The Flemish Influence on the Pilgrims: Part 6

Every so often I stumble upon something obscure yet dead-on to explaining the contribution of the Flemish to the discovery and settlement of the New World. A while back it was the piece by Professor Verlinden. Today it is this superb article that has been hidden in dusty tomes for more than fifty years. Because I am fortunate to work near a library that holds a vast array of periodicals I was able to access this piece. For all of you without the access - but yet with the burning desire to confirm what you might suspect of the Flemish contribution to the New World, I post this for you.

The Flemish influence on the Pilgrims Part 6: Excerpts From, “The Cultural Impact of the Flemish Low Countries on Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century England”

By John J. Murray – The American Historical Review, Vol. 62, No.4, (1957); pp. 837-854

“Historians have treated at some length the cultural impact of Celt, German, Scandinavian, Frenchman, Spaniard, and Italian, but they have too often ignored the significance of the Flemings. This is indeed curious, for cultural currents from the Flemish speaking Low Countries seriously although quietly helped to shape the flow of British life, especially during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the long run, their significance was perhaps equal to and in some respects superior to the combined influences of Italy and France….

“English and Scottish contingents in the Low Countries fought side by side with the Flemings against the troops of Alva and his successors in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The soldiers serving [in the Flemish Low Countries at this time] came to know and appreciate Flemish ways and as a result took many Flemish customs – military and social – back to Britain with them…

“While the military marched, Flemish civilians flocked to England by the thousands seeking to escape the rapine, slaughter, and economic chaos resulting from Protestant and Catholic furies that alternately swept the Low Countries. The Flemings came as “strangers” and attended their own Dutch speaking churches, but their children born in England were British. Many became Anglicans, adopted British habits, and changed their names. But when Willem van der Straaten became William Streets, and Hoek became Leeke, and Haerstricht, the Flemish manufacturer at Bow, became James, they did not desert completely the old ways and the old customs…When they built their homes, they incorporated in them nostalgic reminders of their Flemish ancestry….

“Refugee traffic between the two countries ran both ways: Flemings came to England and Englishmen went to the Netherlands…. The Pilgrim Fathers were not a unique group so far as seventeenth-century Holland was concerned, and it is to be remembered that they did not embark for the New World before they had acquired some Dutch ideas and customs….

“Economic activities also provided a pathway for Flemish ideas. From the Low Countries, England drew many artisans and craftsmen, and these Flemish refugees brought new crafts with them. The coming of the “new Draperies” to England is directly connected with the Elizabethan settlements of Flemish refugees in Norwich, Sandwich, Colchester, London, and elsewhere. During Elizabeth’s reign, eleven thousand artisans from Ghent, mostly weavers, came to England….

“The town of Norwich opened its gates to four thousand Flemish strangers, the majority of whom were in the cloth trade….

“In spite of some local animosities, the immigrants prospered….they provided not only for their own poor but for the poor of their hosts as well….King and Parliament, however, levied heavy charges on them, and as a result some…migrated to the New World….

“Sir Thomas Gresham modeled the Royal Exchange on the Antwerp Bourse; Sir Balthazar Gerbier…outlined a plan for a bank for England in 1641; and fifty-three years later, under a Dutch king [William III], the Bank of England came into existence, with Sir James Houblon, grandson of a Flemish immigrant, as its first governor….

“One way to evaluate the importance of the Low Countries influence on England is to study the numerous Flemish words that crept into the English language….the common origin of many words and the similarity between English and Flemish in the fifteenth century. A pamphleteer could comment two hundred years later that ‘most of our old words are Dutch’….

“The test of language shows very clearly England’s debt….in maritime ventures. As might be expected, the English language abounds with Dutch nautical and marine terms…The influence of the Low Countries on English shipping [and exploration] extended [still] further…’The reform of cartography in the sixteenth century owed much to the achievements of Mercator and Ortelius.’ In the seventeenth century, Flemish predominance [in cartography] continued unabated….

“Flemish printing houses poured forth magnificent prints that were widely copied in England. The Flemish refugees John and Martin Droeshout are well known to students of Shakespeare because of their engraved portrait of the great dramatist….Prints from the house of Hondius-Janszoon and Blaeuw were well known to British buyers, who bought emblems along with landscapes and maps. Emblem books….had a tremendous vogue throughout the next century [1600s]. Francis Quarles, the most renowned of England’s emblem poets, borrowed all but ten of seventy-nine emblems from the books of two Flemish Jesuits…[the] British emblem writers…all plundered Flemish artists for their engravings….

“Flemings played a definite role in the history of English printing….From 1483, when Flemish printers first began to issue books for the English market, to 1640 over two hundred Flemish printers and booksellers had connections with England. Christopher Plantin, Martinus de Keyser, the Elseviers, the Blaeuws, and Hans Luft printed books specifically for English buyers. Others such as Christoffel van Ruremund and his brother Hans sold their books personally in England.…A third group, in which were Emanuel van Meteren, Stephen Mierdam, and Nicholas van de Berghe, settled in England and became British subjects.

“These booksellers and printers of Flemish birth and extraction were in the forefront in the battle for men’s minds and souls waged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A steady stream of Bibles and Protestant tracts were smuggled into England from the Low Countries. After [the Duke of] Parma was able to save the Southern Netherlands for the Spanish crown and for Rome, Antwerp and Brussels became focal points for the printing and distribution of Jesuit and other Catholic books [bound for British Catholics]….

“Flanders served as the outlet for disseminating information during the seventeenth-century religious conflicts in England, and its thinkers actually contributed many important ideas to British theological arguments….There was a direct, traceable progression of latitudinarian ideas from Erasmus, through Arminius and Grotius, to Milton and John Locke….In few periods in English history has thought been so vitally affected by ideas and occurrences in a foreign country….

“The controversy of the Dutch Remonstrant followers of Arminius with the orthodox party in the Netherlands was ‘followed with breathless interest in England’. British ecclesiastics sat at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619)….and were loud in their praise of orthodox champions such as Gomarus [of Flanders and an acquaintance of the Pilgrims]….

“[The Protestant sect of] Congregationalism drew strength from the Netherlands as well as from New England. The English separatists [from which America’s Pilgrims came], during their stay in the Low Countries, ‘had been considerably influenced by their Arminian and Anabaptist neighbors’ [in Leiden, which was nearly 70% made up of refugees, primarily from Flanders]…

“In the arts, as in other fields…Flemish polyphony merged with the active native [=British] tradition….Such Flemish musicians as Johannes Okelgem, Josquin des Pres, and Orlande de Lassus, through the subsequent developments of the Italo-Flemish and Franco-Flemish schools of music, left their mark on English music….

“The influence of Flemish painters upon those in England began as far back as the Flemish primitives. Touching the portrait painters of the Tudors, it reached its greatest significance in the seventeenth century. Within the short space of thirty-five years (1634-1668), the Dutch words ‘easel’, ‘etch’, ‘maulstick’, ‘landscape’, and ‘sketch’ were added to the English language, while at the same time the artists Van Dyke, Rubens, Huysman, and others enjoyed a tremendous vogue in England…

“The fashion of having one’s portrait done by Flemish painters has sometimes provided the historian his only real idea of the appearance of many historical personages. The two Gheerharts, the De Critzes, Hans Eworth, Antonis Mor, Lucas de Heere, Joos van Cleef, to mention a few, reveal the character of various Tudor and Jacobean figures and illustrate the clothing of their times…

“What the portrait painters did for people, the two Van de Veldes…did for ships. Pepys could ask in his Naval Minutes, “What sea-scape of our nation have we ever had like Vandervelde [sic] or the others?’…

“Flemish [art] collectors and dealers, such as Gerbier and De Critz, did much to foster art in England and to preserve the masters for posterity. The English debt to them during the dispersal of the Royal and Buckingham collections cannot be overstressed….

“Architects from John Thorpe in the sixteenth century to Christopher Wren in the early eighteenth century…incorporated many Flemish characteristics in their own work….Wren steeples and Jacobean gabled houses bear testimony to Flemish influences….

“British household interiors, like their exteriors, sometimes became Flemish Renaissance….The Flemish bow, C-scroll, and curve can be found at least individually if not collectively in all chairs made in the late Stuart period….[In 1622]Johannes Fromanteel made the first long case, or perhaps we should say ‘grandfather’ clock….One of these clocks merrily ticked away in Dickens’ ‘old curiosity shop’.…[these] examples of marquetry and inlay were put to excellent use, not only in the manufacture of clock cases but also in the making of chests and cupboards. [Recall that] ‘Veneer’ is a Dutch word… [In wall-hangings] Up to the beginning of the reign of Charles I [reigned 1625-1649], Flemish tapestry makers dominated the British markets.

“In the sixteenth century a light plow that could be drawn by two horses was invented in the Netherlands, and it was introduced into Norfolk and Suffolk during the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Farmers in the Netherlands employed crop rotation, and in the seventeenth century Sir Richard Weston advocated the application of such Flemish methods to British agriculture. He initiated the planting of Dutch clover, so that in Norfolk and the Fen country, clover cultivation was practiced some years before 1700. Thirty years later, a decided impetus was given to the practice of crop rotation when Charles Viscount Townsend…quit his office of Secretary of State and returned to Raynham, his Dutch-style home, to farm his lands according to the ‘Husbandrie used in Brabant and Flanders.’

“Before the coming of the Flemings, the art of gardening seems to have been lost by the English…Queen Katherine of Aragon [1485-1536] had her table supplied from the Low Countries for she was unable to obtain the makings for a salad in all of England….[these] immigrants changed asparagus, artichokes, and water cress from aphrodisiacs and women’s remedies [in English minds] to edibles. By 1699, when Evelyn wrote his Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets, he could find in London gardens the ingredients needed to fill the salad bowl….

“Engineers from the Low Countries altered the face of England and shamed the British by their industry, ‘which makes them seem as if they had a faculty from the worlds Creation out of water to make dry land.’…Sir Richard Weston, in about 1645, brought out of Flanders ‘the Contrivance of Locks, Turnpikes, and tumbling Boyes for Rivers.’ Charles II, during a yachting party on September 11, 1680, had a discussion with Pepys on how it came ‘to pass that England has at all times served itself with strangers for engineers.’ By far the majority of those foreign engineers were Flemings….

“New industries meant new commodities; new tools and scientific instruments made new tasks possible….New eating habits and new drinking habits became established. The Dutch word ‘brewery’ took the place of the English word ‘brewhouse’…The stylish ruffle [worn by the elite] of the reign of Elizabeth [1558-1603] and the widespread use [in England] of lawn and cambric can both be traced to the Low Countries, as can the use of starch. On the streets, the new coach from Antwerp [first brought in the 1560s by the husband of the woman who introduced starch], often pulled by mares from Flanders, appreciably changed the London scene.

“The Flemish strangers themselves gave a colorful twist to English history. Some were sober and hard-working artisans; some were godly and walked with the saints; but others were more of the flesh than of the spirit…. Some of the newcomers were merchants, bankers, goldsmiths, engineers, architects, and doctors; others were freaks, acrobats, artists, and entertainers. Some sank down into the depths of the London underworld while others rose to mingle with the high and the mighty. One, Isaac Doreslaer, helped brief the legal arguments that sent Charles I to the scaffold; another, John de Critz the second, lost his life before Oxford fighting for the Royalist cause.

“An attempt has been made here to place in proper perspective the great debt that Britain owes to the Flemish Low Countries during the period in which Britain was developing….Just as European thought was given a definite British tinge before it came to Boston and Philadelphia, so did the characteristics of the Renaissance and Reformation receive Flemish overtones before they arrived in Norwich and London.

Professor Murray’s article originally was delivered as a speech on November 13, 1954 at the first meeting of the Midwest Conference of British Historians.

Copyright 2010 by David Baeckelandt. All rights reserved. No reproduction in any form without my express, written consent.

Was George Vancouver Flemish?

Vancouver, the Winter Olympics, and the tie to Flanders

Like many of you I have been enjoying the Winter Olympics. Besides the actual events the draws for me are the drama, the color, and the chance to see superb athletes from across the globe in friendly, but earnest, competition.

One of the appeals of any Olympics is the chance to learn something about the locale of the Games. For Vancouver, this has centered around the story of the English explorer George Vancouver. Vancouver discovered and named many points around coastal British Columbia.

Of course, most informed observers might wonder about the “Englishness” of a name like “Vancouver”. A few decades ago a local Dutch consular official, in his desire to establish rapport with the Canadians around him, claimed that Vancouver had been of Dutch descent. The reasonably plausible argument purported to show that Vancouver had ancestral ties with the northern Netherlands:

“A search was made in the 1880s by a Dutch army captain and amateur genealogist, C.J. Polvliet, who published his findings in an 1883 issue of Heraldieke Bibliotheek, a Dutch heraldic magazine.

“Polvliet discovered that Reint Wolter van Coeverden had, for the first time in more than three centuries of the family's history, married someone from outside the country. She was an Englishwoman named Johanna Lillingston. The Lillingstons were a Yorkshire family of long lineage, and were in Burke's Peerage. Johanna is, it seems, the grandmother of the man for whom Vancouver is named.

“Polvliet's research was summarized in the February, 1973, issue of B.C. Historical News by Adrian Mansvelt, who was consul general for the Netherlands in Vancouver at that time. We learn that Polvliet's records of this English connection are vague and fragmentary, but it appears Reint Wolter's son Lucas may have stayed in England “because of his English affinities through his mother.”

“Somewhere along in here the English branch of the van Coeverdens changed and shortened their name to Vancouver. Lucas Vancouver “was, presumably, the grandfather of Capt. George Vancouver,” wrote Mansvelt, “and it may be assumed he (Lucas) married one Sarah Vancouver, whose maiden name remains unknown but who lived in St. James Street in King's Lynn, and was registered as a householder there.”

Today, visitors to the Olympics or the Vancouver website, are met with this story as established fact. Fortunately for us, recent research published in Vancouver’s own, British Columbia Historical Journal (called British Columbia History), suggests a different, Flemish, origin for George Vancouver. The author, John Robson, wrote “Origins of the Vancouver Name: Another Possibility” in 2006, commemorating the 250th Anniversary of George Vancouver’s birth. I have excerpted several key passages below (p.23):

“The City of Vancouver and Vancouver Island (plus several other features around the world) derive their name from that of George Vancouver, a late-eighteenth century British surveyor-explorer. As a surname, Vancouver is very rare and only made its appearance about the middle of the eighteenth century with George Vancouver’s own family. It then all but died out as members of the family had mostly female children if they had any children at all.

“Adrien Mansvelt, the consul for the Netherlands at Vancouver in the 1970s, researched Vancouver’s ancestry and produced a genealogy that has been accepted by most people since that time, even though there is little or no documentary evidence for some of the facts included therein…

“The lack of documentary evidence for the Vancouvers and van Couverdens in England and, especially in King’s Lynn [where George Vancouver was born] and Norfolk, prior to 1750, caused me to look elsewhere and for variant names. A genealogical search produced some results and with them an alternative version for the origins of the Vancouver name.”

Dr. Robson goes on to catalogue the migration of Vancouver’s ancestors. While George was born in King’s Lynn, his mother’s (Bridget Berners) maternal home, his father’s birth certificate is undiscovered.

The most likely candidate to be George Vancouver's father, an individual with the name "Jonas Vangover", was born a few miles away from King's Lynn at a similarily heavily-Flemish weaver town called Ipswich. Professor Robson believes that this Jonas Vangover is the same man as John Jasper Vancouver. Nor is that unlikely. Names were frequently modified in not only spelling but emphasis.

The relevance of the melding of identities between Jonas and John Jasper is key because Jonas Vangover’s father was a James Vangover who had been born at Colchester to a Dutch-speaking family that had deep roots in the town. James Vangover, George Vancouver’s possible grandfather, was the son of Abraham Vangover, a weaver and member of the “Dutch” church at Colchester. This Abraham Vangover (married in 1681 at Colchester) may himself be the namesake to (or the same individual as) an Abraham Vangover, listed as a Flemish weaver at Colchester in 1618 (see the Proceedings of the Huguenot Society published at London, 1889; Volume II, p.185).

So while we do not have proof either way, there exists the possibility of Flemish ancestry for George Vancouver. If the identities of John Jasper and Jonas Vangover are identical, then George Vancouver had links to a family of Flemish weavers from the Westkwartier of Flanders. But even if we cannot prove the connection today, a look back at time reminds us of the Flemings who ran the good race and fought the good fight.

My next postings will be a little closer to home. This time the focus will be Chicago, and other Flemish contributions in the U.S.

Copyright 2010 by David Baeckelandt. All rights reserved. No publication without my express, written permission.

The First (Flemish?) Christmas Celebrated in North America

"Leif Eriksson Sights Land in America" by Christian Krohg, 1893

Around specific holidays like Christmas I look for the ties of Flemings [i] to the composition of global culture. What contributions have Flemings made to the mix? Not surprisingly (for those of you who are regular readers), a little digging reveals that the Flemish have, since the earliest traces of Christianity’s dissemination in Flanders, played a role in the propagation and transmission of Christmas as celebrated here in North America. In fact, it might even be possible to claim that the first Christmas celebrated in North America was conducted by a Flemish priest.

Flemish Missionaries [ii]As most historians now agree, Flanders itself emerged as a distinct political entity within decades of Charlemagne’s anointing as Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day in the Year 800.[iii] The birth of Flanders was in part caused by the raids of Norsemen on the Flemish estuaries (Scheldt, Zwin, and others). Moreover, some of these ‘raids’ resulted in occupation by the victors that lasted – for example, in Gent, at St. Baaf’s Cathedral – for decades.[iv] Over the course of which, unions were formed between the occupiers and the locals, leading not only to a hybrid ethnicity (large numbers of Flemings in those same areas today have an overwhelming amount of Scandinavian DNA ), [v] but also to shared practices and customs.

It was the Benedictines who brought Christianity to Flanders in the 600s.[vi] Their monastery at Tourhout (often mistranscribed as “Tourholt”) sent forth a stream of missionaries to the Viking settlements across Scandinavia.[vii] The first of these, St. Ansgar, became the first Archbishop of Bremen – a diocese that explicitly included (when it was established in the mid-9th century) Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland. St. Ansgar’s successor and closest disciple, the Fleming St. Rembert [viii], carried on St. Ansgar’s missionary work to the Norse. St. Rembert drew upon the Benedictine monastery at Tourhout, West Flanders[ix] for missionary recruits to his Christianize the Vikings.

One of these Flemish priests, known to us today as Dankbrand [x], succeeded in converting King Olaf of Norway in the 990s. Dankbrand’s Flemish fervor carried him to Iceland where he spent three years (996-999) preaching to the lawless Icelandic clans. It was from these clans that Lief Erikson’s family was expelled, prompting their migration to Greenland and ultimately North America. Dankbrand’s return from Iceland to King Olaf’s court in 999 curiously corresponded with Leif Erikson’s return to the king’s court as well. Since the journey from North America to Norway at that time would require a stop over in Iceland (where Leif Erikson had family and ties) it may very well have been that Dankbrand and Lief became acquainted in Iceland first before meeting in Bergen, the capital of Norway and Denmark and of the arc of settlements from North America to Scandinavia.[xi]

It was at King Olaf’s court that Leif Erikson accepted Christianity.[xii] Since training of priests took literally years (and there were no seminaries established in Norway at this time), inevitably the missionaries were foreigners. Chances then that Dankbrand – or one of the other Flemish priests[xiii] – actually is responsible for converting Leif Erikson.

The First (Flemish?) Christmas in North AmericaThe surviving chronicles tell us that Leif was fired with a new convert’s enthusiasm. Accordingly, after a likely conference with King Olaf [xiv], Leif Erikson embarked once more with about 160 settlers and missionaries for his colony in North America.[xv]

Leif Eriksson, as is commonly accepted, is recognized as the earliest recorded European discover of America. [xviii] Among Leif Ericsson’s party was also at least one “south country” man – a Norse term at the time for Germanic speakers, and that might include the Flemish – who was not of Norwegian ethnicity. It is this man who legend says discovered the grapes – which of course are the necessary ingredient for the proper celebration of Mass by these new Christians in North America. It was the discovery of grapes that suggested the name “Vinland” for this part of North America.[xvi] Modern scholars now believe that the label Vinland applied specifically to the Cape Cod area, Rhode Island, and perhaps even Martha’s Vinyard.[xvii]

Leif’s small band – including any Flemish missionaries and “south country” men – only lasted in North America continuously from about 1000 to 1009 AD. As better chronicled in my earlier posting, it was Flemish missionaries that converted the king of Norway, the people of Iceland, and most likely joined the hardy band that set out to their outposts in Greenland and the New World. If this is true, then the first Christmas celebrated by Christians in North America was led by a Fleming. [xix]

Endnotes - Please excuse the poor linkage here between the footnotes and the reference point. A new rendition of this blog by the webmaster has made it frustratingly difficult to carry over links from Windows 7.

i) Nearly every post I make triggers a regionalistic response. Hence, due to the stream of e-mails I receive from eagle-eyed historical aficionados – that my terminology of “Fleming” is meant in the broad sense to include those Dutch speakers south of the Schelde/Lier Rivers and southwest to Boulogne (known as Bonnen for the Dutch inhabitants). In other words, the Dutch speakers in what is modern-day Belgium and northern France. Thus, I include Brabanters, Brusselaers, citizens of Mechelen, subjects of the bishopric of Luik (Liege), and Limburgers in this mix. For a superb map (in color no less!) see Dr. Pieter Geyl, Geschiednis van de Nederlandse Stam: Deel I (tot 1648), (Amsterdam/Antwerpen: Wereldbibliothek, NV, 1958) “Kaarte IV: De feodale versnippering”, opposite p.40.

ii) For a recent synopsis of Catholic contributions in the U.S. Midwest alone please see Bart Ryckbosch, “Belgian Missionaries in the American Midwest” in the Belgian American Historical Society of Chicago Newsletter, Vol. 4, no. 2, (December, 2008) pp. 2-8 http://www.bahsc.org/images/newsletter/bahsc_newsletter_2008_12_vol_4_n_2.pdf .

iii) See http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/charlemagne.shtml for a brief summary of Charlemagne. I will delve into this in greater detail in a follow-on posting.

iv) For my discussion of the linkage of St. Baaf’s (St. Bavon to French and English speakers) with the Vikings, please refer to my earlier posting here: http://flemishamerican.blogspot.com/2009/06/first-flemings-in-america-part-one.html

v) The best reference I am aware of for the common discussion of DNA and Flemish ancestry is Guido DeBoeck, Flemish DNA & Ancestry, (Arlington, VA: Dokus, 2007), especially Chapter 8 (p.237ff). For a direct look at how we are connected genetically (and the waves of historical interaction, genetically tied), take a quick look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_I_(Y-DNA) . . Note that a sizeable percent of the population of modern Flanders - 28% - have some Scandinavian DNA. Please see Guido Deboeck, "Genetic Diversity in Flemish DNA" (2008) quoting Spencer Well's Deep Ancestry, here http://www.jogg.info/42/files/Deboeck.htm and Gerhard Mertens, "Y Haplogroup Frequencies in the Flemish Population", Journal of Genetic Genealogy, 3 (2): 19-25, 2007 found online here: http://www.jogg.info/32/mertens.pdf

vi) Specifically, St. Amandus is credited with the ‘reconversion’ of Flanders in the 7th century: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Amandus . St. Amandus established St. Baaf Cathedral in Gent at this time. Today’s Trappists – well-known for their beers and ales – are an offshoot of the Cistercians who themselves broke away from the Benedictines. All three orders follow the Rule of St. Benedict. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trappists

vii) "Even in the year 780 we had some emigrants. When Saint Adelhard, son of Count Bernhard and grandson of Karel Martel moved to Corbie in France to manage the abbey (780 to 814 and 821 to 826), he did not leave by himself. He was accompanied by a good number of like minded people. Another saint, Saint Asher (801 to 865) primate of the Scandinavian countries, was appointed by Louis The Pious as the first archbishop of Hamburg. Since Asher was a Fleming, Louis donated to him the abbey of Torhout. Asher stayed there on a regular basis, and each time when hereturned to Hamberg a large number of Flemings followed in his wake." - from Vlaamse Stam (Flemish Heritage), amonthly magazine of "De Vlaamse Vereniging voor Familiekunde (V.V.F)"(The Flemish Association for Geneology). The article was contained in the January 1991 issue, pages 546 through 554, and authored by Marc van de Cruys. “St. Asher” is also known as St. Ansgar.

viii) Löffler, Klemens. "St. Rimbert." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 21 Jun. 2009 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13057a.htm . There is a good explanation of the history of Tourhout and the connection with Rembert here: http://www.geocities.com/heemkundetorhout/geschiedenis.htm .

ix) Although established in 650, this monastery in the heart of West Flanders – like many others in the Carolingian empire – got a sharp push with the reforms implemented and patronage afforded under Charlemagne. For details see Joseph Lemmens, La Memoire des Monasteres: Une Histoire de la Belgique du VIIe au XVIIe Siecle, (Bruxelles: Le Cri, 1999), pp.35-38. The connection between Tourhout specifically and Flanders more generally with the Norsemen is sceptically handled (but with better chronological linkage than elsewhere) here: http://home.tiscali.nl/gjallar/Plaatsen_Torhout_Engels.html . The web author (Luit van der Tuuk) has also recently published a book, Normannen in het Rivierenland, (2009) which I have yet to read. For more info on Tourhout please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourhout and http://www.torhout.be/ .For an unofficial but more in-depth (albeit un-pc) municipal history in English please see http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/be-vwvth.html .

x) His name is also transcribed as Thankbrand, Thangbrand, Frangbrandr, etc. See for example, the Lutheran Church Cyclopedia: https://www.lcms.org/ca/www/cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=T&word=THANGBRAND

xi) Norway formally declared sovereignity over the extended Scandinavian diaspora in 1362.

xii) “It was only at the court of King Olaf at Trondhjem that he [Leif] submitted to baptism.”

xiii) Some of these Flemish priests may have been Scandinavian orphans ‘bought’ by Dankbrand or Rimbert and brought to Tourhout for training, becoming “Flemishized” in the process. See http://home.tiscali.nl/gjallar/Plaatsen_Torhout_Engels.html .

xiv) James Robert Enterline in Erikson, Eskimos & Columbus, (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2002), pp. 47-48, for the fact that a great many of the Icelanders were of noble or aristocratic Norwegian blood, and thus permitted to request an audience with King Olaf.

xv) Although archeologists have identified only the settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland as a true settlement, it is now widely accepted that the Norsemen settled as far south as modern day Rhode Island. However, Viking implements have been identified across North America and as far afield as Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. See this map for details: http://www.spirasolaris.ca/1amap4.html . Additional online reference sites here: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/vinland.html and here http://www.spirasolaris.ca/sbb4g1bv.html .

xvi) John Fiske, The Discovery of America, Vol. 1, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1892), pp.165-6.

xvii) Frederick N. Brown, III, Rediscovering Vinland: Evidence of Ancient Viking Presence in America, (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2007), Vol. I, p.183ff.

xviii) James Robert Enterline in Erikson, Eskimos & Columbus, (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2002), p.6, has declared, “Leif Erikson, too, was a discoverer of America. There is no longer any controversy among scholars about that.”

NOTE: An excellent site on the Vikings (and from whence some of the illustrations come) can be found here (in German): http://www.langstrofsche-stubentiger.de/heimdallserben/wikinger/wikinger28.htm

Copyright 2009 by David Baeckelandt. All rights reserved. No reproduction in any form is permitted without my express written permission.

The Flemish Influence on the Pilgrims – Part 5: The Flemish Influence on the American Holiday of Thanksgiving

The "Deliverance" of Leiden by the Flemish-led Sea Beggars, October 3, 1574.

Thanksgiving is arguably the most American of holidays. Those of us with a secular bent look at it as not only a chance to feast on turkey and the fixings, but to reconnect with family. Those of us with a Christian bent fall to our knees in thanks to God for all that we have been blessed with. Regardless of emphasis, it is one holiday that transcends nearly every division in American society.[i]

Although it needs no retelling, the story goes that after a bountiful harvest in the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims, in early October, invited 90 of the Wampanoag Indians nearby to join them for a three day feast of Thanksgiving to God. We are taught that the holiday was spontaneous, an outpouring in a sense of the religious fervor the Pilgrims[ii] felt and a mark of the goodwill between Native Americans and the Europeans. [iii]

Whether religious or not, all Americans are taught from childhood that the holiday is a direct legacy of the Pilgrims’ survival of their first year in America. Since approximately 35 million of the 311 million Americans have an ancestor who was at this event[iv], it stands to reason that this remains the prevailing view of the origins of our holiday.

Over the past several years, historians have deduced that the Pilgrims adopted not only the language but also the habits and cultural influences picked up from their 11 year stay at Leiden, in the Netherlands. Leiden (or, as the Anglo-Saxon community spelled it, Leyden) was where in fact half of their church (and their beloved pastor, John Robinson) remained after 1620. The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving feast, in fact, had remarkable echoes and similarities to the celebration instituted in Leiden after the repulse of a Spanish siege in the year 1574.[v]

One of today’s premier historians of the Pilgrims at Leiden is convinced that the connection between Leiden and the Pilgrims' First thanksgiving is direct:

“Inspired by Leiden's 3 October thanksgiving for the lifting of the siege of the city in 1574, the Pilgrims' festivity included prayers, feasting, military exercises, and games. In the nineteenth century the 1621 event served in the promotion of the American national holiday and became known as ‘the first thanksgiving’.”[vi]

As regular readers may suspect, the Flemings[vii] contributed to this event and the holiday we now celebrate as Thanksgiving.

A romantic depiction of the mayor of Leiden offering his arms as food to the starving inhabitants of Leiden during the siege by the Spanish in the Fall of 1574

Leiden: A Flemish City
To uncover the origins of Thanksgiving it is important that we understand the events in Leiden itself. The city of Leiden was a modest place until the mid-16th century. However, its importance to us – in our never-ending search for understanding of the Flemish contribution to the discovery and settlement of America – is central. To begin with, the bulk of the Pilgrims settling at Massachusetts in 1620 and a group of the settlers for Nieuw Nederland – the stretch of territory from Delaware to Manhattan to Albany – in 1624 had all lived in Leiden. Some of them even became citizens of the city (a difficult task). After in many cases more than a decade of living in Leiden they were thoroughly familiar with Leiden itself. The transplanting of Leiden’s customs to the New World, then, was a natural outcome.

As the fighting worsened between the Sea Beggars and the Spanish, the influx of Flemings into Leiden in the early 1570s became so large that by 1575 the locals were a minority of the population. Within 10 years (1586) refugees from the Southern Netherlands (including Flemings and Walloons) made up more than 85% of the population.

[viii] Thus a population that had been 10,000 in 1574 and no more than 12,000 in 1581 had doubled to 20,000 by 1600.[ix] By 1622, the year after the first Thanksgiving, the city had nearly doubled again, to 44,745 souls, of which 30,000 (67%) were not native.[x] Overwhelmingly, Leiden was a cosmopolitan place where Flemings constituted the largest ethnic bloc. As such, they literally and figuratively surrounded the Pilgrims in Leiden.

A modern picture of Leiden, with many buildings unchanged since the Siege of 1574.

Not all of these Flemish immigrants arrived directly from the South. Many that might superficially be labeled as English immigrants to Leiden, were in fact Anglo-Flemings. They  and their children had lived in England but retained strong ties with Flanders. For example, in 1596 a group of Flemings were warmly received at Leiden, having moved en masse from Norwich where they had attended the "Dutch" Church at St. Andrews.[xi] This church, incidentally, was the same church that John Browne, founder of the Separatists (as the Pilgrims’ branch of Christianity was then known) and his close friend John Robinson, pastor and head of the church the Pilgrims lived in and worshiped when they were in Norwich.[xii] St. Andrews in Norwich is also where the core group of the congregation came from in 1604 that became the nucleus of the Separatist Pilgrims by 1608 (when they left England for Holland).[xiii]

The Flemings in Leiden not only arrived on their own impetus but were actively enticed by the City Fathers.[xiv] The Leiden municipality actively offered incentives for textile workers – especially those with knowledge of the New Draperies, an advanced method of creating woolen textiles that required specialized knowledge and were the hot products in Europe due to their lightness and durability.[xv] The influx of Flemings solidly turned Leiden, as one Flemish historian puts it, into a “Textile City”.[xvi]

Peter Paul Rubens - here on the far left - painted himself, his brother (next to him) Jan Wowerius (far right) and the famous Justus Lipsius, Flemish "Rector Magnificus" of Leiden in the 1615 painting "The Four Philosophers".

However, by the time the Pilgrims arrived in Leiden in 1609, Leiden had firmly acquired another status: that as the sole university town of the Dutch Republic. Since the whole of the Netherlands (what we would consider Benelux and northern bits of France) only had two universities (Leuven and Douai) before the addition of Leiden in 1575 this was quite an honor. More importantly, this was the first university open to all faiths.[xvii] Since an infrastructure for higher learning simply did not exist in the North, virtually all university teaching staff were non-native. And the overwhelming majority of these were in fact Flemings – including the head of the university, Justus Lipsius, a Catholic.[xviii]

But all of these developments – and the link of Flemings with the Pilgrims – was in the future. The story of how Leiden came to be the birthplace of our Thanksgiving as well as a university town that the Pilgrims chose to settle in is directly tied up with the origins of Thanksgiving.

A romanticized painting of the Sea Beggars in action in the North Sea

The Sea Beggars Recall that by 1570 the Duke of Alva’s hardened veterans had subdued much of the Netherlands and compelled obedience to a Catholic regime under the rule of Spain. The Revolt by the Dutch speakers appeared all but over. Yet the quartering upon the local population of the oppressive Spanish, Italian and Walloon troops cost money that Spain did not always supply. The Duke of Alva sought to resolve this and imposed a tax to pay for these troops – called a “tenth penny” – in violation of the enshrined privileges of the Low Countries[xix]. Only the States General – the parliament for the Netherlands north and south – could vote for taxes. The Dutch-speaking cities – both Catholic and Protestant – naturally rose up against this taxation without representation.

An overhead map of the Deliverance of Leiden October 3, 1574. The importance that this action played in the success of the Dutch Revolt and its historiography cannot be overstated. Likewise, its role as the genesis of the Pilgrims concept of Thanksgiving brought to America.



Earlier, the Dutch-speakers' land-based military attempts to defeat the Spaniards with armies raised in France and Germany had failed miserably. These motley assortments were crushed. The Prince of Orange, around whom the resistance had coalesced, was forced to retreat back to the safety of his German possessions. The one real sanctuary for the Dutch-speaking freedom fighters was in England, amongst the Flemish émigré communitiers in the coastal towns of southeastern England. It is from here that money was raised by the émigré Flemish Protestant church congregations.[xx] Funded by the industriousness of Flemish textile workers – weavers, fullers, dyers, and others – they not only supported their families and built their churches, but armed their sons and sent them into the fight.[xxi] Often, this meant literally, in boats launched directly from the coast of England, to raid and disrupt the Spanish occupiers in Flanders, Brabant and Holland.[xxii]







Willem Van Der Marck, Lord of Lummen (aka "Lumey") and another Flemish commander of the Sea Beggars, as depicted in a contemporary print, after the victory of Den Brielle.


The hit and run raids launched from England’s shores by the Flemish refugees did not go unchallenged by the Spanish government. Phillip II’s ambassador to England made it clear that continued permission, let alone active official encouragement, by Queen Elizabeth and her councilors of the actions of the Flemish militant émigrés, would be considered an act of war. Unwilling to risk a direct confrontation, Elizabeth expelled the armed mariners from England’s shores in March, 1572.

Led by Flemish admirals, the Watergeuzen (Sea Beggars) sailed forth. At the top of the list of commanders was Dolhain, Adriaen van Bergues (originally from Sint-Winnoksbergen, now known as Bergues, near Dunkirk). He had created the Sea Beggars in 1570. More famous perhaps was Willem van der Marck – better known as “Lumey”, a reference to the fact that he was Lord of Lummen, a town in the province of Limburg – and Loedewijk van Boisot of Brussels. But all three, as well as numerous captains below them and the rank and file – were from the region that today we call Flanders.[xxiii]





A colorful print of the time showing the Sea Beggars capturing Den Brielle.



In a bold move that many considered an important psychological turning point in the Dutch Revolt, under the command of van der Marck, the Sea Beggars captured the coastal town of Den Brielle, on April 1, 1572. The unexpected success at Den Brielle inspired the people of Vlissingen (known as Flushing in English) to rise up. At least a fifth of Flushing were Flemings, a steadily percentage that increased steadily over subsequent years[xxiv] . These Dutch-speakers expelled the Walloon garrison and declared for the Prince of Orange on April 6th. Hastily reinforced by a detachment from the victors of Den Brielle, the Flemings of Flushing gave the “Dutch Revolt” a firm foothold in the Netherlands. In a short time and one by one, other cities – including Leiden[xxv] – also expelled their Spanish, Italian and Walloon garrisons and declared themselves loyal to Prince William of Orange.





Following a convention of the States General in July (1572)[xxvi], Prince William of Orange, represented by his spymaster and ambassador, the Brusselaar, Philip Marnix, Lord of St.-Aldegonde, was invested with the position of Stadtholder. The Dutch Revolt now had, thanks in large part to the leadership of the Flemish, a victory, distinct territory, and a sovereign ruler. By 1574, they also had a national anthem – the oldest in the world. – also due to the Fleming Marnix.[xxvii] It is no accident that all of these factors came together in that same year, 1574, to give us the first true Thanksgiving, in the “Dutch” city of Leiden. 


A contemporary print showing the stages of the Spanish Siege of Leiden, May - October, 1574.





The Siege of Leiden
Prompted by victories at Haarlem and elsewhere, the fearsome Spanish tercios marched onward. By May 1574 they had surrounded the south Hollands town of Leiden. The trench fighting, cannon bombardments, and sorties by both sides, presaged more modern siege warfare. By October, the population, decimated by a third through disease and fighting, was ready to capitulate. A defeat would have been a disaster. It would have weakened the resolve of all the Dutch-speaking people for independence, and perhaps caused foreign assistance to dry up, as it had in 1572 when Queen Elizabeth expelled the Sea Beggars.




Loedewijk van Boisot, the Flemish Admiral of the Sea Beggars who broke the Spanish Siege of Leiden in 1574 and inspired an official celebration of thanksgiving by the townsfolk of Leiden.




The Sea Beggars themselves, under the command of their Brussels-born Admiral, Loedewijk van Boisot, assembled a riverine flotilla for the relief of the city. Against heavy resistance they made steady progress against the Spaniards. However, the Sea Beggars found it difficult to breach the outer ring of Spanish defenses. Even worse, while fighting towards Leiden, Admiral Boisot received word that the city was ready to capitulate to the Spaniards [xxviii] The people were starving and any determined assault by the Spanish would likely overwhelm the city's defenders. Such was the precariousness of the situation that if Leiden fell, the Revolt itself might falter.[xxix]


Fortunately, the Dutch had a spy in the Spanish camp. She was none other than the young wife of the Spanish commander. Magdalena Moons, the daughter of an Antwerpenaar, had married the Spanish general, Francisco Valdez.[xxx] Secretly contacted by the Sea Beggars, she agreed to convince her husband to delay his final assault on Leiden by one day. Mustering every art of seductive persuasion, Magdalena was successful. General Valdez postponed the preparations for a storming of the city’s walls for 24 hours.[xxxi]


Magdalena Moons and her husband the Spanish commander at Leiden, shortly after their marriage in Antwerp. It was thanks to this daughter of Antwerp that the Spanish delayed a final assault, permitting the Flemish-led Sea Beggars to surprise the Spanish and break the Siege of Leiden.


The Sea Beggars under their Flemish Admiral took advantage of this temporary respite to renew their attack. The suddenness and fury of their assault took the Spaniards and Walloons by surprise. The Spanish troops and their Walloon auxiliaries fled in such haste that boiling black pots of stew – called hutsepot – were still simmering when the Sea Beggars overran the Spanish camp. The reception of the Sea Beggars in Leiden was ecstatic, even though the defenders were terribly gaunt, many near death. The city authorities viewed their survival as a sign of Divine favor and declared a day of Thanksgiving. The date, October 3rd, became enshrined in Leiden history and culture as a day of feasting and of giving thanks to God for their miraculous deliverance.[xxxii]


The people of Leiden celebrating their deliverance by the Flemish-led Sea Beggars, October 3, 1574.



Leiden University Needless to say, the clamor to hear the tale resulted in a book, a ‘bestseller’ of its time[xxxiii], about the heroic defense of Leiden – printed, of course, by a Fleming (from Antwerp).[xxxiv] Much of the focus of the book – by Jan Dousa – was on the heroic efforts of his military poet-friend (and later Secretary of the town), Jan Van Hout. A detail included in the retelling at each commemoration of the Siege of Leiden.

As a reward for the city’s stout defense, in December, 1574, Prince William of Orange granted the city a choice of either relief from taxation or the privilege of establishing a university. After consultation, the city magistrates, chose the establishment of a university. The University of Leiden was established February 8, 1575.


The University of Leiden, just a short distance away from where the English Separatists (who became the American Pilgrims) lived in Leiden and where the pastor of the Separatists' church, John Robinson, studied theology under the Fleming Johannes Polyander.



Leiden became the first university in the Northern Netherlands – and the first Protestant university dedicated to a humanist education. Leuven, north of Brussels, and Douai, further south, emphasized an officially Catholic Low Countries education. Leiden University was to both influence and be influenced by the city. Leiden University attracted Catholics and Protestants from all around Europe.[xxxv] With the city, the university became a symbol of Leiden’s successful resistance to political and religious intolerance. For, despite its strong association with Protestantism (and especially Calvinism), the university was (as the best today are as well) agnostic to the beliefs of its teaching staff.




Prince William of Orange ("The Silent") in a 1555 painting. Heavily surrounded by numerous Flemish advisors, it was for Orange and freedom that the Dutch-speakers fought.

For starters, the primate of the university was Justus Lipsius, a Catholic Fleming
[xxxvi] who was appointed a professor of history. Nor was Lipsius alone. The university staff were overwhelmingly Flemings. A partial list of Flemish instructors at Leiden includes Franciscus Raphelengius (son-in-law of the printer Christoffel Plantin of Antwerp), Lambertus Barlaeus, Daniel Heinsius, Bonaventura Vulcanius, Antonius Walaeus, A. Damman, Arnoldus Geulincx, Antonius Thysius, Johan Bollius, Jeremias Bastingius, Petrus Bertius, Dominicus Baudius, Joost van Meenen, Franciscus Gomarus, and Johannes II Polyander van Kerckhoven.[xxxvii] Since at its largest during those first forty years, the student body never even reached 300 students at any one time, the impact and involvement of the faculty with students was close and personal.[xxxviii]


The University of Leiden library about the same time (1614) as John Robinson, pastor of the Separatists, was a student there. This became the largest library in Protestant Europe, and Leiden its most important university. But at the time the Pilgrims were in Leiden, annual enrollment was less than 300 students.



These happy circumstances continued until 1618-1620. During those years purges swept through the Dutch Republic and Leiden. Legions of professors lost their positions,
[xxxix] the Separatists lost their printing press and financial patron[xl], and even the supreme political leader of the Dutch Republic, Johannes Oldenbarnevelt (who had served in the Sea Beggars during the relief of Leiden), lost his life.[xli] These sweeping purges convinced many that it was time to move on. The congregation of slightly more than 100 mainly English Separatists, under the leadership of Pastor John Robinson, was among those that left Leiden in partial response to the anti-Arminian purges. The Pilgrims left the city of their 11 year sojourn with few possessions. But they moved onto the New World with strengthened faith, deepened Dutch, and strong traditions forged in Leiden.



The Arminian riots of 1618 in Leiden. Sparked by the disputes between the Fleming Gromarus and the Dutchman Arminius, these disturbances were one of the factors that compelled the Pilgrims to leave for America in 1620.


The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving On March 1, 1586, exactly 14 years to the day after Queen Elizabeth expelled the Flemish-led Sea Beggars from England, Queen Elizabeth’s favorite courtier and her designate as Governor General over the Netherlands in their struggle against Spain, arrived in Leiden. The chief delegate for the Dutch government was Adolf van Meetkercke. A native of Brugge
[xlii], Van Meetkercke had served as the former President of the Council of Flanders.[xliii] As Queen Elizabeth's representatives approached, Van Meetkercke met the Earl of Leicester with a sweeping bow that was so low in drew the scorn of his compatriots.[xliv] Such was (and is) the importance of the deliverance of Leiden, that the Earl and his entourage were conducted to a pageant play that commemorated the Siege of Leiden in 1574.

Among the Earl of Leicester’s entourage was the English diplomat William Davison as Ambassador to the States General of the Netherlands. Assisting Davison as assistant was a young William Brewster. This same William Brewster later became (first) spiritual and surrogate father to William Bradford (Governor of the Pilgrims at Plymouth and author of the most comprehensive account of the Pilgrim’s journey) and then the author, chief propagandist and publisher of the Pilgrim’s Press at Leiden as well as an Elder of the Separatists’ Church at Leiden.


Jan Van Hout, a hero of the Siege of Leiden (whose story was printed by the Fleming Verschout) and the Town Secretary who granted permission to the Pilgrims to settle in Leiden, shortly before his death in 1609. It was likely the early connection between him and Pilgrim Elder William Brewster at the 1586 pageant celebrating the lifting of the Siege of Leiden that led the Pilgrims to relocate to Leiden.

One of the heroes of the siege, Jan Van Hout, was an author, a poet, a classicist and a close friend of the head of the university[xlv], Justus Lipsius.[xlvi]  Van Hout also acted as Town Secretary. He held that position up until his death in 1609. One of Van Hout's final acts was to grant official permission to John Robinson and his church of 100 Separatists).[xlvii]

While it is possible that Van Hout may not have remembered Brewster – whom he first met on March 1, 1586 – it seems unlikely that the Pilgrims would have officially requested permission (which was unnecessary) to settle in Leiden unless they hoped that by doing so to gain some advantage for their congregation. Since Brewster was not just a member of Robinson’s congregation, but also an Elder of the Church and a close confidant of William Bradford (the Governor of the colony when it reached the New World) it seems unlikely to me that this was accidental. Certainly it must have been a factor in their considerations during the year (1608) they observed an increasingly disruptive environment among their co-religionists in Amsterdam.[xlviii]

During their eleven year stay in Leiden, the Pilgrims lived directly across the street from the center of October 3rd Thanksgiving celebrations: Pieterskerk (St. Peter’s Church).[xlix] Every October 3rd municipal authorities passed out free herring and white bread (to commemorate the first rations received from the Sea Beggars that day on 1574). Since twenty-one Pilgrim families lived surrounding the garden outside the church, ample members of the congregation over the eleven years had a chance to observe the celebrations and absorb their meaning.[l] The Pilgrim’s Separatist congregation met twice on Sunday and once on Thursday evenings – always at Robinson’s home across from Pieterskerk.[li]

Willem Pieterskerk, where the annual Thanksgiving for the Deliverance of Leiden was celebrated every October 3rd and directly around which 21 families of the Separatist church lived. John Robinson's home where the Pilgrims worshipped 3x/week - was also immediately outside Pieterskerk. From the Pieterskerk to Leiden University was a short walk.


If they had not imbibed an understanding of the Leiden Thanksgiving celebrations from daily, close proximity to Pieterskerk, nor from initial and historical personal contact with one of the central characters of the city’s defense, Jan Van Hout, the Pilgrims certainly would have learned of it through their involvement with Leiden University. The University was only a short walk (less than 5 minutes away) from Pieterskerk. Moreover, Pastor John Robinson was a student (and protégé of the Flemish Professor Johannes Polyander) at the university. William Brewster too, while not officially a teacher at the University, taught University students English as a side job.[lii]

The Flemish influence on the Pilgrims during their stay in Leiden was pervasive. Not only were the majority of the population around the Pilgrims at Leiden Flemings, but the central formative cultural experience that melded a common consciousness for the city and university was defined by Flemish emigres. The holiday of Thanksgiving here in America, while today quite different from the celebration the Pilgrim Fathers witnessed in Leiden during their stay, is unquestionably tied into that event. The Flemish influence, then, on the Pilgrim’s celebration of the first Thanksgiving in America, was direct and immediate, and a legacy that we who share a Flemish heritage, can point to with pride as one of our contributions to the settlement of America.


Norman Rockwell's depiction of an American Thanksgiving dinner, while vastly different than the custom brought over from Leiden by the Pilgrims in 1620, looks like this today for many American families.

Endnotes [i] Thanksgiving does not of course resonate well in Native American circles. In fact, the holiday itself – infused as it is by our 19th century predecessors with romantic Victorian notions that imply a Divine blessing to the subsequent European occupation of the continent – is a painful reminder to the remnants of the Wampanoag, Pequot, and other tribes of the loss of political and cultural independence. See Nathanial Philbrick, Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, (New York: Penguin, 2006), pp. 354-356. Incidentally, recent articles suggest that vegetarians are not enthusiastic. See Scott Bolohan, Page Four Columnist, “Thanksgiving? I’ll Take a Pass”, Chicago Tribune’s Redeye, Wednesday, November 25, 2009. [ii] Please see Jeremy Dupertius Bangs, ‘Pilgrim Fathers (act. 1620)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edition, Oxford University Press, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/93695, accessed
document.write(printCitationDate());
5 April 2009] at http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/93/93695.html for an excellent definition of exactly who the Pilgrim Fathers were. However, Dupertius’ numbers for the Flemings are dramatically understated. See Dr. J. Briels, Zuid-Nederlanders in de Republiek 1572-1630: Een Demografische en Cultuurhistorische Studie, (Sint-Niklaas: Danthe, 1985). [iii] Intentionally I use the term “European” instead of “English”. The colonists may have been predominantly English, but not exclusively so. There was at least one Fleming and one Walloon in the mix. A fact I hope to further elaborate upon in a later post. [iv] The 35 million number is found in Nathanial Philbrick, Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, (New York: Penguin, 2006), p. 355. The 311 million is an estimate (see John Grimond, “Counting Heads” in The Economist: The World in 2010 , November, 2009, p. 46), [v] Jeremy Dupertius Bangs in “Thanksgiving Day – A Dutch Contribution to American Culture?” in New England Ancestors Holiday 2000. Wade Cox, ed., “The Dutch Connection of the Pilgrim Fathers”, in Christian Churches of God, #264, 1998, p.4 (http://www.logon.org and http://www.ccg.org makes a connection between the first Thanksgiving and the Dutch Dankdag voor Gewas which I think is erroneous. But his connection between the Pilgrim Fathers and Annabaptism imported by Flemings is dead-on, although underdeveloped (details on why will be in a future blog posting). The official website for the Dutch festival can be found here: http://www.3october.nl/ [vi] Jeremy Dupertius Bangs, ‘Pilgrim Fathers (act. 1620)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/93695, accessed
document.write(printCitationDate());
5 April 2009] at http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/93/93695.html
[vii] Technically, I should state that it is the contribution of Flemings, Brabanders, and Limburgers. But since this is a modern audience my definition is all those Dutch speakers in modern day Belgium and northern France. [viii] Dr. J. Briels, Zuid-Nederlanders in de Republiek 1572-1630: Een Demografische en Cultuurhistorische Studie, (Sint-Niklaas: Danthe, 1985), pp. 125-134. An unlabelled table on p.134 has the percentages I refer to. [ix] Per Paul Paul Hoftijzer, quoting a contemporary writing in 1588: “voor eenighe jaeren geheel dedepopuleert synde ...tegenwoordich voor de meesten part ... bewoont by vremdelingen, uyt Brabant, Vlaenderen ende andere quartieren verdreven” (having been depopulated for some years … is currently inhabited for the most part … by foreigners driven from Brabant, Flanders,and other regions).” Paul Hoftijzer, “Leiden Miracle”, p.82 online here http://www.brill.nl/downloads/Brillin2007-EN-LeidenMiracle.pdf
[x] Dr. J. Briels, Zuid-Nederlanders in de Republiek 1572-1630: Een Demografische en Cultuurhistorische Studie, (Sint-Niklaas: Danthe, 1985), “Table XXI: Immigratie in de Noordelijke Nederlanden-Samenvatting”, p. 214. Several other cities, such as Haarlem and Middelburg, also had more than 50% non natives in 1622. This has prompted Gusaaf Asaert, in De Val van Antwerpen en de Uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lannoo, 2004), p.156, to call Haarlem (for example) “een half-Vlaamse stad”. [xi] "Ondertussen hield ook de inwijking vanuit Engeland aan: nog in 1596 werden Vlamingen uit Norwich door de stad 'lief-flick, minnelick ende in der vruntschappe...ontfangen...ende met het borgerschap vereert.'" Quote from a Leiden magistrate found in Dr. J. Briels, Zuid-Nederlanders in de Republiek 1572-1630: Een Demografische en Cultuurhistorische Studie, (Sint-Niklaas: Danthe, 1985) p.127. My thanks to Ms. Siska Moens of Brussel, Mr. Luc Van Braekel (www.lvb.net ), and Mr. Frans Vandenbosch (author of more than 30 books) for assisting me with the translation of this archaic excerpt. [xii] See Stephen S. Slaughter, “The Dutch Church at Norwich”, Congregational Historical Society, April 21, 1933, pp. 31-48, 81-96. Especially see pp. 31-32 for the connection between the “Dutch” [clearly Flemish] Church, the influx of Annabaptist theological concepts, and the direct connection between those thoughts brought over by the Flemish on Robert Browne and John Robinson. For a fascinating suggestion of an admittedly tentative link between the same Dutch Church at Norwich and Thomas Helwys, founder of the Baptist movement, see Ernest A. Kent, “Notes on the Blackfriars’ Hasll or Dutch Church, Norwich”, Norfolk Archaeology, 22 (1924–6), pp. 86–108. See especially p. 89 showing the burial tablet for Nicolai Helwys. [xiii] Timothy George, John Robinson and the English Separatist Tradition, (Macon GA: Mercer University Press, 1982), p.79 [xiv] Dr. J. Briels, De Zuidnederlandse Immigratie, 1572-1630, (Haarlem: Fibula van Dishoeck, 1978), p. 38. [xv] My preference for anyone looking to understand the textile industry in Flanders and its connection to the wider world during this period is to begin with the University of Toronto’s John Munro. Munro’s impressive output nicely weaves [sorry] the whole together. See for example, his “Wool and Wool-Based Textiles in the West European Economy, c.800 - 1500:
Innovations and Traditions in Textile Products, Technology, and Industrial Organisation.” 24 November 2000, WORKING PAPER no. 5 UT-ECIPA-MUNRO-00-05. On-line version: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/ecipa/wpa.html . Although riven through with a Belgicist viewpoint which minimizes the Flemish contribution, the standard work on the “New Draperies” probably still is Pirenne, Henri : "Une crise industrielle au XVIème siècle. La draperie urbaine et la "nouvelle draperie" en Flandre" in Bulletin de l'Académie
Royale de Belgique, Classe des Lettres, n°5, 1905. http://digistore.bib.ulb.ac.be/2006/a12959_000_f.pdf [xvi] Gustaaf Asaert, De Val van Antwerpen en de Uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lannoo, 2004), p.146 [xvii] Gustaaf Asaert, De Val van Antwerpen en de Uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lannoo, 2004), pp.148-149. [xviii] Gustaaf Asaert, De Val van Antwerpen en de Uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lannoo, 2004), pp.188-192 [xix] Much could be and has been written about the privileges of both the towns and the guilds of the Low Countries in general and specifically of Flanders. Those privileges were granted to keep the guilds happy. The guilds came together in response to control quality and pricing by artisans in each locality. Nearly all these guilds rose with the expansion of the textile industry in Flanders from the 1100s on. See http://www.corvalliscommunitypages.com/Europe/dutch_belgium/flanders.htm for translations of the agreements between the guilds and the local rulers. [xx] Queen Elizabeth’s policy toward both the refugees on her soil and their support of the Dutch Revolt was inconsistent – but at times strongly encouraged. See Andrew Pettegree, Foreign Protestant Communities in Sixteenth-Century London, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), p.268. [xxi] For a good review of the Flemish émigrés in England and their contribution to the war effort at this critical juncture – and the only coherent discussion I have seen – see D.J.B. Trim, “Protestant Refugees in Elizabethan England and Confessional Conflict in France and the Netherlands, 1562-c.1610”, pp.69-73, in Randolph Vigne and Charles Littleton, eds., From Strangers to Citizens: The Integration of Immigrant Communities in Britain, Ireland and Colonial America, 1570-1750, (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2001), pp.68-79. Unfortunately, this four-page bit by Professor Trim is merely a sketch. A full book could be written on this subject. I have not been able to find any monograph on this subject but would love to see one. [xxii] The return of Flemish Protestants to Flanders in 1566 was just such a raid. [xxiii] Gustaaf Asaert, De Val van Antwerpen en de Uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lannoo, 2004), pp.211-214. Note that nearly the entire upper cadre of watergeuzen leaders at this time were from Flanders and Brabant. Ghislain de Fiennes, Lord of Lumbres, had originally organized the Sea Beggars in 1570. The liaison between Prince William of Orange and the Sea Beggars was Louis de Boischot’s brother Charles (also born in Brussel). Even the captains of the various ships – such as Antoon Utenhove from Ieper and Antoon van de Rijne from Oudenaarde. [xxiv] Dr. J. Briels, Zuid-Nederlanders in de Republiek 1572-1630: Een Demografische en Cultuurhistorische Studie, (Sint-Niklaas: Danthe, 1985), p. 192. [xxv] See the translation of real documents related to this and other aspects of the Dutch Revolt here: http://dutchrevolt.leidenuniv.nl/English/default.htm [xxvi] See the translation of the address for this first convocation here: http://dutchrevolt.leidenuniv.nl/English/default.htm [xxvii] Phillips Marnix is credited with authoring Het Wilhelmus, the Dutch national anthem, which was first written down in 1574. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelmus . [xxviii] See a translation here: http://dutchrevolt.leidenuniv.nl/English/default.htm Note that contrary to many popular histories, the mayor of the town (Pieter van der Werff) appears to have been ready to surrender. [xxix] “The siege of Leiden, if not quite the longest – that of Middleburg was longer – was the costliest, hardest fought, and most decisive, as well as the most epic of the great sieges of the Revolt…had Leiden fallen, The Hague and Delft would have been untenable and the Revolt as a whole might well have collapsed.” Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall: 1477-1806, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 181. Like many Dutch-centric historians, Israel completely ignores the contribution of Flemings to the Republic and the Revolt. [xxx] Recent technical advances in lithography made it possible to confirm that Moons was not the lover but the wife of Francisco Valdez. See http://www.art-innovation.nl/nieuws.php?id=30 . [xxxi] Admittedly, most of my information here is culled from http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalena_Moons
[xxxii] See the Dutch language site here: http://www.3october.nl/default.asp?id=792 [xxxiii] See Paul Hoftijzer, “Leiden Miracle”, p.84 online here http://www.brill.nl/downloads/Brillin2007-EN-LeidenMiracle.pdf [xxxiv] The name of the Antwerpenaar printer was Andrew Verschout. See Paul Hoftijzer, “Leiden Miracle”, p.84 online here http://www.brill.nl/downloads/Brillin2007-EN-LeidenMiracle.pdf [xxxv] Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall: 1477-1806, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998),p.572. Here as throughout his book, like many other Dutch-centric historians, Israel completely ignores the contribution of Flemings to the Republic and the Revolt. [xxxvi] Technically Lipsius was a Brabander, born in Overijse, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overijse where the central market place is now named after him: http://www.overijse.be/index.asp . The university was officially established February 8, 1575. [xxxvii] This list was culled from Gustaaf Asaert, De Val van Antwerpen en de Uittocht van Vlamingen en Brabanders, (Tielt: Lannoo, 2004), pp.188-189. [xxxviii] Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall: 1477-1806, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p.572. [xxxix] Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall: 1477-1806, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp.577-578. [xl] See Rendel Harris and Stephen K. Jones, The Pilgrim Press:A bibliographical & historical memorial of the books printed at Leyden by the Pilgrim Fathers, (Cambridge: Feffer & Sons, 1922) found online here: http://www.archive.org/stream/pilgrimpressbibl00harriala#page/28/mode/2up [xli] Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall: 1477-1806, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 485-491. Israel’s account is rich with analysis but poor on dates and chronology. For reference on dates, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_van_Oldenbarnevelt [xlii] Adolf van Meetkercke, a classical scholar, was a native of Brugge, according to a title on his book. See Adolphi Mekerchi Brugensis De veteri et recta pronuntiatione linguae Graecae commentarius http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0001/bsb00012953/images/index.html?id=00012953&fip=75.57.119.190&no=3&seite=2 Van Meetkercke was also a good friend of the Antwerpenaar cartographer Abraham Ortelius, as evidenced by the poem he penned on the title page of Ortelius’ Atlas (ironically, dedicated to Phillip II in 1570). See http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gnrlort.html . As such, this implies contact with Emanuel Van Meteren (Ortelius’ close friend and cousin based in London) and Petrus Plancius. Adolf’s son Edward later became a professor of Hebrew at Oxford. See Ole Peter Grell, Calvinist Exiles in Tudor and Stuart England, (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1996), p. 237. All four of Van Meetkercke’s sons joined and officered in the English army in the Netherlands in the 1580s-1590s.Baldwin, Adolf’s second son, was knighted by Sir Francis Drake at Cadiz in 1596 for his heroism against the Spaniards. See D.J.B. Trim, “Protestant Refugees in Elizabethan England and Confessional Conflict in France and the Netherlands, 1562-c.1610”, pp.72-73, in Randolph Vigne and Charles Littleton, eds., From Strangers to Citizens: The Integration of Immigrant Communities in Britain, Ireland and Colonial America, 1570-1750, (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2001), pp.68-79. The Van Meetkerckes were not only co-religionists but friends of Emanuel Van Meteren, historian and the Antwerp-born “Dutch” Consul in London. [xliii] See A.G.H. Bachrach, Sir Constantine Huygens and Britain: 1596-1687 – A Pattern of Cultural Exchange, (Leiden: Leiden University Press, 1962), pp. 150-151. Van Meetkercke was an early supporter of William of Orange and ended up becoming a very close friend of the Earl of Leicester but when he was disgraced, fled to London. Like many Flemish immigrants to England, one of his sons served with conspicuous bravery in the English navy well and was knighted. [xliv] The author of this critique was Frans van Dusseldorp, a Dutch Catholic with strongly pro-Spanish sentiments who eventually was ordained a priest. Although he died in obscurity, his “Annales” offer a different perspective of Dutch history during this time. For my reference to the original statement seeJ.A. Van Dorsten, Poets Patrons and Professors: Sir Philip Sidney Daniel Rogers and the Leiden Humanists, (Leiden: Leiden University Press, 1962), p.115. For a discussion of the Annales in Dutch, please see Robert Fruin’s Verspreide Geschriften, Volume 7, p.237. The out-of-print book is accessible online here: http://books.google.com/books?id=keJMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA267&lpg=PA267&dq=dusseldorpius&source=bl&ots=CT-dYMrIqU&sig=yWqCwlGN2eNvD7XXVF-AeSbbuqU&hl=en&ei=lF8RS87qC4biMfb7zYIM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=dusseldorpius&f=false . An excellent book review that includes a description of Dusseldorpius (as he was more generally known) in English by George Edmundson in the English Historical Review (1895: pp. 579-582) is accessible here: http://books.google.com/books?id=BpPRAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA7-PA580&lpg=RA7-PA580&dq=%22Frans+van+Dusseldorp%22,+%22leicester%22&source=bl&ots=duNO93aMB_&sig=kLzUlirDstDWQOmtqjRHFlHktKo&hl=en&ei=-F8RS46dApS6MMql8DM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Frans%20van%20Dusseldorp%22%2C%20%22leicester%22&f=false . [xlv] The correct term was actually “rector magnificus”. See Paul Hoftijzer, “Leiden Miracle”, p.89 online here http://www.brill.nl/downloads/Brillin2007-EN-LeidenMiracle.pdf [xlvi] “In the 1580s Lipsius was the intellectual glory of Leiden and all Holland.” Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall: 1477-1806, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p.575. [xlvii] John Robinson’s request to move his church congregation of 100 from Amsterdam to Leiden is dated February 12, 1609. See a copy of the text here http://www.revjohnrobinson.com/pieterskerk2.htm [xlviii] John Robinson appears to have tired of the scandals, the sniping, and the dogmatic lack of charity in the Separatist Amsterdam Church. See Frederick James Powicke, Henry Barrow, Separatist, 1550-1593 and The Exiled Church of Amsterdam, 1593-1622, (London: James Clarke & Co., 1900), pp.278-279. [xlix] B. N. Leverland and J. D. Bangs, The Pilgrims in Leiden, 1609-1620, (Leiden: Leiden Pilgrim Documents Center of the Municipal Archives, no date). No page numbers in this brief text. [l] B. N. Leverland and J. D. Bangs, The Pilgrims in Leiden, 1609-1620, (Leiden: Leiden Pilgrim Documents Center of the Municipal Archives, no date). No page numbers in this brief text. [li] B. N. Leverland and J. D. Bangs, The Pilgrims in Leiden, 1609-1620, (Leiden: Leiden Pilgrim Documents Center of the Municipal Archives, no date). No page numbers in this brief text. Please also note that not only was Professor Polyander close to John Robinson he also apparently knew William Brewster well, since he has provided the preface for Proverbia on January 11, 1617 - one of the twenty books Brewster printed on the Pilgrim's Press at Leiden. See Rendell Harris and The Pilgrims' Press, (Cambridge: Heffner & Sons, 1922), p.48. Polyander (born in Gent) was also the professor - and "the chief preacher of the city' who reputedly asked John Robinson to publicly debate against the Arminian Episcopus in 1618. See William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647, (New York: McGraw Hill: 1981), Francis Murphy, ed., pp.21-22. [lii] B. N. Leverland and J. D. Bangs, The Pilgrims in Leiden, 1609-1620, (Leiden: Leiden Pilgrim Documents Center of the Municipal Archives, no date). No page numbers in this brief text.


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