Where the Winslows really were married.

The Leiden Town Hall steps, still used by brides and grooms.

Uncivil Marriage

The settings in England and Holland are unreliable. Are events misrepresented? An intense emotional scene focusses on John Carver’s burying a son in Leiden “last week.” Problem is – that was someone else, a French refugee whose name was misread in 1905 (Jean Carcyer, not John Carver). The film-maker has not finished the necessary homework, but this is minor. Pilgrims in Leiden did suffer the loss of children, several of whom were buried in the Pieterskerk. (The Pieterskerk is not shown.) What level of inaccuracy is misleading? Pilgrim Pastor John Robinson surprises Elder William Brewster by announcing that he’s decided not to go to America. Their fake conversation fails to mention the congregational deliberations about how many would go in the first attempt. Robinson’s decision was not private and could not have surprised Brewster. Robinson let the congregation know he would remain with the larger group whichever went or stayed. As a feminine parallel, Dorothy Bradford asserts her individualistic decision to leave her son behind with the Robinsons. “What about my intentions?” asks her husband. “I care not. Or rather, I care enough to follow you across the ocean, but not enough to risk the life of my son!” Hooray for women’s rights and maternal protectiveness! Must a documentary inevitably make up implausible conversations? Might the couple have discussed this together before deciding? This film sees all events as conflicts. There’s nothing about the Puritan idea that children were better off being raised by close friends or relatives – to prevent too much love on the part of the parents from spoiling the child.

The marriage of Edward Winslow to Elizabeth Barker is shown as if it took place in church. But Robinson and the Pilgrims explicitly denied that marriage was an event to be celebrated in church. The Pilgrims’ civil marriage ceremonies were solemnized by magistrates in Leiden’s city hall. The Pilgrims introduced civil marriage registration to America following Dutch precedent. This was a significant innovation in the English legal world. Preparations for moving to New England are symbolized not by the gathering of supplies for the journey but by training in swordplay, with a few people removing ramrods from gun barrels to indicate training in shooting. The Pilgrims are said to prepare for combat “in case the American Natives proved to be hostile.” Only partly true, that’s misleading. Defense against the Spanish and French in the New World is not mentioned. And these farmers and textile workers also needed to be able to hunt for food.