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Once a Separatist, Always a Pilgrim? By Arden MIller, CZM Only in the United States is the word Pilgrim spelled with a capital 'p' to refer to the group of men and women who landed on the shores of Massachusetts in November of 1620. Traditionally, the word "pilgrim" is used in the lower case to refer to one who is going on a religious quest, usually when a trek of some distance is involved, to a place of established religious significance (e.g., Muslims visiting Mecca, Christians and Jews visiting Jerusalem). That this group of early settlers was, in fact, on a religious quest—or,rather, on a quest for religious freedom—possibly explains the association. For many years, centuries even, the passengers of the first four ships to settle in Massachusetts were referred to as the "First Comers" or "Forefathers." It wasn't until the 1800s when the journals of Mayflower passenger and Governor of Plimouth William Bradford's journals were returned from England to Massachusetts and his quote. "So they left the good and pleasant city, which had been their resting place near 12 years. But they knew they were pilgrims and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the Heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits" became widely known that the moniker stuck. Separate and Not-so-Equal But, before they were Pilgrims, and before they left England for New England, they were known as Separatists. What was a Separatist, you wonder? Well, in the days of mutton chops and moats, Henry the VIII was the King of England. England, like much of the world in the early 1500s, was under the rule of the Pope and the Catholic Church in Rome, and church and state were one and the same. When Henry the VIII wished to divorce his wife—strictly forbidden in the Catholic church—he decided to start his own church. Between bouts of gout and beheadings, Henry severed all ties with Rome and, in 1537, the Church of England was born. Not everyone was on board though. And a small, but active and organized contingency in the Midlands area of Scrooby, Nottinghamshire were determined to have their own separate congregation. People who subscribed to this separate church became known as Separatists, the persecuted of their day. And where does anyone who wishes to escape persecution and to worship in their own way go? Amsterdam! Scrooby Dooby Who?? The Scrooby Separatists, many of whom were imprisoned under Queen Mary's regime, feared for their futures and a group of approximately 30 people left England (in secret, natch) in 1608 to live and let live in the land of tolerance. After a mere year in Amsterdam, they headed to the university town of Lyden in the Netherlands where they spent more than a decade, many making their living working in textile mills and the university. Rumbles of war between Spain and the Netherlands, plus a fear that their children were losing their English identity, led the group to seek their fates in the unchartered territories of New England. The group had permission to settle in the northern part of Virginia, but the Mayflower charted another course and the Separatists became Massachusetts' First Comers on November 11 (by the Roman calendar which, unlike their religion, was still widely recognized), 1620. And the rest, as they say, is history. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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