Chapter 1, The Taming of the Heart Summary and Analysis

The Puritan story begins in 1544, when Henry VIII, King of England, splits the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, bringing England into the Protestant Reformation. When monasteries are closed, Adam Winthrop, a London cloth merchant, buys part of one of the confiscated monasteries. Forty-four years later, the English navy defeats the Spanish Armada, ensuring that England cannot be recaptured by the Catholic Church. That same year, John Winthrop, the grandson of Adam, is born, and grows up in Groton Manor, the estate Adam purchased.

Winthrop grows up the only son of wealthy parents who are constantly visited by family members with tales of strange places. Winthrop's father, the second Adam Winthrop of Groton, is a good man, trained in law, and devoted to making the manor a financial success...