Twenty-five miles from Amsterdam, the city of Leiden—known today for its canals and windmills, its popular farmers’ market and prestigious university—was in the early 17th century a bustling, economic hub in a Dutch republic beginning to exert its influence around the world. Famous for its large textile industry and its religious tolerance, Leiden welcomed workers and refugees. It is where a band of English Calvinists fled when persecuted in their homeland. In 1609, after a brief stay in Amsterdam, about 100 of them settled in Leiden. A decade or so later, as Leiden’s political and economic climate changed, the refugees moved again. They boarded a ship called the Mayflower, sailed across the Atlantic and in 1620, put down roots in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. Today we call them the Pilgrims.



We know that story. But we don’t know much about the Pilgrims’ Leiden years. Historian Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, an American expatriate who went to Leiden as a graduate student in the 1970s, has devoted his life’s work to piecing together the details of this important chapter in the history of the Pilgrims—and thus, in our history as well.



When he began working as a curator in Leiden’s municipal archives, Bangs admits he thought there was little left to learn about the Pilgrims. “I had believed the prevailing views that they were rigid fanatics,” Bangs says. But as he followed the paper trail in the city’s records and other sources, a different picture emerged. “They were much more tolerant than people think, particularly for their time,” he says. “They did not require people in the Plymouth Colony to follow Calvinist beliefs. This led to a conscious construction of a society with separation of church and state.” Bangs, whose extensive research has made him one of the pre-eminent authorities on the Pilgrims, cites a 1645 proposal by the Plymouth Colony leaders that Jews, Catholics, Unitarians and many other sects be accepted in the Plymouth Colony.



As the author of a comprehensive 800-page history, Strangers and Pilgrims, Travellers and Sojourners: Leiden and the Foundations of Plymouth Plantation, Bangs knows as well as anyone can from the perspective of five centuries, the early American colonists who had lived in Leiden: their marriages and families, their occupations, their legal squabbles and even in some cases, their attitudes.



Envisioning the Pilgrims’ life in Leiden is helped by the fact that the city, which dates back to Roman times, retains much of its 17th-century architecture. On a cool, sunny afternoon in May, Bangs escorted me through its narrow streets to shed light on some forgotten corners of one of the most familiar of American narratives.



Here are some of the highlights of Bangs’ tour of the Pilgrims’ Leiden—a place that their leader, William Bradford, would describe years later in a written account as “a fair & bewtifull citie, and of a sweet situation.”

1 of 6 Exterior of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum We begin at the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum on tiny Beschuitsteeg (Biscuit) Alley in the city center. Established in 1997, the museum is located in a 14th-century building—one of the oldest datable houses in Leiden, built in 1367-70. Museum founder Bangs greets us: Although a native of Oregon, he has lived in Leiden for over 30 years, and with a wardrobe change into early 17th-century robes, he could easily be envisioned as a prosperous burgher in a portrait by Rembrandt (himself a Leiden native).



While no Pilgrims lived in this house, William Brewster, one of the more prominent members of the church, is believed to have visited here in the early 1600s. In addition to period furniture, the museum’s collection includes beautiful Delft tiles along the baseboard, and objects from daily life, some of which belonged to the Pilgrims. Bangs shows us what he wryly calls “the historian’s favorite tool”—a nit-pick, or lice comb, from the 1500s. Also in the collection are pipes, including one made by a Pilgrim for smoking tobacco, which was becoming all the rage in Northern Europe, and perhaps most surprising, a number of toys. The existence of these items—which include a silver toy soldier, jacks made from bones, and miniature pewter and pottery dishes—leads historians to conclude that Pilgrim children were encouraged to play, a view at odds with the stern, don’t-spare-the-rod parenting style commonly ascribed to the Pilgrims. Bangs paraphrases the Pilgrim intellectual and spiritual leader John Robinson on this point: “He said in essence, ‘Don’t let your children grow up too soon.’ ” We begin at the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum on tiny Beschuitsteeg (Biscuit) Alley in the city center. Established in 1997, the museum is located in a 14th-century building—one of the oldest datable houses in Leiden, built in 1367-70. Museum founder Bangs greets us: Although a native of Oregon, he has lived in Leiden for over 30 years, and with a wardrobe change into early 17th-century robes, he could easily be envisioned as a prosperous burgher in a portrait by Rembrandt (himself a Leiden native).While no Pilgrims lived in this house, William Brewster, one of the more prominent members of the church, is believed to have visited here in the early 1600s. In addition to period furniture, the museum’s collection includes beautiful Delft tiles along the baseboard, and objects from daily life, some of which belonged to the Pilgrims. Bangs shows us what he wryly calls “the historian’s favorite tool”—a nit-pick, or lice comb, from the 1500s. Also in the collection are pipes, including one made by a Pilgrim for smoking tobacco, which was becoming all the rage in Northern Europe, and perhaps most surprising, a number of toys. The existence of these items—which include a silver toy soldier, jacks made from bones, and miniature pewter and pottery dishes—leads historians to conclude that Pilgrim children were encouraged to play, a view at odds with the stern, don’t-spare-the-rod parenting style commonly ascribed to the Pilgrims. Bangs paraphrases the Pilgrim intellectual and spiritual leader John Robinson on this point: “He said in essence, ‘Don’t let your children grow up too soon.’ ” 1 of 6