Along the Pilgrim Trail, Part 17
 |
| The Engelse Kerk in the Begijnhof, Amsterdam |
Vincent and I recently
took the General Society of Mayflower Descendants Historic Sites Tour of
England, Wales and The Netherlands along with 41 other enthusiast participants
(known as "The 43"). We traced
the footsteps of the Separatists and the Mayflower passengers and crew all
around these countries with some amazing tour directors, guides, historians and
authors. We were given access to places
off the usual tourist trails, and behind the scenes. We had a wonderful time, and I will be blogging
about it over the next few weeks.
The Scrooby Pilgrims spent a year in Amsterdam after leaving
England. They followed Rev. Clyfton, who
was the pastor of the All Saint’s church in Babworth where Bradford and
Brewster first heard him preach about Separatism. Babworth preached at Amsterdam’s Zuiderkerk,
and is buried here. Several other
Separatists, such as Rev. Smyth from Gainsborough, were in Amsterdam, too.
There is a neighborhood called the Begijnhof, which was
first a close for Catholic lay nuns (known as "Beguines"), and their church was given to the English
Protestants in 1607. This English
Reformed church “Engelse Kerk” was where
the Scrooby Pilgrims worshipped until Reverend Robinson led them to Leiden. It seems that several factions of English Protestants
squabbled over theology, and so Robinson led his flock of Separatists to the
calm of Leiden.
The Begijnhof is a lovely little neighborhood. You can’t hear the street noise inside this
courtyard, and it is like stepping back into time. Perhaps it even looks like it did in the
early 17th century when the Pilgrims lived nearby? It’s fun to imagine!
In the next post I will show you all the sites where the
Pilgrims lived and worshipped in Leiden.
 |
| The entrance to the Begijnhof |
 |
| The Begijnhof is a quiet courtyard from the 16th century inside Amsterdam |
 |
| TO THE GLORY OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS THIS TABLET IS PLACED HERE BY A COMPANY OF THE CLERGY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA, A LINEAL DESCENDANT OF THE CHURCH OF HOLLAND, AS A TRIBUTE TO THE PILGRIM FATHERS WHO SETTLED FIRST IN THE CITY OF AMSTERDAM IN HOLLAND, THE COUNTRY OF THEIR ASYLUM, A SHINING EXEMPLAR OF CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, MANY OF WHOSE INSTITUTIONS TRANSMITTED TO AMERICA THROUGH THE ENGLISH PILGRIMS AND THE DUTCH WHO SETTLED IN NEW YORK, HAVE GIVEN TO THE NEW WORLD A DISTINCTIVE CHARACTER. ERECTED A.D. 1927 |
 |
| THIS CHURCH IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN BUILT IN 1392. IN 1607 IT WAS GIVEN TO ENGLISH-SPEAKING PRESBYTERIANS LIVING IN AMSTERDAM. IT WAS ENLARGED IN 1665. AND EXTENSIVE RESTORATION WAS COMPLETED IN 1975 ------------ AN INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO WORSHIP HERE. |
 |
| Over the door of the Engelse Kerk |
Part 1 of this series "Babworth, Nottinghamshire":
Part 2 of this series "Scrooby Manor"
Part 3 of this series “Gainsborough, Lincolnshire”:
Part 4 of this series "Harwich, Essex, home of the
Mayflower"
Part 5 this series "Stephen Hopkins of Upper Clatford,
Hampshire"
Part 6 of this series "William Mullins of Dorking,
Surrey"
Part 7 of this series “Edward Winslow of Droitwich,
Worcestershire”
Part 8 of this series "The Fullers of Reddenhall, Norfolk":
Part 9 of this series "John Howland of Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire":
Part 10 of this series "Tilley and Sampson of Henlow, Bedfordshire":
Part 11 of this series "William Bradford of Austerfield, Yorkshire":
Part 12 of this series "Francis Eaton of Bristol":
Part 13 of this series "James Chilton, Robert Cushman of Canterbury, Kent, England":
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-fishtoft.html
Part 15 of this series "Boston, Lincolnshire, where the Pilgrims were jailed":
Part 16 of this series "Immingham, Lincolnshire to Holland":
----------------------------------
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Along the Pilgrim Trail ~ In
Exile in Amsterdam, Holland in 1609”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 24,
2017, (
No comments:
Post a Comment