1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 2: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. The other day I took 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,479 Speaker 2: a long walk through Boston, and that walk took me 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 2: past the statue of Mary Dyer that's in front of 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 2: the East wing of the Massachusetts State House. And every 7 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 2: time I've gone by there, I've been really curious about her, 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 2: and we've gotten some listener requests for an episode on 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 2: her as well. Mary Dyer and Anne Hutchinson were two 10 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 2: of the women who were banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 2: for their religious activities in the seventeenth century, although Anne 12 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 2: Hutchinson is probably the one whose name is a little 13 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 2: better known today. There is a statue of her in 14 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 2: front of the State House as well, but it's a 15 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 2: little bit farther back from the road. It's like not 16 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 2: the side of the state House. Also, I walk past 17 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 2: the most often, so she just hasn't caught my eye 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 2: as much. We are going to talk a bit about 19 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 2: Hutchinson in this episode, though, because these two women knew 20 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:15,559 Speaker 2: each other and parts of their lives are interconnected. Both 21 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 2: of these women went through a lot of hardship in 22 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 2: terms of religious persecution and things that happened to their 23 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 2: children and families. This was a time when a lot 24 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 2: of people did not survive their early childhood. And we're 25 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 2: also going to be talking about some pregnancy losses that 26 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 2: have some additionally upsetting layers besides just the part of 27 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 2: losing a pregnancy. Mary Dyer was born Mary or perhaps 28 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 2: Marie Barrett, probably in the early sixteen hundreds. We don't 29 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 2: know the exact date, but most sources put the year 30 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 2: as sometime around sixteen eleven, and most likely in Somersetshire, England. 31 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: We know very little about her early life or her family, 32 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: but what we do know about her suggests that they 33 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: were fairly well off, perhaps not rich, but affluent enough 34 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: that a daughter grew up learning how to read and 35 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: was later described as well educated and respectable. 36 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 2: On October twenty seventh, sixteen thirty three, Mary got married 37 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 2: to a milliner named William Dyer. That last name is 38 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 2: also spelled Dyaar and dre in various seventeenth century documents. 39 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 2: He had been apprenticed to a phishmonger when he was younger, 40 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 2: and was also a member of the Fishmonger's Company. They 41 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 2: had their first child, named William, in sixteen thirty four, 42 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 2: but sadly, he died only three days after being baptized 43 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 2: and was buried on his parents' first wedding anniversary. In 44 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 2: sixteen thirty five, the Dyers moved to Massachusetts Bay Colony. 45 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 2: Mary was probably pregnant as they crossed the Atlantic. Their 46 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 2: first surviving son, Samuel, was baptized in Boston on December twentieth, 47 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 2: sixteen thirty five, and they had joined the church just 48 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 2: the week before, so the Massachusetts Bay Colony was only 49 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 2: a few years old when the Dyers arrived there. The 50 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 2: Massachusetts Bay Company had received a charter from King Charles 51 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 2: the First in sixteen twenty nine, authorizing the company to 52 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 2: colonize a portion of what's now thought of as New England. 53 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 2: About a thousand Puritans arrived from England on a series 54 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 2: of ships over the course of the following year. From 55 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 2: the Crown's point of view, this charter was about colonization 56 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 2: and trade, but the colonists were also motivated by the 57 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 2: idea of establishing a Puritan theocracy in North America, one 58 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 2: in which all of the colonists were continually striving to 59 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 2: form a perfect society that was essentially the Kingdom of 60 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 2: God on earth. So we need to take a minute 61 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 2: to talk about Puritanism. You could really do an entire 62 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 2: study on all the historical and religious nuances of the 63 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 2: Puritan religious movement and all of the many, many ways 64 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 2: it affected Britain's government and society, how Puritan's religious beliefs 65 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 2: and practices affected their approach to colonizing North America. So 66 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 2: this is really just a broad layperson's overview to help 67 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,359 Speaker 2: make sense of some things that happened in Mary Dyer's life. 68 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 2: Puritanism grew out of the establishment of the Church of 69 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 2: England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the First in 70 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 2: the fifteen fifties. Elizabeth and Parliament had tried to resolve 71 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 2: ongoing disputes between Catholics and Protestants by creating a church 72 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 2: that was largely Protestant in its beliefs, but also incorporated 73 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 2: elements that retained the appearance of Catholicism. This was done 74 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 2: through a series of laws and decisions that came to 75 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 2: be known as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Puritans believed that 76 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 2: the Church of England needed to get rid of those 77 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 2: lingering elements of Catholicism that it needed to be purified. 78 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 2: The term Puritan started as an insulting nickname referencing that 79 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 2: idea of purification. Since this was a grassroots religious movement 80 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 2: and not a centralized denomination with like an official decision 81 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 2: making body to formalize its beliefs and creeds, there could 82 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 2: be a lot of variation from one Puritan to the next. 83 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 2: This is especially true since this movement advocated for everyone 84 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 2: to be able to read and understand scripture for themselves. 85 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 2: That also meant that most Puritan girls were taught how 86 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 2: to read, although most of the time they still typically 87 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 2: didn't have the same access to education that boys did. 88 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 2: This focus on individual study and understanding of scripture also 89 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 2: meant that people came to a lot of their own interpretations, 90 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 2: which led to a number of disagreements and schisms among 91 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 2: different groups of Puritans. That was in addition to all 92 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 2: the disagreements between Puritans and religious conformists in the Church 93 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 2: of England. There were a whole lot of people writing 94 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,679 Speaker 2: pamphlets and preaching about how the Church of England needed 95 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 2: to check, but they were not all saying the same things. 96 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 2: By any stretch. These disputes played a big role in 97 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 2: a lot of English history in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 98 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 2: including the English Civil Wars. That's not directly connected to 99 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 2: what we're talking about today, but we just want to 100 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 2: acknowledge that the influence of Puritanism went way beyond things 101 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 2: like disputes over whether clerical vestments were too Catholic looking. 102 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 2: One central part of Puritan theology involved the idea of 103 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 2: covenance between humanity and God. John Winthrop, who was one 104 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,239 Speaker 2: of the founders of Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote a sermon 105 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 2: on board the Arabella while traveling to North America, and 106 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 2: in this sermon he described the Puritan colonists as having 107 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 2: a covenant with one another and with God. This covenant 108 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 2: meant that they were divinely ordained to build a community 109 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 2: dedicated to God's law, a city on a hill that 110 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 2: would be a shining example to the rest of the world. 111 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 2: In this community, the rich would be expected to show 112 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 2: charity to the poor, and the poor would be expected 113 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 2: to work hard, and everyone would be expected to live 114 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 2: in strict adherents to God's law. Other covenants related to 115 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 2: how humanity would attain salvation The Covenant of Works connected 116 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 2: back to the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. 117 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 2: God had told Adam that he would have eternal life 118 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 2: in Paradise as long as he followed God's law, and 119 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 2: when Adam broke that law, he was cast out of 120 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 2: the garden. The Covenant of Works stressed that Christians were 121 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 2: obligated to follow religious and moral law. The Covenants of 122 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 2: Grace and Redemption were connected to the idea that people's 123 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 2: belief in God was necessary to attain salvation and to 124 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 2: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to free humanity from sin. 125 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 2: So for Puritans, all of these covenants also rested on 126 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 2: the idea that God chose only some people to be saved, 127 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 2: and that a person could not know definitively whether they 128 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 2: had been saved or not whether they were still alive. 129 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 2: So people were also kind of continually examining their own lives, 130 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 2: both inwardly and outwardly, looking for signs of their own salvation. 131 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 2: One of the disputes among Puritans in the seventeenth century 132 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 2: involved whether salvation was granted by God unconditionally or whether 133 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 2: it had to be earned through good works and dedication 134 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 2: to the law. Either way, most Puritans believed that this 135 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:36,719 Speaker 2: was predestined and unchangeable. People who argued that salvation was 136 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 2: a gift from God and not something that had to 137 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 2: be earned were often described as antinomian, coming from Greek 138 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,319 Speaker 2: words roughly meaning against the law. 139 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: This term was first coined in the sixteenth century and 140 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: initially was mostly used in the context of German theologia 141 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 1: Johannes Agricola and his followers, whose teachings included these ideas. 142 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 1: But in the seventeenth century, as more people, including more Puritans, 143 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: began to adopt the same ideas, the term antinomian started 144 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: to be used a lot more widely. It was often 145 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: a disparaging term, used to lump anyone who wanted less 146 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: focus on law and more focus on grace into one 147 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: vilified group. To many Puritans, antinomianism was heresy. 148 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 2: One of the seventeenth century figures who brought these ideas 149 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 2: into more prominence was Puritan minister John Cotton. Cotton had 150 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 2: emigrated to the colonies in sixteen thirty three after facing 151 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,319 Speaker 2: legal action for his non conforming religious views back in England. 152 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 2: Another clergyman was John Wheelwright, who emigrated to Massachusetts the 153 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 2: following year. Anne Hutchinson was Wheelwright's sister in law, and 154 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 2: she immigrated to Massachusetts in sixteen thirty four. As well, 155 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 2: she was a midwife with a reputation for being a 156 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 2: good mother and one of the people who could really 157 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 2: be counted on to help take care of an anyone 158 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 2: who was sick or dying. She also held meetings in 159 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 2: her home, hosting other Puritan women to talk about the 160 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 2: weak sermons and other religious teachings. Many women found her 161 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 2: wise and insightful, and there were some men who appreciated 162 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 2: her perspective as well. 163 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: All three of. 164 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 2: These people became involved in the dispute between the people 165 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 2: who put more emphasis on the covenant of grace and 166 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 2: those who were really focused on the covenant of works. 167 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,319 Speaker 2: This dispute became known as the Antinomian controversy or the 168 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:37,599 Speaker 2: Free Grace controversy. For a brief period, Cotton, Hutchinson, and 169 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 2: Wheelwright and other people who thought similarly to them, they 170 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 2: had all had some support from Colonial Governor Henry Vane 171 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 2: the Younger, who was in office from May of sixteen 172 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 2: thirty six to May of sixteen thirty seven and was 173 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 2: a proponent of religious tolerance. But in January of sixteen 174 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:58,080 Speaker 2: thirty seven, Wheelwright delivered a sermon that really criticized a 175 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,680 Speaker 2: lot of the ministers and magistates of Massachusetts Bay Colony 176 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 2: for their focus on the Covenant of Works. That led 177 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 2: to his being charged with contempt and sedition. Petitions were 178 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 2: circulated on his behalf, and everybody who signed one of 179 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 2: those petitions was later disarmed and disenfranchised by the colonial government. 180 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: John Cotton was able to smooth over his disagreements with 181 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: church leaders and he didn't face a lot of consequences 182 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: during all this. But John Wheelwright was ultimately convicted and banished, 183 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: and Anne Hutchinson faced trial as well. Hutchinson's trial also 184 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: led to Mary Dyer being targeted, and we're going to 185 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 1: get into that after we first take a sponsor break. 186 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: Before we get to Anne Hutchinson's trial, we need to 187 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: return to Mary Dyer's life for a moment. On October seventeenth, 188 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: sixteen thirty seven, Mary went into labor. She was about 189 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,200 Speaker 1: seven months pregnant with her third child, and her labor 190 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: was prolonged, difficult and complicated. At least three midwives came 191 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: to help. We only know who two of them were. 192 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: Though those were Anne Hutchinson and Jane Hawkins. Mary's baby 193 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: was stillborn and also had visible congenital anomalies. This was 194 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: something that people referred to at the time as a 195 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: monstrous birth. We talked about this a lot more in 196 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: our episode on the so called Monster found in the 197 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,080 Speaker 1: Heart of a man named Edward May in sixteen thirty seven. 198 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: That episode came out last October. But basically, people interpreted 199 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: these kinds of occurrences as some sort of punishment from 200 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: God or as evidence of God's displeasure. Hutchinson knew how 201 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: the community would interpret this birth, so she went to 202 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 1: John Cotton for advice. Cotton advised her to bury the 203 00:12:55,400 --> 00:13:00,079 Speaker 1: baby in secret, which she did. There's some speculation here, 204 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: but John Cotton may have believed that this really was 205 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,239 Speaker 1: a punishment from God, but that it was a punishment 206 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: that was meant only for Mary and her husband to experience, 207 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: not something the entire colony needed to know about. In 208 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: spite of this secrecy, though, rumors started to spread that 209 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,679 Speaker 1: Mary Dyer had given birth to a monster. Then Anne 210 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: Hutchinson was put on trial in late sixteen thirty seven 211 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: and early sixteen thirty eight. The first was a civil 212 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: trial held in November sixteen thirty seven, a few days 213 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 1: after John Wheelwright had been convicted and banished. Hutchinson was 214 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,320 Speaker 1: charged with producing the ministers, in other words, lying about 215 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: or defaming them. This charge was difficult to prove because 216 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: most of what she was being charged with had happened 217 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: in her own home, it was not something that happened 218 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: in public. But in court, Hutchinson also testified about how 219 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: her religious knowledge had come to her through her own 220 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:05,040 Speaker 1: Wath revelations equivalent to those that God had revealed to Abraham. 221 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: She also said that the people interrogating her would be 222 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: cursed if they continued on in this course of action. 223 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 1: Based on things that she said in her court testimony, 224 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: Hutchinson was convicted and she was held in Roxbury until 225 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: she could face a religious trial. Over that winter, when 226 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: she was being held, she had almost no contact with 227 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: her family, which included six children under the age of 228 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: ten at that point. That was both because of the 229 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: travel involved to get to her in the winter weather. 230 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: Hutchinson's religious trial began on March fifteenth of sixteen thirty eight, 231 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,120 Speaker 1: and she was convicted of lying in heresy and was excommunicated. 232 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: After the verdict was announced, Mary Dyer accompanied Anne Hutchinson 233 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: out of the courtroom. People started to ask who this 234 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: woman was, and word spread that it was the woman 235 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: who had given birth to the monster. That then came 236 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: to the attention of John Winthrop, who had followed Henry 237 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: Vane as governor. He questioned both Anne Hutchinson and Jane 238 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: Hawkins about Dyer's pregnancy and her baby. Although Hutchinson didn't 239 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: offer a lot of details, Winthrop told Hawkins that Hutchinson 240 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 1: had made a full confession. That led Hawkins to confess 241 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: everything herself. Winthrop then interrogated John Cotton, who confessed his 242 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:28,359 Speaker 1: involvement as well. Winthrop had the baby's grave found and exhumed, 243 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: and he wrote a description of what he found there quote, 244 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: It was a woman child, stillborn about two months before 245 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: the just time, having life hours before. It was of 246 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: ordinary bigness. It had a face but no head, and 247 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: the ears stood upon the shoulders and were like an apes. 248 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: It had no forehead, but over the eyes four horns, 249 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: hard and sharp. Two of them were above one inch long, 250 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: the other two shorter, The eyes standing out, and the 251 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: mouth also the nose hooked upward all over the breast 252 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: and back full of sharp pricks and scales like thornback, 253 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: the navel, and all the belly, with the distinction of 254 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: where the back should be and the back and hips 255 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: before where the belly should have been behind between the shoulders. 256 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: It had two mouths, and in each of them a 257 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: piece of red flesh sticking out. It had arms and 258 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: legs as other children, but instead of toes, it had 259 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 1: on each foot three claws, like a young fowl with 260 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: sharp talons. I just want to be clear, This passage 261 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:38,200 Speaker 1: says a lot more about like Winthrop's religious beliefs and 262 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: what he expected to see there than what he honestly 263 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: could have been looking at. Dyer had already been described 264 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: as polluted with Hutchinson's ideas, and this really solidified the 265 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: community's view that she was also deserving of God's punishment. 266 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: People can take I knewed to talk and write about 267 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 1: Mary Dyer's so called monstrous birth and what it meant 268 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:11,680 Speaker 1: for decades continuing even years after her death. Anne Hutchinson's husband, 269 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: Will had already started making plans to leave Massachusetts. He 270 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,640 Speaker 1: and Anne moved to what became known as Rhode Island, 271 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: and the Dyers went as well. In the summer of 272 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: sixteen thirty eight, Anne Hutchinson experienced a pregnancy loss of 273 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: her own, and people saw this fetus as monstrous as well. 274 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: Word traveled back to Massachusetts, where people saw this as 275 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: a further indictment of both Hutchinson and Dyer. The Dyers 276 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: spent the next several years living in Rhode Island, where 277 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: William helped found the city of Portsmouth and became a 278 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: prominent part of the community and the government there. He 279 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 1: and Mary had several more children, William in sixteen forty two, 280 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: Mahershah Hollisbaz in sixteen forty three, Henry in sixteen forty seven, 281 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: Mary probably sometime in sixteen forty eight, and Charles in 282 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty. The Hutchinsons ultimately moved again when it seemed 283 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:10,879 Speaker 1: like the Colony of Massachusetts was going to annex the 284 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,919 Speaker 1: land that they had been living on. They moved to 285 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: New Netherland, which would later become New York, and while 286 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: they were living there, Director of New Netherland, William Keith, 287 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: started trying to drive the indigenous nations of the Wappinger 288 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:28,119 Speaker 1: Confederacy out of the area, including by attacking the people 289 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: and settlements of the Confederacy's member nations. In retaliation, members 290 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: of the Seawinoy Nation attacked colonial settlements, including the one 291 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: where the Hutchinsons were living. Anne Hutchinson, six of her children, 292 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:44,880 Speaker 1: and nine other people were all killed in the same 293 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: attack in August of sixteen forty three. Hutchinson's husband had 294 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 1: died sometime before this, and the only member of her 295 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,199 Speaker 1: family to survive the attack was her nine year old daughter, Susannah. 296 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: Susannah was captured and held for roughly three years before 297 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: either being ransomed or traded to family back in Massachusetts, 298 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: as had happened with Hutchinson's pregnancy loss. The response from 299 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: a lot of people in Massachusetts was that she and 300 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: her family had deserved this because of her heresies, so 301 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: to return to William and Mary Dyer. From sixteen fifty 302 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 1: two to sixteen fifty seven, they returned to England, and 303 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 1: while they were there, Mary became a Quaker. Like Puritan, 304 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,880 Speaker 1: The term Quaker had started as an insulting nickname, this 305 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: time for the followers of George Fox in the seventeenth century. 306 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: Quakerism started as another religious reform movement, and it grew 307 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: into the religious Society of Friends, and there were a 308 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: lot of commonalities between Quaker teachings in what Anne Hutchinson 309 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: had been preaching and advocating. In particular, there was the 310 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: idea of the inner Light, something that resided within everyone, 311 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 1: no matter who they were, which could lead them to 312 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: divine revelation themselves. Although most Quaker leaders were men, women 313 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: had more spiritual autonomy and agency among the Quakers than 314 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,399 Speaker 1: in many other religions. In many ways, women were charged 315 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: with the spiritual well being of their homes and their communities, 316 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,159 Speaker 1: and women held that same divine light and were empowered 317 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,679 Speaker 1: to speak on their own beliefs. But religious and civil 318 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: officials in England saw this as a threat. As more 319 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,879 Speaker 1: people became Quakers, the Church of England lost members and 320 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 1: the church also lost their tithes. Many Quaker views were 321 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: also seen as heretical. The focus on a person's own 322 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,720 Speaker 1: spiritual revelations undermined social structures that were based on adherence 323 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: to church law. The Quakers didn't have a religious hierarchy, 324 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 1: unlike the Church of England, which had an established hierarchy 325 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: that was connected to the structure of society. England did 326 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: not have a lot of tolerance for religious nonconformity, and 327 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: the Quakers were really nonconformist. And the number of Quakers 328 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: grew very quickly, from about five thousand in sixteen fifty 329 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,919 Speaker 1: four to twenty thousand and sixteen fifty seven. And that 330 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:15,800 Speaker 1: rapid growth was threatening as well. So Quakers were persecuted 331 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 1: in England, leaving some of them to leave for the 332 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,439 Speaker 1: colonies in North America, where they were seen probably as 333 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: an even bigger threat. As we said earlier, the colony 334 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: of Massachusetts had been founded as a Puritan theocracy. It 335 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,680 Speaker 1: did not welcome the idea of Quaker newcomers at all. 336 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: Puritan officials in Massachusetts described the arrival of Quakers as 337 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:44,199 Speaker 1: an invasion. In Massachusetts, Quakers were punished with beatings, whippings, 338 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 1: and imprisonments. Some were indentured to British colonies in Virginia 339 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 1: and Barbados, and in sixteen fifty six Massachusetts passed a 340 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,399 Speaker 1: law ordering Quakers to be banished. A year after that 341 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: law was passed, Mary Dyer, now a Quaker, went back 342 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: to Massachusetts more after a sponsor break. When William and 343 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: Mary Dyer returned to New England in sixteen fifty seven, 344 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: they were traveling with another Quaker woman named Anne Burden. 345 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: Anne and Mary had made their religious beliefs known. They 346 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 1: were both arrested. Anne was forced to return to England. 347 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: Mary said she had not known about the law banning 348 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: Quakers from Massachusetts, and she was released into her husband's custody. 349 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: Soon Mary became one of the many Quakers who tried 350 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: to return to Massachusetts after being expelled from the colony, 351 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: and today a lot of discussions on this persistence in 352 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: defying the law and returning to Massachusetts is framed in 353 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: terms of things like religious freedom, religious tolerance, and hypocrisy. 354 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: Many Puritans moved to the colonies because they did not 355 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,959 Speaker 1: feel they could exercise their religion freely in England or 356 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: had faced persecution or legal action for their religion, and 357 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,920 Speaker 1: now those same people were doing the exact same thing 358 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: to the Quakers. Some Quaker writing from the seventeenth century 359 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: does point out this hypocrisy, but early Quakerism was also 360 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: influenced by millennialism, which involves the idea that the return 361 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:30,720 Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ was eminent. Early Quaker rhetoric included a 362 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: lot of prophecy about the coming of Christ and the 363 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:36,879 Speaker 1: judgments that God would deliver at the turn of this 364 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:41,120 Speaker 1: religious millennium. So there was also a lot of writing 365 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: about how, because of its mistreatment of Quakers, who were 366 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 1: people of God, the colony of Massachusetts was sowing the 367 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: seeds of its own damnation. Many of the Quakers who 368 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,520 Speaker 1: returned to Massachusetts spoke about being called by God to 369 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 1: do so. Of course, leaders in Massachusetts thought of Quakers 370 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: as heretics and really did not see any of these 371 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: prophetic statements as valid, and they continued to pass laws 372 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,399 Speaker 1: to try to keep Quakers out of the colony. In 373 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 1: October of sixteen fifty seven, a law was passed increasing 374 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,120 Speaker 1: the fine for being caught harboring a Quaker. There were 375 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,919 Speaker 1: also gruesome physical punishments outlined in the law, which escalated 376 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,880 Speaker 1: each time a person returned to the colony. In sixteen 377 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: fifty eight, Massachusetts passed a law that made returning to 378 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,919 Speaker 1: the colony more than once after being banished punishable by death. 379 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,399 Speaker 1: In the summer of sixteen fifty nine, Quakers Marmaduke Stevenson, 380 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: William Robinson, and Nicholas Davis all traveled to Massachusetts. Stevenson 381 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 1: was originally a farmer from Yorkshire, and Robinson had arrived 382 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: in North America from London. All of them were arrested 383 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: and they were all banished, and Robinson was also publicly whipped. 384 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: Stevenson and Robinson returned to Austin and were imprisoned. When 385 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: Mary Dyer went to visit them in prison, she was 386 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: imprisoned as well. On September twelfth, sixteen fifty nine, they 387 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 1: were all banished under penalty of death if they returned, 388 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: but almost immediately they did return, along with other Quakers, 389 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: and they were once again arrested. On October nineteenth, sixteen 390 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:26,119 Speaker 1: fifty nine, Stevenson, Robinson, and Dyer all faced trial, and 391 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: all three of them were questioned by Massachusetts Governor John 392 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:35,160 Speaker 1: Endicott as well as other magistrates. Endicott delivered their sentence, 393 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: which was quote, you shall be had back to the 394 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,439 Speaker 1: place from whence you came, and from thence to the 395 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,920 Speaker 1: place of execution, to be hanged on the gallows till 396 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: you are dead. Upon hearing her sentence, Dyer reportedly said, 397 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:51,840 Speaker 1: the will of the Lord be done, and as she 398 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: was led away, said yay and joyfully I go. While 399 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: awaiting her execution, Dyer wrote a letter to the Massage 400 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,920 Speaker 1: to use its general court. It contains references to biblical 401 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: figures and events from the Bible, including an account from 402 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 1: the Book of Esther. King Ajazuaris had been persecuting Jews, 403 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: and Esther had convinced him not only to end that persecution, 404 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: but also to become an advocate for the Jewish people. 405 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: In this letter, dire Or compared herself to Esther. She 406 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,439 Speaker 1: also wrote of her reasons for coming back to Massachusetts, quote, 407 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: whereas it is said by many of you that I 408 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: am guilty of mine own death by mind, coming as 409 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:37,120 Speaker 1: you call it, voluntarily to Boston, I therefore declare unto 410 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,679 Speaker 1: everyone that hath an ear to hear, that in the fear, 411 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,480 Speaker 1: peace and love of God, I came, and in well 412 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: doing did, and still doth commit my soul and body 413 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 1: to Him, as unto a faithful creator. And for this 414 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: very end hath preserved my life. 415 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 2: And she made a prophetic statement about what would happen 416 00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 2: if the colony took the lives of any of the 417 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 2: Quakers had faced trial, with her quote, the Lord will 418 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,640 Speaker 2: overturn you and your law by his righteous judgments and 419 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 2: plagues poured justly on you. She also said, quote, he 420 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 2: will send more of his servants among you, so that 421 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 2: your end shall be frustrated that think to restrain them 422 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 2: you call Quakers from coming among you, by anything you 423 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 2: can do to them. On the way to the execution 424 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,719 Speaker 2: on October twenty seventh, sixteen fifty nine, Dier was walking 425 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,679 Speaker 2: between Stevenson and Robinson, and an official asked her if 426 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:35,199 Speaker 2: she was not ashamed to be there. She answered, quote, 427 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 2: it is the greatest joy and hour I can enjoy 428 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 2: in this world. No eye can see, no ear can hear, 429 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:46,680 Speaker 2: no tongue can speak, no heart can understand the sweet 430 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 2: incomes and refreshings of the spirit of the Lord, which 431 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 2: now I enjoy. Stevenson and Robinson were hanged, and then, 432 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 2: according to an account by Edward Burrow, who is a Quaker, 433 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 2: quote after they who were executed, she stepped up to 434 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,040 Speaker 2: the ladder and had her coats tied about her feet 435 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 2: and the rope put about her neck. And as the 436 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 2: hangman was ready to turn her off, they cried out, stop, 437 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 2: for she was reprieved, and having loosed her feet bad 438 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 2: her come down. But she was not forward to come down, 439 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 2: but stood still, saying she was there willing to suffer 440 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 2: as her brethren did. Unless they would null their wicked law. 441 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:28,440 Speaker 2: But they pulled her down, and a day or two 442 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 2: after carried her by force out of town. 443 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: This was not actually a last minute reprieve, though Connecticut 444 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: Governor John Winthrop the Younger had also petitioned the Massachusetts 445 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: government on her behalf, as had Colonel Thomas Temple of 446 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: Nova Scotia. Temple had also offered the three convicted people 447 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,479 Speaker 1: land and support in Nova Scotia if they were freed, 448 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,640 Speaker 1: But it appears that officials wanted to make an example 449 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: of the men while also blunting the impact of the 450 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: executions by offering DIYer a reprieve. So maybe the focus 451 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: among Quakers would be that DIYer had been spared, not 452 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: that Stevenson and Robinson had been martyred. An order had 453 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: already been issued before Dyer was taken from the jail, 454 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,400 Speaker 1: specifying that she would be taken to the place of 455 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: execution and blindfolded and the rope placed around her neck, 456 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 1: but that she would not be hanged and would be 457 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: returned to prison. In some reports, so many people came 458 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: to see this execution that a bridge collapsed under their 459 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,080 Speaker 1: weight as they were leaving, killing some of the spectators 460 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: and injuring others. Dyer was returned to prison. She wrote 461 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: a second, shorter letter to the Massachusetts General Court. The 462 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: original of this second letter has been lost, but it 463 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: was reprinted in several places not long after she died. 464 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:55,719 Speaker 1: We don't really know whether those reprints really reflect exactly 465 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: what she wrote, though some of the people who published 466 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 1: her first letter toned down a lot of her rhetoric. 467 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: But what we have of the second letter reads, in 468 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:09,800 Speaker 1: part quote, my life is not accepted, neither availeth me 469 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: in comparison with the lives and liberty of the truth 470 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: and servants of the Living God, for which in the 471 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: bowels of love and meekness I sought you. Yet nevertheless, 472 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 1: with wicked hands have you put two of them to death, 473 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: which makes me to feel that the mercies of the 474 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: wicked is cruelty. I rather choose to die than to 475 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: live as from you, as guilty of their innocent blood. 476 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 2: Dier was eventually released into her husband's custody again, but 477 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 2: again she returned to Massachusetts, where she was arrested and 478 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 2: brought before the General Court. She confirmed that she was 479 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 2: the same Mary Dyer who had previously been sentenced to death, 480 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 2: reprieved and banished, and she was once again sentenced to death. 481 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: Her response to this was quote, I came in obedience 482 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,959 Speaker 1: to the will of God the last General Court, desiring 483 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 1: you to repeal your unrighteous laws of banishment upon pain 484 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: of death, and that same is my work now and 485 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: earnest request, because you refused before to grant my request, 486 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: although I told you that if you refuse to repeal them, 487 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: the Lord will send others of his servants to witness 488 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 1: against them. She was also asked if she was a prophet, 489 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: to which she replied she quote spake the words that 490 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: the Lord spake in her, and now the thing has 491 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: come to pass. When Mary Dyer was taken to be hanged, 492 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: her husband claimed that she was insane in an attempt 493 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: to get her freed. When asked to renounce her beliefs 494 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 1: so that she might be reprieved, though she said, quote nay, 495 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: I cannot, for in obedience to the will of the 496 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,080 Speaker 1: Lord God, I came, and in his will I abide, 497 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 1: faithful to the death. Mary Dyer was hanged on June first, 498 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,960 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty at the age of about forty nine. One 499 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 1: thing to note about this hanging before we A lot 500 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: of sources, including the inscription on the statue of Mary 501 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 1: Dyer at the Massachusetts State House, say that she and 502 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: the other Quakers were hanged on Boston Common, but there's 503 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: some disagreement about whether that is accurate. Some modern sources 504 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: say she was hanged from a tree on Boston Common 505 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: known as the Great Elm, but it's not totally clear 506 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,959 Speaker 1: whether that tree had been planted yet in sixteen sixty, 507 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: or if it had been, whether it would have been 508 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 1: big enough to be used to hang people from. Other 509 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: sources argue that this was not on Boston Common at all, 510 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,160 Speaker 1: that the place of execution in sixteen sixty was on 511 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: a thin strip of land connecting Boston to Roxbury that 512 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 1: was known as Boston Neck. It is tricky to say 513 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:52,040 Speaker 1: for sure, because written accounts from these events at the 514 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:56,800 Speaker 1: time say things like the place of execution without offering 515 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:01,240 Speaker 1: any detail about where that place of execution was. Some 516 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 1: other hangings that. 517 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 2: Were carried out around the same time are described more 518 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 2: specifically as being on Boston Neck, but it's also possible 519 00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 2: that executions were carried out in more than one place, 520 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 2: or that the place. 521 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:16,840 Speaker 1: Of execution was moved. 522 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 2: We'll talk about this more on our Friday behind the Scenes, 523 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 2: because I tried to answer this question definitively and it 524 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 2: turned into enormous rabbit hole. I'm just going to go 525 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 2: ahead and thank Jake from the Hub History podcast for 526 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:33,840 Speaker 2: talking to me about this, even though I don't feel 527 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 2: confident that we got to the actual for sure resolution. 528 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 1: There's also some disagreement on where Mary Dyer was buried. 529 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: When people were executed in colonial Massachusetts, they were usually 530 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: buried at the place of execution in an unmarked grave, 531 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: but there are some accounts suggesting that the DIYer family 532 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: were allowed to take Mary's body away, either because of 533 00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,960 Speaker 1: her sex or because they had money and influence, or 534 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 1: perhaps both. If she was not buried at the place 535 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 1: of execution, she was probably buried at the Dier farm 536 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: in Rhode Island. After Diyer's execution, more people in Massachusetts 537 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,840 Speaker 1: started to question whether quaker's returning to the colony should 538 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:18,839 Speaker 1: really be punishable by death. In spite of. 539 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 2: That discussion, though Quaker William Leder was hanged on March fourteenth, 540 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:27,399 Speaker 2: sixteen sixty one, some sources describe Leder as from Barbados. 541 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 2: He seems to have been born in Cornwall and then 542 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:33,360 Speaker 2: either emigrated to Barbados or was transported there due to 543 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 2: his religious beliefs. He's also described as having intentionally gone 544 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 2: to Massachusetts with the hope of being martyred. In the 545 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:45,600 Speaker 2: year between Diyer's and Ledra's executions, people in England had 546 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:48,600 Speaker 2: started to petition for the newly restored King Charles. The 547 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:53,479 Speaker 2: second to intervene in what was happening in Massachusetts. One 548 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 2: was Edward Burrow, whose account we read from earlier. That 549 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:00,720 Speaker 2: account was called a Declaration of the se and great 550 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 2: Persecution and Martyrdom of the people of God called Quakers 551 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:08,080 Speaker 2: in New England for the worshiping of God, and that 552 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,719 Speaker 2: was written as part of his attempts to persuade the 553 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,560 Speaker 2: King to take action. Some were also trying to persuade 554 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:18,279 Speaker 2: the King to end the persecution of Catholics in the 555 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 2: colonies as well. Charles issued an order for the persecution 556 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 2: of Quakers to be stopped in Massachusetts in sixteen sixty one, 557 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:31,160 Speaker 2: and for colonial authorities to return Quakers to England to 558 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:35,680 Speaker 2: be tried under existing English law, rather than continuing to 559 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:39,720 Speaker 2: pass new laws targeting Quakers. This didn't mean that Quakers 560 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,680 Speaker 2: suddenly had religious freedom in England or in the colonies. 561 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:48,080 Speaker 2: Though Edward Burrough was arrested for holding a Quaker meeting 562 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 2: in London in sixteen sixty two and he died in 563 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:55,200 Speaker 2: prison in sixteen sixty three, and Massachusetts continued to pass 564 00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:58,720 Speaker 2: anti Quaker laws, one of them, known as the Cart 565 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 2: and Tail Law, was passed in sixteen sixty one, and 566 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:06,680 Speaker 2: under that any quote vagabonds Quaker, regardless of their gender, 567 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:09,800 Speaker 2: would be stripped to the waist, tied to a cart, 568 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:14,399 Speaker 2: and forced to follow it through the town while being whipped. Eventually, though, 569 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:16,759 Speaker 2: the number of Quakers and the number of people of 570 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:20,800 Speaker 2: other religions and the colonies increased, and social and religious 571 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,240 Speaker 2: attitude started to shift. 572 00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: The statue of Mary Dyer that's in front of the 573 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:30,160 Speaker 1: Massachusetts State House is by Quaker sculptor Sylvia Shad Judson, 574 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 1: and it was unveiled in nineteen fifty nine. There are 575 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:37,719 Speaker 1: at least two identical castings of it, one at the 576 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 1: Friends Center in Philadelphia and one at a private Quaker 577 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:45,760 Speaker 1: college in Indiana called Earlham College. As a side note, 578 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:50,240 Speaker 1: Judson's most famous sculpture is probably Bird Girl, a figure 579 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,680 Speaker 1: of a girl standing holding two shallow bulls, one in 580 00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 1: each hand at about shoulder height, and that was used 581 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:58,960 Speaker 1: on the cover art of Midnight in the Garden of 582 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,279 Speaker 1: Good and Evil. Oh that is Mary Dyer. Do you 583 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:03,359 Speaker 1: have any listener mail? 584 00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,080 Speaker 2: I do. I have listener mail from Paul and Paul 585 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,440 Speaker 2: sent this email after. 586 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 1: Hey, I think. 587 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,520 Speaker 2: Behind the scenes conversation that Holly and I had about 588 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:19,720 Speaker 2: climbing trees and so Paul said, I was just listening 589 00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:22,160 Speaker 2: to your last behind the scenes and in climbing trees 590 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:25,399 Speaker 2: you mentioned an old izzard bit about climbing a tree 591 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,759 Speaker 2: and putting on makeup, and I just wanted to let 592 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 2: you know about her name change to Susie and use 593 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:32,759 Speaker 2: off she her pronouns. I know you like to be 594 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 2: respectful of people, so probably hadn't heard, and also figured 595 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 2: you would be happy for her. From what I can tell, 596 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,000 Speaker 2: she's pretty flexible if people make mistakes, and I probably 597 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,040 Speaker 2: wouldn't have thought about it, except that this was also 598 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 2: paired with the Jenny June episode. Thanks for being you 599 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:51,240 Speaker 2: and for sharing your research into interesting and meaningful history. 600 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 1: Paul. 601 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,160 Speaker 2: So thank you Paul first for this email. I did 602 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,799 Speaker 2: know that she was using she her pronouns because that 603 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 2: is an announcement from a cup of years back, but 604 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,880 Speaker 2: the addition of the name Susie is something she announced 605 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:08,399 Speaker 2: just like a week before we recorded, and that had 606 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 2: not crossed my radar mine either at all. She is, 607 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:19,520 Speaker 2: though still using the name Edi Eddie Izard in like 608 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,279 Speaker 2: a professional capacity, like that's still the name on all 609 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 2: of her social media and all of her show promotions 610 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:28,000 Speaker 2: and stuff like that, which I get the sense is 611 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaker 2: a connected to the fact that that has been her 612 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:36,680 Speaker 2: performance identity for so long. So what I have mostly 613 00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:40,799 Speaker 2: been seeing now is that like reference to interviews with 614 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,040 Speaker 2: her or her as a person or things like that, 615 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,160 Speaker 2: are mostly at this point with the name Susie Eddie Izard. 616 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:50,000 Speaker 2: And then the things that are more like the publicity 617 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:52,719 Speaker 2: for her current one woman show that she has going 618 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 2: on often just have the name Eddie and not the 619 00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:57,880 Speaker 2: Susie as well. 620 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:00,799 Speaker 1: While I was in London recently, I caught the end 621 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:06,120 Speaker 1: of a clip of her talking about her one woman show, Yeah, 622 00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:10,719 Speaker 1: but did not see her introduced, so I well, I'm 623 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:15,640 Speaker 1: sure they probably addressed the name change or mentioned that 624 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:20,440 Speaker 1: she goes professionally by Eddie still, it seems, although her 625 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:23,799 Speaker 1: casual name is Susie now but I didn't know, so 626 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,279 Speaker 1: I know, and I think she announced that on a podcast, 627 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,840 Speaker 1: and it took maybe a week for sort of news 628 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:36,600 Speaker 1: to travel from the podcast to like more mainstream news outlets, 629 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:38,600 Speaker 1: but it still was something I had not seen at 630 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,600 Speaker 1: all until I got this email from Paul. So thank 631 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:45,600 Speaker 1: you again, Paul, And if you would like to write 632 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:47,600 Speaker 1: to us about this or any other podcast or a 633 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:51,800 Speaker 1: history podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. We're all over social 634 00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:55,200 Speaker 1: media I Missed in History. That's where you'll find her Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, 635 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,440 Speaker 1: and Instagram. And you can subscribe to our show on 636 00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:03,160 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app or wherever you like to get your podcasts. 637 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,240 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 638 00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:15,200 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 639 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,320 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.