The area which was the home of the Van Deursen family is a small village called Deurne in The Netherlands, a province of Brabant commonly called North Brabant. The area was named by the Romans for the large moor as Palus (moor) from which the name "Peel land" is derived.

After the Roman Empire fell apart, the Franks conquered the country in the fifth century. The nobility in this region (family Deursen included) had pure Germanic, Frankish roots. In the Carolingian times (800 A.D.), this area was a part of the jurisdictional region known as "Toxandria". This later became the dukedom of Brabant. The Carolingian Empire collapsed in about 900 A.D. and the area was then ruled by more independant lords who united under the feudal system.

There is a high probability that Hendrick Van Doersen was in the third crusade in 1196 and that he is the one who adopted the cross in the Coat-of-Arms.

During the Thirteenth century, the lords Van Deursen were found in the "meyery van's Hertogen-bosch" (the majorate of Bois-le-Duc) which is the area of Brabant where Deursen lies. They kept a sovereign independancy until the year 1325.

On the 1st of March, 1325 (according to old frankish custom), Govert Van Doorsen acknowledged for his liegelord Jan III, the noblest duke Brabant ever had, who had a differing view of human rights of the times and an advanced view of governing, granted on his deceased father's and his own initiative, a liberal charter to his subjects. The charter served the Dutch as a model in 1581, when they began their struggle for freedom more systematically. It was noted as "a cornerstone in the bulwark of Dutch liberty," and as such a place in the constitutional history of Western Europe affecting the rights of man all over the world.

Under Jan the Third's daughter, Duchess Johanna (died Dec, 1406), Jan Van Deursen (possibly grandson or great-grandson of Govert) became lord of Deursen. From this time there is no break in the family line to Abraham Pietersen, then to the American posterity.