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The Leiden American Pilgrim Museum is a small museum in the Dutch city of
/ref> The museum presents extensive information about Pilgrim life in Leiden, together with the history of the medieval house itself. In the museum, a collection of furniture, books, and other material from Pilgrim times illuminates the lives of these people in England, Leiden, and New England. The museum illustrates its Pilgrim narrative with a collection of 16th- and 17th-century maps and engravings by Gerard Mercator, Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne, and others. Additionally, one room of the museum retains its interior from the 14th century and is furnished with pre-Reformation material, reflecting the original use of the house as a residence of priests from the Hooglandsekerk across the street. In 2009, the 400-year anniversary of the Pilgrims' arrival in Leiden was marked with an exhibition and the publication of the book ''Strangers and Pilgrims, Travellers and Sojourners - Leiden and the Foundations of Plymouth Plantation''. In 2011 the museum coordinated efforts to install a bronze memorial on the ruins of Leiden's
Pilgrim Hall Museum
/ref>
Website of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
Pilgrim Archives Leiden
{{Authority control Museums in Leiden History museums in the Netherlands
The Leiden American Pilgrim Museum is a small museum in the Dutch city of Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...
dedicated to the Pilgrim Fathers (or simply Pilgrims). These Separatists
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
or English Dissenters
English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who disagrees in opinion, belief and ...
were religious refugees who had fled England to Amsterdam in 1608 and moved to Leiden the next year. They lived and worked in that city for about 12 to 20 years. In 1620, their emigration began. They left Leiden by canal, going to Delfshaven where they embarked on the ''Speedwell'', which took them to Southampton. But the ''Speedwell'' proved leaky and had to be sold, so they transferred to the ''Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
''. The ''Mayflower'' undertook the famous voyage to New England in 1620 alone. In the 19th century the colonists' first harvest festival after their arrival at Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...
was identified as the origin of the annual Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
celebration in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Description
The Leiden American Pilgrim Museum is housed in a building dating to about 1365–1370. The house is located at Beschuitsteeg 9, next to the bell tower of theHooglandse Kerk
The Hooglandse Kerk is a Gothic church in Leiden. Its earliest parts date back to the last quarter of the fourteenth century. Most of the current structure dates from the fifteenth century. The brick church was dedicated to St. Pancras and today ...
church. The museum is operated by the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum Foundation and is open to the public.Website of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum/ref> The museum presents extensive information about Pilgrim life in Leiden, together with the history of the medieval house itself. In the museum, a collection of furniture, books, and other material from Pilgrim times illuminates the lives of these people in England, Leiden, and New England. The museum illustrates its Pilgrim narrative with a collection of 16th- and 17th-century maps and engravings by Gerard Mercator, Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne, and others. Additionally, one room of the museum retains its interior from the 14th century and is furnished with pre-Reformation material, reflecting the original use of the house as a residence of priests from the Hooglandsekerk across the street. In 2009, the 400-year anniversary of the Pilgrims' arrival in Leiden was marked with an exhibition and the publication of the book ''Strangers and Pilgrims, Travellers and Sojourners - Leiden and the Foundations of Plymouth Plantation''. In 2011 the museum coordinated efforts to install a bronze memorial on the ruins of Leiden's
Vrouwekerk
The Vrouwekerk ("Lady's Church") or Vrouwenkerk ("Ladies' Church"), originally known as the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk ("Church of Our Lady"), was a 14th-Century church in the Dutch city of Leiden. In the early 17th Century, the church was attended by t ...
, commemorating the history of the church and its connections with colonists of Plymouth Colony and New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
. The museum has published several books since then, including ''Plymouth Colony's Private Libraries'' (rev.ed. 2018). Two books mark 2020: ''New Light on the Old Colony - Plymouth, the Dutch Context of Toleration, and Patterns of Pilgrim Commemoration'' (Brill); and ''Intellectual Baggage - The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony, Ideas of Influence'' (LAPM, available from Lulu Publishing).
Other museums
The regional archives of Leiden (''Regionaal Archief Leiden'') maintains a special website section on the Pilgrims under the name Pilgrim Archives Leiden. InPlymouth, Massachusetts
Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...
, two other museums are dedicated to the Pilgrims, Plimoth Plantation and the Pilgrim Hall Museum
The Pilgrim Hall Museum at 75 Court Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts is the oldest public museum in the United States in continuous operation, having opened in 1824.
History
The Pilgrim Society, established in 1820, runs the museum. The museum t ...
./ref>
See also
*Pieterskerk, Leiden
The Pieterskerk is a late-Gothic Dutch Protestant church in Leiden dedicated to Saint Peter. It is known today as the church of the Pilgrim Fathers, where the pastor John Robinson was buried. It is also the burial place of the scientist Willeb ...
References
External links
Website of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
Pilgrim Archives Leiden
{{Authority control Museums in Leiden History museums in the Netherlands