was the capital of the colony. From their perspective, Boston is refusing to help fix a problem that they started.

Those poor boys are going to have to deal with a LOT of side-eye in Connecticut when people find out they came from Boston. It’s not just the association with a person who is now persona non grata, but also, UGH, Boston. Meanwhile Caleb’s like, “I was 10?!”

That’s pretty much it for the Pequot Wars’ relevance to the Antinomian Controversy specifically. It’s happening over there, we don’t have to care, right? (Sarcasm, hopefully obviously). As I’ve said before, the primary reason for spending time with it during the Boston arc is because it ties the Boston arc and the Connecticut arc together. That, and Henry Vane’s involvement. The war itself is happening as things are falling apart in Boston though, so the brothers will be finding out about things after the fact.

Quick aside because I was getting confused by the colonial government structure

This part has a lot of politics. The 1636 election was just “Henry Vane got elected governor,” but now I’m trying to keep straight magistrates and deputies, and what’s what going on. So, for anyone as confused as I was, here’s a summary.

The “General Court” was the governing body for Massachusetts Bay Colony, and they handled just about everything that wasn’t specifically connected with the church, except for small cases that could be handled in town. There were 4 elected positions: Governor, deputy governor (Winthrop’s position currently), a council of assistants formed by 18 magistrates, and the deputies. All positions would be elected annually, and members of the clergy were restricted from holding office.

The governor, deputy governor, and magistrates would be elected in a single gathering every May. From what I understand, this group is the group that makes the decisions. The governor and deputy governor are responsible for a lot of the executive stuff, but they don’t have any special veto privilege. The deputies are elected at the town level, since it isn’t feasible to expect all voters to come from across the colony (hooo boy does that come up later). There are 2 deputies to every town, and that changeover comes every October. They don’t vote on quite as many things as the magistrates, but I haven’t figured out that exact division.

Those eligible to vote in the general elections were called freemen—men, members of approved Puritan churches, without debt, who had to undergo a sort of interview process to ensure their values aligned with those of the colony. To say it was restrictive is an understatement.

John Wheelwright’s Trial

Over the two months following the Fast Day Sermon, other ministers would begin bringing doctrinal charges against Wheelwright, not just for his Fast Day Sermon, but the things he had been preaching at Mount Wollaston as well. At the next meeting of the General Court, Wheelwright would be called to address these charges.

The magistrates were relatively balanced at the time. Twelve were present. Three (including Vane) were in strong support of Wheelwright. Four others were more tolerant of religious diversity. However, the majority of the 33 deputies present were opposed to Wheelwright, and they led the case against him. The official charge was heresy and sedition, tending to mutiny and disturbance.

The first day was a lot of back and forth with more charges and countercharges (“you’re [X]”, “yeah, well you’re [Y]”, etc), and ended with Wheelwright providing a transcription of his sermon to the court. After the court’s dismissal, his supporters brought a petition signed by more than 40 people that challenged the court’s right to try the case. As this was a case of conscience, not of law, the church should have heard the case first. This petition went nowhere.

The next day, in a private session, Wheelwright asked who his accusers were. They answered that his sermon was the accuser, which is some sort of bullshit. Knowing who your accusers were is a fundamental part of British Law. Nobody wanted to be officially on the record as accusing him of heresy and sedition.

The court opened to the public in the afternoon, and this time, many of the ministers in the colony were present. Initially, the deputies attempted to attack Wheelwright’s “false doctrine,” which John Cotton immediately shut down. That line of attack meant going after Cotton as well, and he was far too influential. Eventually, the court gets the idea to ask the ministers if they felt that Wheelwright was attacking them. The court would adjourn for the day with the ministers agreeing to discuss this amongst themselves in the evening.

The next day, the ministers returned to court and saying that they, with exception of Cotton, did feel that Wheelwright was insulting them specifically, inferring that they were Antichrists. They did provide a way for Wheelwright to back away from his statements, but Wheelwright, for better or for worse, was not somebody who would back down easily. Eventually, two of the more moderate magistrates were convinced to join the prosecution’s side, bringing the magistrates’ vote to 7-5 in favor of conviction. The deputies would then vote, and Wheelwright was declared guilty of contempt and sedition. Sentencing would wait for the next court.

The people of Boston were not going to let Wheelwright go down without a fight. A formal petition was penned, one so angry it had to be edited down several times to not be considered immediately libelous. Even so, the petition contained statements that the court was inviting God’s retribution in its meddling. Over 60 men signed the petition, many of them prominent members of the community.

Somewhere around here is when I’ll mention that Mary Dyer is pregnant. I guess slight spoiler/trigger warning in advance for what her documented relevance entails. The pregnancy mention will also be a way of setting up that Caleb clearly has PTSD as a result of his mom’s death, and pregnancy/childbirth is a trigger.

The 1637 Election

The next session of the General Court, when elections would be held, was fast approaching. HENRY VANE (the younger) had decided to run again, in spite of his prior attempt at resignation. That being said, between the Pequot Wars, then at its peak, and how communities outside of Boston viewed the Boston church’s drama, Vane did not have quite the popularity he had held a year before.

John Winthrop, who was also running, saw an opportunity. While Vane was extremely popular in Boston, that was less the case in other towns. Additionally, a majority of the deputies were his supporters. He moved to have the much more conservative Newtown (now Cambridge).

A question to consider: how do you logistically run an election without ballots, or, more accurately, without a system to accommodate remote voting? Voting needs to be done in person. With proper planning, you can accommodate multiple voting sites, but that means planning. It also means no stump speeches. Massachusetts Bay did not have that setup in the first place.

So, in order to get your vote counted, you need to travel to where the vote is being held. You have to know how you will travel. If you walk, you need to account for how long you will be away from. There’s a lot to account for.

Changing up where votes are held is not the worst idea, to make things as fair as possible. However, that needs to be on a predictable rotation. Changing the plan is going to affect the people who had arranged their lives assuming the vote would be held close to home.

To summarize, somehow, even with suffrage strictly limited to male church members without debt, SOMEHOW, Massachusetts Bay Colony managed to provide an early example of the disenfranchisement of urban voters through the limitation of polling access. There is nothing new under the sun.

Vane attempted to get the election moved back to Boston, but as he was outnumbered amongst the magistrates and deputies, he was unsuccessful. The Bostonians recruited as much of a contingent as they were able, but it was, as the orthodox party had planned, insufficient. Vane’s backup plan was for him to do what he did best: state his case orally.

Vane came prepared with a speech defending the Bostonians and their support of Hutchinson and Wheelwright. Seeing as this controversy was a major voting issue, he should have been able to give it. However, another contingent insisted on proceeding straight to the vote. After a good deal of shouting and a few fist fights (old time elections were something else), Reverend Wilson was raised into a tree, where he would shout to the crowd below and gain their attention. Gotta respect the presentation at least.

I’m trying to figure out a good excuse for Caleb to be there, because describing this from the perspective of a 10-year-old who isn’t actually voting seems like the best way to capture how chaotic it is. Vane would be my usual POV character for this, but he’s more focused on gaining control of the crowd.

A vote was held on whether or not the election should be the first thing to proceed. The crowd voted to proceed with the vote. This went exactly how Winthrop and his cronies wanted it. He was now governor. Furthermore, the three magistrates who had supported Hutchinson and Wheelwright were also removed from office. The religious conservatives now held complete power.

A little over a week after the election, the decisive battle determining the outcome of the Pequot Wars occurs, although calling it a “battle” is …questionable. It’s not a battle; it’s an act of genocide, now referred to as the Mystic Massacre. There will be some news of it making its way to Boston afterward, but not in a lot of detail as far as what the brothers hear. They’ll hear more when they get to Connecticut though, from the monster who masterminded it himself.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to have the brothers’ uncle get killed in the aftermath of that, when survivors are fleeing. A few colonists were killed near Saybrook during that timeframe. That he was confirmed alive after the turning point in the war lets it make a little more sense why the brothers would think he was probably still alive when it’s clear they need to leave Boston.

Election aftermath

One of the first things Winthrop would do as governor would be to enact a law preventing people who might oppose him from entering the colony. He enacted a law that required new arrivals to the colony to obtain court approval, otherwise they could not stay in Massachusetts for more than 3 weeks. It’s always the immigrants that get targeted first. (yes, yes, I know, colonialism; I’m TRYING to draw a parallel to modern day here).

One of the first impacted by the new law was Anne Hutchinson’s brother-in-law, Samuel. He, and the friends who accompanied him, were blocked from settling in Massachusetts Bay, because they would not disavow the Free Grace advocates. Freedom of religion for me, but not for thee. Vane would protest this, strongly, but his protests would fall on deaf ears.

The court would meet again in August. One of the items on the docket was the sentencing of John Wheelwright. He was told that if he were to retract his prior statements, he could expect a more lenient sentence. Wheelwright’s response was to dare them to execute him. If he was guilty of sedition, he should be put to death. The court was never actually considering that (they’ll save that for witches and Quakers), so they balked. Wheelwright said that if they were to sentence him, he would take his appeal to the king. Wheelwright’s sentencing was deferred once again.

Also in August, Henry Vane would leave New England, never to return. He was fed up with the miscarriages of justice taking place. It’s possible it was before the August court I just mentioned. However, from a narrative perspective, I think what makes the most sense is that the ultimate decision was in direct response to Wheelwright’s statement about appealing to the king. Vane realized that he was being obstructed at every turn in Massachusetts, and, given his privilege, that he had a chance of being able to help his friends from England. If Wheelwright had a voice ready to defend him in England, he could block the sentencing from being too harsh.

Before Vane leaves, Caleb gets him with Phillip’s breeching, or, when boys start wearing pants (okay, breeches). I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but Phillip should be wearing a dress in several of those Hollow Mind portraits. It’s not a gender thing, it’s that toileting is a lot easier without a bunch of buttons and things in the way. Phillip’s breeching is maybe a bit late, being nearly 6, but not very late. Caleb’s been putting it off because first off - the cost of new clothes, second - he doesn’t actually remember his as he was breeched way too early, and third and most importantly - because this is Phillip’s first “coming of age” moment since their parents’ deaths. Doing this makes Caleb’s role in his brother’s life official in a manner of speaking, not least of which because Vane’s the first of Caleb’s “raising Phillip” support network to leave their life. But hey, Vane does buy them both new sets of clothes.

The combination of the Alien act (and its direct effect on Samuel Hutchinson) and Vane’s departure were signals for many to also consider leaving. This didn’t really start happening until Anne Hutchinson’s trial in November. However, given the fudging of Hutchinson’s trial dates to be closer in time to each other for narrative impact, I will also move up when some of her supporters, her husband included, started making moves to purchase Aquidneck Island (Rhode Island!) from the Narragansett people. Told you actual Rhode Island was going to be relevant.

Up Next: Hey, I thought Fascism hadn’t been invented yet

I would like you to know that I am now getting all those super cheesy “find Jesus” ads on tumblr as a result of all this religion ranting, and those ads are 90% A.I. slop now. Please appreciate my sacrifice for your edutainment.

Hey, tumblr advertising algorithm! I’m an obviously queer ex-vangelical atheist writing a fanfic where the love interests are chaotic bisexuals with a blasphemy* kink. Trust me, unless they WANT somebody in the congregation giggling uncontrollably every time somebody mentions the Battle of Jericho, those churches don’t want me.

The Antinomian Controversy Part 5: There’s no Drama like Church Drama

Find my introduction with links to previous parts here:

October 1636 is when the controversy became official, as in, the overall church hierarchy began taking official action. Who needs to care about this war you just started when the members of the most prominent church in the colony aren’t behaving like good little Puritans? (Gardiner called it.)

Oh, it had been building. The hints had been there from the beginning. The minister on board the ship the Hutchinson family was on in 1634 had apparently held up Anne’s status as a church member upon arrival in Boston, owing to some questions she had asked him after he preached during the voyage.

John Wilson’s approach to criticism was to preach his works-based approach even more vehemently. I’m also envisioning a bunch of passive-aggressive digs at Hutchinson from the pulpit. 17th century vague-booking!

Somewhere in this period of time some of Hutchinson’s supporters started leaving mid-sermon. I probably will mention only one or two like that at this point. I will mention that anybody with any excuse to be in Mount Wollastone, where Wheelwright served as minister, seemed to be conspicuously absent whenever Wilson was scheduled to preach.

Completely unrelated, other than one involved party, also during this time is when Reverend Thomas Hooker departs Massachusetts Bay for Connecticut, following disagreements with John Cotton over suffrage. Given Connecticut’s importance later, I think mentions of its origin stories are useful. Plus, just how many New England colonies exist because somebody had beef with somebody else is hilarious.

Unspoken lesson of all of this: The only reason the Antinomian Controversy happened is because Cotton was more attached to his status than his convictions. He could have done like Williams and Hooker and gone and started his own community where the Free Grace thing was a non-issue. He didn’t.

If there’s one thing this writing exercise has informed me, it’s that I REALLY don’t like John Cotton.

If Gravesfield isn’t Wethersfield, I probably should come up with some stupid drama explaining its existence.

Shit’s Official Now

October is when the conflict was significant enough for Winthrop to comment on it in his journal. Rather than blaming any dudes, especially not any pastors, he put all blame for the tension on Hutchinson. Of course.

Late in the month, a meeting was called gathering seven prominent ministers in the colony, in addition to Wheelwright and Cotton, as well as several magistrates and Anne Hutchinson.

I will likely write Winthrop as being the facilitator. I’m collecting a list of other ministers who are probably going to be interchangeable.

Seeing as this was a theological discussion, it was decided that the first step was to reach consensus in the “correct” theology. This is why that little “grace vs works” aside in part 3 was important. You know how I said nobody was actually saying anything fundamentally different? And how this has never been a settled debate? Guess what? They couldn't reach a consensus!

I am tempted to have Wheelwright quote Elijah here, but inferring the rest of the ministers are akin to the priests of Baal might be a bit too incendiary. This is a great spot for Bible snark though, and Wheelwright would be the one to give it. Hutchinson was smart and only spoke when spoken to, and gave short answers to not incriminate herself. She might snicker though.

Each of the three were questioned, both as a group and in private. Each was able to provide satisfactory answers regarding their adherence to the general orthodoxy. I see Wheelwright being much more antagonistic and asking questions back making it clear he knows his stuff, which, in addition to the earlier lack of consensus, put the other ministers off balance. Hutchinson, the one they are most trying to antagonize into running her mouth off, is very cool and straightforward. She’s not going to give anyone the satisfaction of getting to her. Cotton’s the most defensive, but there are comments made that indicate he’s more concerned about keeping his celebrity status. Caving costs him more.

That meeting appears to end on a conciliatory tone.

December - No Christmas for Puritans, but have some petty bullshit as a gift

The peace does not last. The Boston church found out about the lack of consensus. It was probably HENRY VANE (the younger), the gossipy hen. (I AM writing Caleb as finding out about Roger Williams’ exploits in a similar way.) They decided shortly thereafter this was reason enough to kick John Wilson out. They wanted John Cotton to have the lead ministerial position, and for John Wheelwright to have the teaching position. While a large majority of the church membership voted to remove John Wilson, John Winthrop, the guy who knows the loopholes, took advantage of a rule saying that such decisions had to be unanimous. Winthrop could have been the only guy on Wilson’s side, and that’s all he needed.

Previously mentioned “extremely uncomfortable” interaction between Wilson and Caleb will probably occur shortly after this. Wilson is a bully, and, his ego bruised, he is going after the most vulnerable person in Hutchinson’s periphery. I don’t know what my 7th grade Bible teacher’s excuse was.

Being thwarted in such a way when a clear majority of parishioners wanted Wilson gone did nothing to resolve the brewing conflict. The Boston congregation would make their displeasure known; more people would leave when Wilson got up to preach. Those of the Puritan orthodoxy started throwing around words that seem meaningless to us, but were deeply insulting to the advocates of free grace, as those ideas were considered heretical. One was “famililist,” referring to a sect that escaped religious persecution by keeping mostly to themselves. They believed in free love—not that kind, sadly—but that the best way to edify the soul was with basic empathy, or, being nice to people. There was more to it than just that, religion stuff, but “free love” caught my eye. The question I have to answer is if the Puritans thought it was that type of free love. I tend to think they did.

The other, the word for which this controversy is named, “antinomian,” against the law. If you don’t preach works, then society will devolve into chaos.

The ministers would meet again in December. This meeting did not yield reconciliation, quite the opposite. John Wilson would deliver a passive-aggressive guilt-trip laden victim-complex “sad” speech bemoaning the state of things. A motion was made for that speech to represent the overall mood of things.

Well, I guess Wilson’s also getting parts of my health teacher in addition to my 7th grade Bible teacher, because I know exactly what I’m going to be channeling for that speech.

John Cotton was not amused, and would forcefully object. I’d say he was finally showing a spine, but this was the first time he was directly implicated in things. Hutchinson would maintain her strategy of limiting her words, but she did say things in private that would come back in her later trial. Vane was very much angered by the proceedings. This whole thing had him so pissed that he tried to resign as governor in a special government session. He claimed he had things to deal with in England, but when pressed too far, he stated that they were drawing God’s judgment with this bullshit “differences and dissensions.”

The Boston congregation was able to convince him to rescind his resignation, and, with Cotton, they approached Wilson, demanding he answer for his insults. Wilson remained calm, but that didn’t mean his answers weren’t bullshit. The group moved for a vote of censure, avoiding it through Cotton’s intervention.

You know what would be hilarious? If this was one of the mob scenes. The mob is not a witch hunt, it’s because the church is pissed that their pastor insulted them in front of all the other pastors.

You know what? This is absolutely it. The first one; Phillip’s not old enough yet for the second one. Belos forgetting that the angry mob was in SUPPORT of the uppity woman…well, it seems in-character. Caleb being fully in on the excitement also makes perfect sense, considering John Wilson using him as an emotional punching bag earlier.

Wilson gave a conciliatory sermon the next day that ameliorated much of the anger, enough that HENRY VANE (the younger) led the congregation in a round of applause.

It didn’t last. The free grace advocates would “disrupt” services by *gasp* asking questions of the preachers. Lay people shouldn’t be questioning THEM on their beliefs, that’s their job! Additionally, this behaviour was expanding beyond Boston.

Soon, the General Court, trying to get things back their perfect little stepford cult community, would call for a day of prayer and fasting, to be held on the 19th of January, 1636 1637 (new calendar year started March 25, so they would say 1636).

What is Hutchinson doing through all of this? Not being a dumbass is what she’s doing. She knows damn fucking well that the men can get away with being far more inflammatory than she can, and that Wilson, Winthrop, and their cronies are looking for a way to take her down. She’s trying her best to keep good opsec. Imperfect, but she’s trying.

To word that another way, we don’t actually know, because she was conspicuously avoiding getting her name associated with any documented action. Private counsel, sure. But she’s not politically invulnerable like HENRY VANE (the younger).

Wheelwright’s Fast Day Sermon

Church services were held that day, a Thursday. John Cotton would preach in the morning, but, as Wheelwright was in attendance there, Cotton would invite him to preach in the afternoon.

John Wheelwright is the real shit-slinger in all of this (which is funny, because Winthrop lamented that people questioning their pastors was akin to (paraphrase) “casting dung on their faces”). Wilson’s a petty whiny piss-baby. Winthrop’s a control freak. Cotton likes his celebrity. Vane wants everyone to get along in spite of their differences. Hutchinson just facilitated a way for people to actually talk about the things that they were hearing in church.

Wheelwright heard Wilson’s passive-aggressive insult-laden screed the month prior and apparently took that as a challenge. His sermon did not seem out of the ordinary to the average member of the congregation, but it was apparently an epic “reason you suck” speech, heavily coded by words only those deep into Puritan theology would understand.

As word of the sermon spread, more people were emboldened against the church hegemony. The General Court had had enough. The first charges were about to be filed.

Up Next: Election shenanigans, heresy, and wasn’t there a war or something?

The Antinomian Controversy Part 4: The Pequot War

Intro with general trigger warnings here, as well as links to the other parts:

This may go without saying, but this part is where we really start getting into the colonizer bullshit. It’s necessary though. One of my main trio becomes a genocidal maniac, and to write that backstory without addressing the very real genocide that would have been normalized for him is disingenuous.

Also, because, at its core, I’m writing this story as a deconstruction narrative, one of the things it deals with is that sometimes the people who were genuinely positive influences in your life still do PHENOMENALLY awful things. That is not something that is easy to acknowledge. (Spoiler: Henry Vane has blood on his hands)

This part is going to get a bit rambly. I’m including a lot of setup for the war, but the fact is, all that really matters right now is the Boston perspective. That perspective is limited, because the actual happenings of the war were in modern-day Connecticut. Seeing as the brothers’ story will ultimately end up in Connecticut, however, that setup is still important.

The short version is that some dude that the Puritans didn’t even really like was killed by some Indigenous people. He got turned into a martyr from the pulpit, ministers demanding justice. Henry Vane, due whatever combination of pressure from the pulpit, his own normalized fucked-up view of justice, or his own racism, sends out a punitive expedition to obtain justice from the murderers. The guy in charge of that decides he’s not satisfied with burning some villages down, and goes to attack some more indigenous people (from a different nation than where he just attacked). This escalates into an outright war.

I’m going to add a section at the end talking about impacts on the brothers. This particular story is a very difficult one to pace because of the protagonists’ age and maturity at various points. It’s important to acknowledge that, because part of the point is that these kids were seeing this stuff from a very young age. I’m trying to tell a story about the how easy it is to normalize genocide without excusing it.

Onto the long version

An obliquely relevant dumbass from a couple years prior: John Stone

Yet another John. I may or may not name drop this guy in text.

John Stone and his crew were killed by Native Americans in 1634. For my Discworld fans, their deaths are what Vimes would file as “Death by being Bloody Stupid.” The shitheads kidnapped a couple of men from among the Western Niantic, which was a tributary client of the Pequot, and then demanded they guide them up the Connecticut River. The bastards were then killed by a larger group of Niantic.

Stone had gotten kicked out of Boston for being a belligerent jackass (actions including drunkenness, adultery, and piracy) and was apparently well-enough remembered that the reaction to his death amongst the general population ranged from “meh” to “LMFAO.” Boston officials didn’t want to just excuse this guy’s killing, though and did protest it with the Pequot.

The Pequot claimed that Stone was killed in retaliation for some horrific bullshit pulled by the Dutch, where a Pequot sachem was kidnapped and then killed after his ransom was paid. The Pequot claimed that they didn’t realize Stone was English, not Dutch. The English colonizers didn’t accept this, and the Pequot sent over wampum as recompense (shell beads, accepted currency, eventually legally, due to how well it facilitated trade amongst the Indigenous communities). This wasn’t good enough. They wanted Stone’s killers.

Assuming I do work this in, we’ll probably hear about it from Winthrop, since he would have been part of that group of officials.

Another obliquely relevant dumbass: John “Captain Mad Jack” Oldham

Seriously, just how many people named “John” are going to show up in this thing? I’ll almost certainly have name dropped John Endecott by the time John Oldham becomes relevant, but I almost certainly won’t have mentioned John Mason, and he is the main historical figure in the second childhood arc.

Bit of an Owl House specific aside here:

John Oldham’s greater relevance presents a conundrum regarding the nature of my fanfiction. It’s commonly accepted that Gravesfield is largely based on Wethersfield, Connecticut. Guess who was one of the founders of Wethersfield?

Oldham’s presence in this part of the narrative forces me to answer whether or not Gravesfield is the Owl House universe’s equivalent of Wethersfield, or are they two separate towns? If Gravesfield is Wethersfield, then mentioning him in text is a convenient way to name drop Gravesfield long before the brothers end up there.

On the other hand, Gravesfield being a separate town gives me the freedom to let it be its own thing, referencing Wethersfield when it’s relevant. IIRC, there’s a sign that says Gravesfield was established in 1635, which would place it as the year after Wethersfield.

I am probably going to go the latter route. I’m not completely set on it, but I did select a spot further south on the Connecticut River for a fictional Gravesfield. I have a few ideas I want to play with that don’t make as much sense if Gravesfield is Wethersfield. Given that the childhood portion of the story opens on the aftermath of the hurricane, there’s a nice sort of parallel in Gravesfield having been established in the aftermath of the hurricane.

But back on topic

Here’s what we need to know about John Oldham. He was in a group of separatist colonists who arrived in Plymouth in 1623, after the Mayflower, but before Winthrop. He got banished from Plymouth when he pulled a knife on Myles Standish (the military advisor on the Mayflower). There was more to it than just that, but I don’t really want to get into it. It’s not relevant. It was one of those situations that made it a lot easier for the Puritans/Separatists to see themselves as so much better because Oldham and the guy he was conspiring with (also named John!) were real pieces of shit.

Oldham was able to make a living for himself outside of the church structure as a trader, but he had a reputation for being a troublemaker. His nickname was “Mad Jack,” it’s probably not that surprising. He was not especially well-liked among the Puritans, but he was useful because he knew the New England Coast and was willing to lead those sorts of exploratory expeditions like the one that lead to the founding of Wethersfield.

On July 20, 1636, Oldham was anchored off Block Island on a trip to trade with the Native Americans. Keep in mind, we’re less than a year after a hurricane caused huge amounts of destruction in the region. Resources are more scarce; tensions are high. The indigenous people of the area were not some big happy family; they had their own alliances and enemies, and in the aftermath of something like a hurricane, there is an additional interest in preventing people from trading with their enemies.

Long story short, it is quite likely that Oldham picked a fight with some Native Americans who killed him and his crew, looted his ship, and captured Oldham’s young nephews. The boys were soon after rescued by Dutch traders, who discovered Oldham’s looted ship and his body.

I can’t say for certain that Oldham picked a fight, but considering he drew a knife on Myles Standish on his way out the door in Plymouth, I can’t say he didn’t.

It is often thought that Oldham’s murderers were Narragansett, or Narragansett aligned (the Niantic of Block Island were Narragansett allies). But they either denied it, or culpability at least. They insisted that the murderers were being sheltered by the Pequot.

I’m not sure how much the actual culprit matters. Oldham’s death was the match being thrown into a barrel of gunpowder.

Regional politics outside of the Hurricane

In addition to the rise in tensions due to scarcity created by the hurricane (true for everybody; the colonists were even less prepared for that sort of thing), there were additional politics in play.

Regarding the perspectives of the Indigenous, the nations neighbouring the Pequot certainly had reason to want to shift blame onto them. On the east, the Pequot had been aggressively encroaching on traditionally Narragansett land. On the west, a branch of Pequot recently separated from them, the Mohegan, led by the sachem Uncas, were very intent on maintaining their cultural identity. The separation was maybe a generation or two prior, if that, and not getting reabsorbed into the Pequot was very much top of mind.

On the colonizers’ side, punitive justice was very much the norm, and there was an expectation of “we punish our own.” There’s absolutely the racism aspect as well. “Yeah, nobody really liked Oldham or Stone, but we can’t have THOSE people killing ours as free as they choose,” was likely part of it. And then, the more deeply racist idea that a white shithead is better than any indigenous person. The two still claimed to be Christian, even if they weren’t Puritan.

Massachusetts responds

As opposed to John Stone, John Oldham’s death was met with outrage. This outrage was worsened when ministers across the Bay Colony began demanding vengeance for Oldham’s death from the pulpit. Knowing the way kids tend to be weaponized by religious conservatives, I will include the two boys as part of the reasoning. They were rescued, but who knows what those “savages” were planning?

And if I portray the kids as Caleb and Phillip’s ages, that’s going to leave a far greater impact on them. The brothers will be fully exposed to the vitriol from the pulpit. I’m probably going to portray the first Hollow Mind mob scene as connected to the outrage being stoked at Oldham’s death. The angry tone fits better here than the other option, sometime around Anne Hutchinson’s trial. I do have one moment in the trial I could have the angry mob, but Caleb would NOT be playing along with the anger in that. EDIT: NVM figured out a better place in Part 5.

It took a few weeks, but, in August, Vane did give in to the outrage and ordered a punitive expedition to Block Island to exact revenge. Given his language in the order (kill the men and capture the women and children on the island, then seek recompense directly from the Pequot), I don’t think I’m going to write this as reluctance. Rather, it’s the anger wearing down his better judgement against his own pre-conceived biases. He didn’t immediately go on the offensive, which suggests some reticence, but he ultimately is the one who signed the order that was pretty clearly seeking destruction.

Given the dude’s charisma and ability as a speaker, I think that if he truly thought retaliation was a bad idea, he could have gotten more buy-in. This escalation was not something your average colonist wanted. Connecticut sure fucking didn’t, but more on that later.

Also, having John Endecott lead that expedition was a bone-headed decision destined for even more escalation. Sure, he was the 1st governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, but if recent history has taught us anything, just because you get elected doesn’t mean you can’t be a hot-headed bastard. The guy was known for taking things way farther than anyone expected. He quite famously defaced the English flag because Roger Williams said that St. George’s Cross was a symbol of the papacy. Endecott was one of those Separatists who really wanted to just boss people around while not being bossed around himself.

The thing that genuinely confuses me is that, if the colonists believed that the Pequot were responsible, why did they first attack Narragansett allies? Narratively, I think the approach that I will take is that the colonists conflated the Eastern Niantic (Narragansett allies) with the Western Niantic (Pequot tributary). It’s stupid, but it’s a very believable sort of stupid.

The Massachusetts Bay Punitive Expidition

John Endecott went to Block Island and found the villages there all but deserted. He burned them to the ground anyway. Oh, and because remember, hurricane-induced scarcity, he had his men raid the Niantic’s winter food stores for as much as they could carry and then destroyed the rest. Endecott claimed his group had killed 14 among the Niantic. The Narragansett would later dispute this, saying just 1.

Endecott, he of “no kill like overkill” wasn’t satisfied with this. He made his way to Fort Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut River, in advance of demanding the murderers be turned over, attacking if not.

Fort Saybrook is important. It features a bit in the brothers’ childhoods, but that isn’t its real importance. It features in the single most wild case of an unexpected historical tie-in, because it fits both into something I had planned, but also ties into what happens during the childhood arcs.

Lion Gardiner, who was in command of the fort at the time, was NOT cool with this plan. He pointed out that the towns along the Connecticut River had peaceful relations with the Pequot, and they would very much like to keep it that way, thank you very much. Endecott was kicking a hornet’s nest towards Connecticut Colony and then bailing (same metaphor, early-modern wording).

Endecott wouldn’t back down, and Gardiner and some others reluctantly guided him along the coast to a Pequot village. This exactly how you would have expected, and Gardiner’s admonition was quickly proven correct.

Endecott returned to Boston with a ship full of stolen food stores, another village burned to the ground in his wake. Saybrook was besieged, and people venturing outside of the fort were killed. Eventually, as the Pequot rallied their forces, they would begin attacking other towns along the Connecticut River.

I’m pretty sure Caleb and Phillip won’t actually know what happened, not at first. They will see the returning ship full of food though and start getting hints.

Musing on Caleb and Phillip in this

Portraying the Pequot War is a bit rough, pacing-wise. I don’t want to focus on it too much when the brothers are in Boston because its direct connection to the Antinomian controversy occurs later. A lot of it is background pointing to what’s going to happen later.

The problem with not focusing on it is making it clear to readers that I’m not just saying “yup, genocide happened,” and leaving it at that. There WILL be impacts. The brothers end up in Connecticut, which is where all the fighting happened. Due to their age and the distance, they wouldn’t be privy to that. They’ll find out later though, from people involved in the fighting.

It is REALLY going to look like Henry Vane’s role in this doesn’t get questioned at all. I can drop hints here and there acknowledging it, but the fact of the matter is that, while Caleb is still around in the human realm, he does not have the ability to process that. First off, he’s still untraining himself from the murder mindset and reminding himself how disturbing it was when he learned what happened.

It is incredibly hard to acknowledge that people who were a genuinely positive influence on YOU still did incredibly shitty things. Besides, he has a person he genuinely hates to pin blame on, whose role in the genocide is considerably more obvious. Probably more than anybody, John Mason is a complete monster.

I know precisely how I’m going to address Vane though. Unfortunately, it’s when both Vane and Caleb are dead. Long story, but Caleb witnesses Henry Vane’s death and accidentally forces Vane’s soul to make a detour en route to his own afterlife.

Caleb’s ghost is…special. It’s all Phillip’s fault. Okay, Caleb’s own litany of unresolved issues also played a role.

Anyway, it gets addressed then. The fact of the matter is that Vane’s escalation is a critical event that leads to Phillip and Caleb’s fate. This does get explicitly stated in the ghost scene; that the brothers were only in the position that led to Caleb’s death because of Vane’s actions. Obviously, there’s the moral toll of seeing this level of destruction celebrated. However, there is a very direct line.

The reasoning I give for Caleb and Phillip going to Connecticut is because they have an uncle, their mother’s brother, who had migrated some time prior to Saybrook. The option of him taking them in was presented, but Caleb had a pretty good thing going with a joinery apprenticeship, and he didn’t want to break his contract.

You can probably see where that one’s going.

I think that the necessary thing to do is note the uncle arriving in Saybrook sometime shortly before Oldham’s death. Occasionally get updates that he’s alive, until suddenly they stop. However, they stop when things are going to shit in Boston, so that isn’t exactly top of mind.

Mentioning the uncle in Saybrook, and then mentioning Saybrook being besieged will hopefully signal to readers that I am fully aware of Vane’s culpability.

Okay, this post has gone on long enough.

Up Next: The religious authorities start objecting

FYI, things are going to get considerably more speculative from here on out. I don’t actually open the story until the aftermath of the hurricane, so anything before is more historic. This is where how I am choosing to portray things matters, so I’m assigning personalities and motivations that may not have actually been the case. These people aren’t Wikipedia articles in my fanfic, they are characters just as much as Caleb and Phillip are.

The Antinomian Controversy Part 3: RHODE ISLAND in a BLIZZARD + The 1636 Election

Find the intro (and general trigger warnings) here: