Sponsored by: Pilgrim Hall Museum
Dr. Richard Pickering of Plimoth Plantation explores the connections of the Pilgrims to the political theory and pragmatic experience of Renaissance Italy. Many people might be surprised to learn that William Brewster, the ruling elder of the Plymouth congregation, owned Machiavelli’s The Prince and Governor Bradford owned a history of Italy. Early New England resembled Italian city states in some ways, with civil commonwealths vying for resources. Pickering tracks these Renaissance influences and the tensions they may have generated in early Plymouth.