Although it is never fully explained, the Protestant Reformation looms large over The First Witch of Boston and underpins much of its action. The Protestant Reformation was a Christian religious reform movement that began in Europe during the 16th century. It resulted in the creation of a new branch of Christianity, Protestantism, that sought to address the need for reform in the Catholic Church. Chief among its aims was the creation of a novel form of Christianity in which Christians could have a more direct relationship with God, unmediated by the Catholic Church’s clerical hierarchy. Doctrinally, both Catholics and Protestants believed that Christians are “saved” (given eternal life in Heaven after physical death) by God’s grace, but Protestants broke with Catholics over how that salvation is achieved. Catholics believe that there is an additional component, called “works” to salvation. Individuals must demonstrate their faith through actions such as good deeds and observation of spiritual customs such as confirmation and confession. Protestants, however, argue that it is through faith alone that individuals are saved. 

The Protestant Reformation is typically dated to the publication of Martin Luther’s “Ninety-Five Theses” in 1517. A scholar and a monk, Luther created a set of religious arguments that were controversial because many of them directly contradicted Catholic doctrine. Luther disagreed with the outsize role the Catholic Church itself played in salvation and argued that faith in God should be the focal point of religious life. Luther’s ideas easily gained traction and were taken up by other religious scholars. Another prominent figure associated with the early days of the Protestant Reformation is French theologian John Calvin, whose theology differed from that of Luther in that Calvinism emphasized the concept of predestination—the belief that the eventual salvation or damnation of each individual soul has already been determined by God and cannot be influenced by human actions or beliefs. The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were Calvinists, meaning that unlike Lutherans, they did not believe that people could save themselves by faith; instead, they viewed faith as the proof that a person had already been saved by God. 

The Protestant Reformation came to England during the reign of Henry VIII. In 1534, the Pope would not grant Henry an annulment in his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Catherine had not borne him a (surviving) male heir, and he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. To circumvent the Pope’s refusal, Henry created the Church of England and installed himself as its head. He granted himself an annulment and married Anne Boleyn. The Church of England incorporated both Catholic and Protestant ideas and gained popularity due to the rising influence of Protestantism in British and European society. When Queen Mary became head of state in 1553, she reinstated Catholicism and began to persecute and exile Protestants. When Queen Elizabeth succeeded her in 1558, she restored Protestantism.

A growing number of English citizens, however, did not feel that Elizabeth’s restoration went far enough to address the concerns of the Reformation. They were divided into two groups: The Separatists felt that the Church of England had become corrupt and could not be salvaged. They hoped to create an “English Separatist Church” and set sail for North America in 1620 aboard the Mayflower after an unsuccessful attempt to start a colony in the Netherlands. The second group felt that the Church of England could be reformed and didn’t feel the need to abandon it entirely. Initially called the Non-Separatists, they eventually came to be called the Puritans. (although this title was used to describe both groups during the early days of their movements.) The Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. One of the Puritans’ chief complaints against the (Protestant) Church of England was that it included too many remnants of Catholicism in its doctrine and practices; in the novel, this anti-Catholic sentiment is personalized against characters like Mary Doyle. The move to the colonies was meant to sever ties with the Church of England in Britain and establish a new, reformed church in North America that did not repeat the mistakes of its predecessor.