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| The 2017 GSMD Historic Sites Tour in front of St. Pieterskerk, Leiden, The Netherlands |
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 a few more times in the next week or so.
We spent a long day in Leiden seeing the sites where the
Pilgrims lived, worked, and worshiped .
Our group took a long walk through the university, where William Bradford
taught English, and where John Robinson studied. It was very quiet on a Sunday
morning! We had to wait a while for the
St. Pieterskerk to open, since the access to the building was through a small pub! The church was deconsecrated in 1971 and is
now run as a museum, and an event and concert venue.
The church building was started in 1390, and finished in the
1570s. According to Wikipedia “On 7 July
1572 the church was closed for services.
It reopened on 5 October of the same year for the first protestant
service.” This was not long before the
Scrooby congregation headed by Reverend John Robinson arrived in 1609. The Separatists and John Robinson lived
across the street from the church at the former almshouse and in apartments around a small courtyard. This alley or court
still exists, but it is privately owned and photography was not allowed inside,
although we were allowed to peek inside.
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| "Almshouse, founded in 1655 for the benefit of poor people. Until 1625 John Robinson lived in this place. His followers set sail from Leiden to America as the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620." |
The Separatists worshiped here together at John Robinson's house across from St. Pieterskerk. In 1620, when a
large group of them (“the Pilgrims”) left Leiden via Delfshaven on board the
ship The Speedwell to join the
Mayflower for the New World. Rev. John Robinson stayed behind with the rest of
his flock, intending to join them in the New World, but he died in Leiden and
was buried under the floor of St. Pieterskerk.
There is a plaque listing the names of the Separatists and their children who were at one time buried under the floor. The graves have since been cleared out, and the church has been reconsecrated. It is still a very solemn
place to visit. As a descendant of Rev. Robinson, I had been looking forward to this for a long time!
UPDATE: (3:56 PM EST 27 November 2017)
A comment from Leiden historian Jeremy Bangs:
"The Pilgrims did not worship in the Pieterskerk. They met for many years across the street in John Robinson's large house. After a general rule against groups' gathering in private houses to discuss religious issues (a measure against the Remonstrants, having nothing to do with the Pilgrims), the Pilgrims were allowed to meet in a room in the former chapel that had become the university;s library. After the remnant of the Pilgrim congregation merged with the English Reformed Church whose minister was Hugh Goodyear, that room remained in use as the English Church until the early 19th century, The English Church / University Library was behind Robinson's house, and the walls still remain, although the interior has been drastically altered."
UPDATE: (3:56 PM EST 27 November 2017)
A comment from Leiden historian Jeremy Bangs:
"The Pilgrims did not worship in the Pieterskerk. They met for many years across the street in John Robinson's large house. After a general rule against groups' gathering in private houses to discuss religious issues (a measure against the Remonstrants, having nothing to do with the Pilgrims), the Pilgrims were allowed to meet in a room in the former chapel that had become the university;s library. After the remnant of the Pilgrim congregation merged with the English Reformed Church whose minister was Hugh Goodyear, that room remained in use as the English Church until the early 19th century, The English Church / University Library was behind Robinson's house, and the walls still remain, although the interior has been drastically altered."
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| During the Pilgrim Fathers Leiden exile more than thirty family members died. Many were buried in the Pieterskerk along with their Leiden neighbours. "BUT NOW WE ARE ALL, IN ALL PLACES, STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS, TRAVELERS AND SOJOURNERS..." Robert Cushman, Pilgrim Leader 1622 ---------------- Isaac Allerton's child - 1620 John Allerton's child - 1616 Thomas Blossom's children - 1617 Thomas Brewer's wife and children - 1617, 1618 William Britsman's child - 1612 Edmund Chandler's child - 1619 Robert Cushman's wife & children - 1616 Samuel Fuller's wife & child - 1615 Edmund Jessop's child - 1618 John Keble's child - 1614 Samuel Lee's child - 1619 Robert Peck's child - 1619 John Reynold's wife & child - 1619 John Robinson's children - 1618, 1621, 1623 John Robinson - 1625 John Spooner - 1628 John & Jane Spooner's child - 1630 Randall Thicken's child - 1615 |
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| The Mayflower 1620 ------------ In Memory of REV. JOHN ROBINSON, M.A., Pastor of the English church worshiping over against this spot A.D. 1609 - 1625, when at his prompting went forth THE PILGRIM FATHERS to settle New England in 1620 --------------- Buried under this house of worship, 4 Mar. 1625 AEt. XLIX years -------------- IN MEMORIA AETERNA ERIT JUSTUS --------------- Erected by the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States of America A.D. 1891 |
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| Inside the John Robinson chapel inside St. Pieterskerk "IN MEMORY OF JOHN ROBINSON PASTOR OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH IN LEYDEN 1609 - 1625 HIS BROADLY TOLERANT MID GUIDED AND DEVELOPED THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE PILGRIMS OF THE MAYFLOWER OF HIM THESE WALLS ENSHRINE ALL THAT WAS MORTAL HIS UNDYING SPIRIT STILL DOMINATES THE CONSCIENCES OF A MIGHTY NATION IN THE LAND BEYOND THE SEAS THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED BY THE GENERAL SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A.D. 1928" |
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| St. Pieterskerk from the narrow streets of Leiden, The Netherland |
I descend from Rev. John Robinson twice! Click here to see my lineages:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/surname-saturday-robinson-of-england.html
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Part 1 of this series "Babworth, Nottinghamshire":
Part 2 of this series “Scrooby Manor, Nottinghamshire”:
Part 3 of this series "Gainsborough, Lincolnshire"
Part 4 of this series "Harwich, Essex, home of the
Mayflower"
Part 5 of this series "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
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 ~ St. Pieterskerk in Leiden, Holland, near where the Pilgrims worshiped", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 27, 2017, (
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