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Pictures from Pieterskerk
The narrow brown house to the right of center was the home of Thomas Brewer, partner and financier of William Brewster's Pilgrim Plress. Brewer was arrested at this house when plates to religious literature banned in England were discovered here. The brown house at the center of the photo lies between the site of John Robinson's house and Thomas Brewer's, and it is likely that someone associated with the Pilgrims lived here as well.
An interior view of the preceeding house. The owner of this house is Professor Rick Lawson of the University of Leiden Law Department. These exposed ceiling beams and floor joists date from 1610-1620, the exact period of the Pilgrims' stay in Leiden. Professor Lawson explained that prior to 1640 wood was cheap and joists were typically placed this close together for added floor support.
The original exterior brick wall dating from 1550-1555. What is now a hallway was probably an alleyway between this structure and Thomas Brewer's house. The Pilgrims may have passed through here to get to their row homes in back of John Robinson's house. The hallway leads to another back rook with brickwork of the same period. The rear portion also contains some very old hand painted wall tiles typical of those produced at Delft.
Looking up the Rapenburg canal toward Academiegebouw (academy building) where John Robinson frequently attended intense theological Calvanist/Arminian debates between Francais Gomarus and Simon Episcopus. As a member of the University, Robinson himself participated to a significant extent in these heated debates as William Bradford records: "He was an acuteand expert disputant, very quick and ready, and had much bickering with the Arminians, who stood more in fear of him than any of the university. He was never satisfied in himself until he had searched any cause or argument he had to deal in thoroughly and to the bottom ." This assessment of Robinson by Bradford has no better example than the extensive commentary on these debates published by Robinson a year before his heath in 1624 entitles 'A defense of the Doctrine Propounded by the Synod of Dort'. It is a thorough and exhaustive analysis of both sides of the debate. The steps shown at right are thought to be the very steps used by the Pilgrims to board their boats as they departed the city for Delfshaven and America.
Interior of the lecture hall of Academiegebouw. It was here that Franz Gomerus and Simon Episcopus debated doctrines of John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius who lived adjacent to the Pllgrims on Pieterskerk Churchyard, but died the year before their arrival. It was Simon Episcopus who put forth and published the views of Arminius, sparking what often became violent confrontations.
The lower pulpit or lectern shown in this picture is the very platform behind which Gomerus, Episcopus and Robinson stood to argue their points
Pictures and descriptions courtesy of Michael Keating.
Contact Information
Donald L. Robinson
11915 W. 66th Street
Shawnee, KS 66216-2717