It is the story of the birth of a headless child occurred in Kirkham, Lancashire: the civil war rages in the country and the victory of the Puritan Parliament is around the corner. n this context, Mrs. Haughton publicly claims her role as a realist and Catholic dissident and for this is punished with the birth of a headless son. As a consequence, the monstrous birth is not intended to be a punishment for a morally reprehensible action, but for a heterodox ideology.
Keywords: Catholic Recusancy; English Civil Wars; Gender History; Headless Monster; Monstrous Birth.