“So Manifest a Signe from Heaven”: Monstrosity and Heresy in the Antinomian Controversy

Several months after being banished from Massachusetts Bay for her antinomian beliefs, Anne Hutchinson miscarried. Heralding it as a sign from God, authorities insisted that Hutchinson's “monstrous birth” was indisputable proof of her monstrous views, evidence that inspired fear and awe and would undoubtedly return the wayward to orthdoxy's fold.