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Friday, November 24, 2017

Along the Pilgrim Trail ~ In Exile in Amsterdam, Holland in 1609

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":

Part 14 of this series "Fishtoft, Lincolnshire where the Pilgrims were betrayed":
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":

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Along the Pilgrim Trail ~ In Exile in Amsterdam, Holland in 1609”,  Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 24, 2017, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-in-exile-in.html: accessed [access date]). 

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