Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore
Encyclopedia
Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, 2nd Proprietor and 6th and 9th Proprietary Governor
of Maryland
(August 27, 1637 – February 21, 1714/1715), inherited the colony in 1675 upon the death of his father, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
. He had been his father's Deputy Governor since 1661 when he arrived in the colony at the age of 24. However, Charles left Maryland for England in 1684 and would never return. The events following the Glorious Revolution
in England
in 1688 would cost Calvert his title to Maryland; in 1689 the royal charter to the colony was withdrawn, leading to direct rule by the British Crown. Calvert's political problems were largely caused by his unwavering commitment to the Roman Catholic faith at a time when Protestantism was the dominant religion in England. Calvert married four times, outliving three wives, and had at least two children. He died in England in 1715 at the age of 78, his family fortunes much diminished. With his death he passed his title, and his claim to Maryland, to his second son Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore (1679–1715), his eldest son Cecil having died young. However, Benedict Calvert would outlive his father by just two months, and It would fall to Charles' grandson, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
(who wisely converted to the Anglican faith) to see the family proprietorship in Maryland restored by the king.
on August 27, 1637, and witnessed the religious conflicts of the English Civil War
. His father Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
(1605–1675) was the first Proprietor Governor of Maryland, and 9th Proprietor Governor of Newfoundland. His mother was Anne Arundell
, daughter of the 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour
. Anne and Cecil were married in 1627 or 1628, and had nine children. However, only two of Charles' siblings survived to adulthood, and Anne herself died in 1649 when the young Charles was just 12 years old..
The Calvert family were Roman Catholics and had founded Maryland
as a Catholic colony
of Great Britain
. Cecil Calvert had received the proprietorship that was intended for his father, George Calvert, the 1st Lord Baltimore
, who died in 1632, shortly before it was granted. Cecil established his colony in Maryland from his home in England, and as a Roman Catholic continued the legacy of his father by promoting religious tolerance in the colony. He governed Maryland for forty-two years, though he never visited his colony in person.
In 1649 Maryland passed the Maryland Toleration Act
, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, a law mandating religious tolerance for trinitarian Christians. Passed on September 21, 1649 by the assembly of the Maryland colony, it was the first law requiring religious tolerance in the British North American colonies. The Calvert family sought enactment of the law to protect Catholic settlers and those of other religions that did not conform to the dominant Anglicanism
of Britain and her colonies.
immigration, becoming in time overwhelmingly Protestant. Political power however tended to remain concentrated in the hands of the largely Roman Catholic elite. In spite of this demographic shift away from Catholicism, Calvert attempted to preserve Maryland's Catholic identity. From 1669 to 1689, of 27 men who sat on the Governor's Council, just 8 were Protestant. Most councillors were Catholics, and many were related by blood or marriage to the Calverts, enjoying political patronage and often lucrative offices such as commands in the militia or sinecures in the Land Office.
Much conflict between Calvert and his subjects turned on the question of how far English law should be applied in Maryland, and to what degree the proprietary government might exercise its own prerogative outside of the law. Delegates to the assembly wished to establish the "full force and power" of the law but Calvert, ever protective of his prerogative, insisted that only he and his councillors might decide where and when English law should apply. Such uncertainty could and did permit the charge of arbitrary government.
Calvert acted in various ways to restrain the influence of the Protestant majority. In 1670 he restricted suffrage
to men who owned 50 acres (202,343 m²) or more, or held property worth more than 40 pounds. He also restricted election to Maryland's House of Delegates
to those who owned at least 1,000 acres (4 km²) of land. In 1676 he directed the voters to return half as many delegates to the assembly, two instead of four. Measures like these might make the assembly easier to manage, but they tended to strain relations between Calvert and his subjects.
happy with Maryland's experiment in religious tolerance. The Anglican minister John Yeo wrote scathingly to the Archbishop of Canterbury
, complaining that Maryland was "in a deplorable condition" and had become "a sodom of uncleanliness and a pesthouse of iniquity". This was taken sufficiently seriously in London that the Privy Council
directed Calvert to respond to the complaints made against him.
Calvert's response to these challenges was defiant. He hanged two of the would-be rebels, and moved to re-assert Maryland's religious diversity. His written response illustrates the difficulties facing his administration; Calvert wrote that Maryland settlers were "Presbyterians, Independents
, Anabaptists, and Quakers, those of the Church of England as well as the Romish being the fewest...it would be a most difficult task to draw such persons to consent unto a Law which shall compel them to maintaine ministers of a contrary perswasion to themselves".
(1657–60) and John Coode
(Coode would later lead the successful rebellion of 1689). Fendall was tried, convicted, fined forty thousand pounds of tobacco and exiled, but his co-conspirator Coode successfully escaped retribution.
By this time the political fabric of the province was starting to tear. The governor of Virginia reported that "Maryland is now in torment...and in great danger of falling in pieces". Relations between the governing council and the assembly grew increasingly poor. Underlying much of the rancour was the continued slide in the price of tobacco, which by the 1680s had fallen 50% in 30 years. In 1681 Baltimore also faced personal tragedy; his eldest son and heir, Cecil, died, leaving his second son Benedict
as the heir presumptive to the Calvert inheritance.
, engaging in a dispute over the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania
. In 1681 King Charles II had granted Penn a substantial but rather vague proprietorship to the north of Maryland. Penn however began building his capital city south of the 40th Parallel, in Maryland territory. Penn and Calvert met twice to negotiate a settlement, but were unable to reach agreement.
, both to defend himself in the dispute with Penn as well as to answer charges that he favoured Catholics in the colony. He would never return to Maryland.
Calvert left the province in the care of his nephew George Talbot
, whom he made acting governor, placing him at the head of the Governor's Council. Unfortunately Talbot proved to be a poor choice, stabbing to death a Royal customs official on board his ship in the Patuxent River
, and thereby ensuring that his uncle suffered immediate difficulties on his return to London. Calvert's replacement for Talbot was another Roman Catholic, William Joseph
, who would also prove controversial. In November 1688 Joseph set about offending local opinion by lecturing his Maryland subjects on morality, adultery and the divine right of kings, lambasting the colony as "a land full of adulterers".
In England, events now began to move decisively against the Calverts and their political interest. In 1688 the country underwent what would later become known as the Glorious Revolution
, during which the Catholic King James II of England
was deposed and the Protestant monarchs King William
and Mary II of England
were installed on the throne. This triumph of the Protestant faction would cause Calvert considerable political difficulties. Sensibly, Calvert moved quickly to support the new regime, sending a messenger to Maryland to proclaim the new King and Queen. Unfortunately for Lord Baltimore, the messenger died during the journey, and a second envoy (if one was ever sent - Calvert would later claim that it was) never arrived.
. Governor Joseph did not improve the situation by refusing to convene the assembly and, ominously, recalling weapons from storage, ostensibly for repair. Protestants, angry at the apparent lack of official support for the new King and Queen, and resentful of the preferment of Catholics like deputy governor Colonel Henry Darnall
to official positions of power, began to arm themselves. In the summer of 1689 an army of 700 Puritans led by Colonel John Coode
, and calling themselves the Protestant Associators, defeated a proprietarial army led by Colonel Darnall. Darnall, heavily outnumbered, later wrote: "Wee being in this condition and no hope left of quieting the people thus enraged, to prevent effusion of blood, capitulated and surrendered."
After this "Protestant Revolution" in Maryland, The victorious Coode and his Puritan allies set up a new government that outlawed Catholicism
; Catholics would thereafter be forced to maintain secret chapels in their home in order to celebrate the Mass
. In 1704 an Act was passed "to prevent the growth of Popery in this Province", preventing Catholics from holding political office. Full religious toleration would not be restored in Maryland until the American Revolution
, when Darnall's great-grandson Charles Carroll of Carrollton
, arguably the wealthiest Catholic in Maryland, signed the American Declaration of Independence.
John Coode would remain in power until the new royal governor, Nehemiah Blakiston
was appointed on July 27, 1691. Charles Calvert himself would never return to Maryland, and, worse, his family's royal charter
to the colony was withdrawn in 1689. Henceforth Maryland would be administered directly by the British monarchy
.
plot, though he successfully evaded arrest. In 1696 his fortunes improved; he was made brigadier general, and then in 1704 rose to the rank of major-general.
Calvert's second wife Jane died in around 1693, and Calvert married a third time, to Mary Bankes, some time between 1701 and 1710. His fourth and final marriage was to Margaret Charleton, daughter of Thomas Charleton, in 1712.
Calvert may also have had an illegitimate son, Charles Calvert Lazenby
, born in England in 1688, who would grow up to have a career in the army and later become Governor of Maryland
in his own right. Captain Calvert's parents have never been positively identified but it has long been assumed that his father was the 3rd Baron Baltimore. His mother's identity is also unknown but, judging by the Calvert family papers, she appears to have been the Countess Henrietta, also known as "Mother Calvert", who died circa 1728.
Calvert's residence in England was his family's estate at Woodcote Park
in Surrey. In around 1712, Woodcote was described by Celia Fiennes
:
(1679–1715), faltered. Benedict correctly calculated that the chief impediment to the restoration of his family's title to Maryland was the question of religion. Accordingly, he abandoned Rome and converted to Anglicanism
, deciding to "embrace the protestant religion", and gambling that this move would win back his family's lost fortune in the New World. Such a bold move would however come at a high price. Lord Baltimore, furious at his son's apostacy, withdrew his annual allowance of £450 and ended his support for his grandchildren's education and maintenance. However, Charles Calvert died in 1715, passing his title, and his claim to Maryland, to his son Benedict. He is buried in St Pancras.
petitioned King George I
for the restoration of his family's proprietarial title to Maryland. Unfortunately, before the king could rule on the petition, Benedict died, just two months after his father, passing on his title in turn to his son Charles. On May 15, 1715 Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
soon found himself, aged just sixteen, in the fortunate position of having had his family's proprietarial title to Maryland restored by the king. In 1721 he came of age and assumed personal control of the colony, which would remain under the control of the Calvert family until 1776. The younger Charles Calvert would also have to convert to Anglicanism
in order to win back his family's province. The Calvert family's dream of a haven in the Americas for Roman Catholics was at an end, and it would take an American Revolution
and the overthrow of the Calvert proprietary government to restore religious tolerance to Maryland.
Charles County, Maryland, was named after him.
Charles Calvert's portrait, along with those of the other Barons Baltimore, still hangs today in the Enoch Pratt Free Library
in Baltimore
, the city that bears his family name.
Proprietary Governor
Proprietary Governors were individuals authorized to govern proprietary colonies. Under the proprietary system, individuals or companies were granted commercial charters by the King of England to establish colonies. These proprietors then selected the governors and other officials in the colony....
of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
(August 27, 1637 – February 21, 1714/1715), inherited the colony in 1675 upon the death of his father, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...
. He had been his father's Deputy Governor since 1661 when he arrived in the colony at the age of 24. However, Charles left Maryland for England in 1684 and would never return. The events following the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1688 would cost Calvert his title to Maryland; in 1689 the royal charter to the colony was withdrawn, leading to direct rule by the British Crown. Calvert's political problems were largely caused by his unwavering commitment to the Roman Catholic faith at a time when Protestantism was the dominant religion in England. Calvert married four times, outliving three wives, and had at least two children. He died in England in 1715 at the age of 78, his family fortunes much diminished. With his death he passed his title, and his claim to Maryland, to his second son Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore (1679–1715), his eldest son Cecil having died young. However, Benedict Calvert would outlive his father by just two months, and It would fall to Charles' grandson, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...
(who wisely converted to the Anglican faith) to see the family proprietorship in Maryland restored by the king.
Early life
Charles was born in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on August 27, 1637, and witnessed the religious conflicts of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. His father Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...
(1605–1675) was the first Proprietor Governor of Maryland, and 9th Proprietor Governor of Newfoundland. His mother was Anne Arundell
Anne Arundell
Anne Calvert, Baroness Baltimore was an English noblewoman, daughter of Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour by second wife Anne Philipson, and wife of Lord Baltimore, who founded the Province of Maryland colony. Anne Arundel County in Maryland, USA, was named for her...
, daughter of the 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour
Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour
Sir Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour was the eldest son of Sir Matthew Arundell of Wardour Castle in Wiltshire , and Margaret Willoughby, the daughter of Sir Henry Willoughby, of Wollaton, Nottinghamshire...
. Anne and Cecil were married in 1627 or 1628, and had nine children. However, only two of Charles' siblings survived to adulthood, and Anne herself died in 1649 when the young Charles was just 12 years old..
Political background
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
as a Catholic colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. Cecil Calvert had received the proprietorship that was intended for his father, George Calvert, the 1st Lord Baltimore
George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore
Sir George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, 8th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland was an English politician and colonizer. He achieved domestic political success as a Member of Parliament and later Secretary of State under King James I...
, who died in 1632, shortly before it was granted. Cecil established his colony in Maryland from his home in England, and as a Roman Catholic continued the legacy of his father by promoting religious tolerance in the colony. He governed Maryland for forty-two years, though he never visited his colony in person.
In 1649 Maryland passed the Maryland Toleration Act
Maryland Toleration Act
The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, was a law mandating religious tolerance for trinitarian Christians. Passed on April 21, 1649 by the assembly of the Maryland colony, it was the second law requiring religious tolerance in the British North American colonies and...
, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, a law mandating religious tolerance for trinitarian Christians. Passed on September 21, 1649 by the assembly of the Maryland colony, it was the first law requiring religious tolerance in the British North American colonies. The Calvert family sought enactment of the law to protect Catholic settlers and those of other religions that did not conform to the dominant Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
of Britain and her colonies.
Arrival in Maryland
Charles Calvert sailed to Maryland in 1661 as a young man of 24, becoming the first member of the Calvert family to take personal charge of the colony. He was appointed deputy governor by his father and, when Cecil Calvert died in 1675, Charles inherited Maryland, becoming governor in his own right. Some time before 1666 He was married to Mary Darnall, daughter of Ralph Darnall, and the first of Calvert's four wives. The Darnall family were wealthy Maryland planters, and also Roman Catholics. Tragically, Mary did not live long; she died in childbirth sometime before 1667. Charles was not slow to find a new bride. in 1667 he was married a second time, to Jane Lowe (1664-1693/94), the widow of Colonel Henry Sewall of St. Mary's County, Maryland. In late 1667 or early 1668 they had a son, Cecil Calvert.Economic problems
Calvert's life as governor was aggravated by growing economic problems. From the 1660s onwards, the price of tobacco, the staple crop of Maryland and its chief source of export income, began a long slide, causing economic hardship especially among the poor. In 1666 neighbouring Virginia proposed a "stint" on tobacco growing, a one year moratorium that would lower supply and so drive up prices. Calvert initially agreed to this plan but came to realize that the burden of the stint would fall chiefly upon his poorest subjects, who comprised "the generality of the province". Eventually he vetoed the bill, much to the disgust of the Virginians, though in the end Nature provided a stint of her own in the form of a hurricane which devastated the 1667 tobacco crop.Religion and politics
By the time Charles Calvert became governor, the population of the province had gradually shifted due to PuritanPuritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
immigration, becoming in time overwhelmingly Protestant. Political power however tended to remain concentrated in the hands of the largely Roman Catholic elite. In spite of this demographic shift away from Catholicism, Calvert attempted to preserve Maryland's Catholic identity. From 1669 to 1689, of 27 men who sat on the Governor's Council, just 8 were Protestant. Most councillors were Catholics, and many were related by blood or marriage to the Calverts, enjoying political patronage and often lucrative offices such as commands in the militia or sinecures in the Land Office.
Much conflict between Calvert and his subjects turned on the question of how far English law should be applied in Maryland, and to what degree the proprietary government might exercise its own prerogative outside of the law. Delegates to the assembly wished to establish the "full force and power" of the law but Calvert, ever protective of his prerogative, insisted that only he and his councillors might decide where and when English law should apply. Such uncertainty could and did permit the charge of arbitrary government.
Calvert acted in various ways to restrain the influence of the Protestant majority. In 1670 he restricted suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
to men who owned 50 acres (202,343 m²) or more, or held property worth more than 40 pounds. He also restricted election to Maryland's House of Delegates
House of Delegates
The House of Delegates is the name given to the lower house of the legislature in three U.S. states – Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.House of Delegates may also refer to:...
to those who owned at least 1,000 acres (4 km²) of land. In 1676 he directed the voters to return half as many delegates to the assembly, two instead of four. Measures like these might make the assembly easier to manage, but they tended to strain relations between Calvert and his subjects.
Slavery
One of Calvert's earliest decisions, regarding the position of Africans imported into Maryland, would have long-term and baleful consequences. Although the first Africans had been brought to Maryland in 1642, when 13 slaves arrived at St. Mary's City, the first English settlement in the Province, their legal status was initially unclear and colonial courts tended to rule that a slave who accepted Christian baptism should be freed. In order to protect the rights of their owners, laws began to be passed to clarify the legal position. In 1663 the Assembly ruled that slaves should be slaves for life, and that the children of slaves should also be enslaved for life, thus perpetuating the institution of slavery for the next 200 years, until its eradication during the Civil War. However, the impact of such harsh laws would not be felt for some time, as large scale importation of Africans would not begin until the 1690s.Religious conflicts
In 1675 the elder Lord Baltimore died, and Charles Calvert, now 38 years old, returned to London in order to be elevated to his barony. His political enemies now took the opportunity of his absence to launch a scathing attack on the proprietarial government, publishing a pamphlet in 1676 titled A Complaint from Heaven with a Hue and Crye...out of Maryland and Virginia, listing numerous grievances, and in particular complaining of the lack of an established church. Neither was the Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
happy with Maryland's experiment in religious tolerance. The Anglican minister John Yeo wrote scathingly to the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, complaining that Maryland was "in a deplorable condition" and had become "a sodom of uncleanliness and a pesthouse of iniquity". This was taken sufficiently seriously in London that the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
directed Calvert to respond to the complaints made against him.
Calvert's response to these challenges was defiant. He hanged two of the would-be rebels, and moved to re-assert Maryland's religious diversity. His written response illustrates the difficulties facing his administration; Calvert wrote that Maryland settlers were "Presbyterians, Independents
Independent (religion)
In English church history, Independents advocated local congregational control of religious and church matters, without any wider geographical hierarchy, either ecclesiastical or political...
, Anabaptists, and Quakers, those of the Church of England as well as the Romish being the fewest...it would be a most difficult task to draw such persons to consent unto a Law which shall compel them to maintaine ministers of a contrary perswasion to themselves".
Conspiracies
In 1679 Charles and Jane celebrated a second son, Benedict. But two years later, in 1681, Lord Baltimore once again faced rebellion, led by a former governor of the province Josias FendallJosias Fendall
Lieutenant-General Josias Fendall, Esq. , was the 4th Proprietary Governor of Maryland. He was born in England, and came to the Province of Maryland. He was the progenitor of the Fendall family in America....
(1657–60) and John Coode
John Coode (Governor of Maryland)
John Coode is best known for leading a rebellion that overthrew Maryland's colonial government in 1689...
(Coode would later lead the successful rebellion of 1689). Fendall was tried, convicted, fined forty thousand pounds of tobacco and exiled, but his co-conspirator Coode successfully escaped retribution.
By this time the political fabric of the province was starting to tear. The governor of Virginia reported that "Maryland is now in torment...and in great danger of falling in pieces". Relations between the governing council and the assembly grew increasingly poor. Underlying much of the rancour was the continued slide in the price of tobacco, which by the 1680s had fallen 50% in 30 years. In 1681 Baltimore also faced personal tragedy; his eldest son and heir, Cecil, died, leaving his second son Benedict
Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore
Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, 10th Proprietary Governor of Maryland was an English nobleman and politician. He was the second son of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore by Jane Lowe. He became his father's heir upon the death of his elder brother, Cecil in 1681...
as the heir presumptive to the Calvert inheritance.
Border conflict with Pennsylvania
Adding to his difficulties, Calvert found himself embroiled in a serious conflict over land boundaries with William PennWilliam Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
, engaging in a dispute over the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. In 1681 King Charles II had granted Penn a substantial but rather vague proprietorship to the north of Maryland. Penn however began building his capital city south of the 40th Parallel, in Maryland territory. Penn and Calvert met twice to negotiate a settlement, but were unable to reach agreement.
Departure for England
In 1684, Charles Calvert travelled to EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, both to defend himself in the dispute with Penn as well as to answer charges that he favoured Catholics in the colony. He would never return to Maryland.
Calvert left the province in the care of his nephew George Talbot
George Talbot
George Talbot may refer to:*George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury *George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury *George Talbot, 9th Earl of Shrewsbury...
, whom he made acting governor, placing him at the head of the Governor's Council. Unfortunately Talbot proved to be a poor choice, stabbing to death a Royal customs official on board his ship in the Patuxent River
Patuxent River
The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast passing through Baltimore, and the Patuxent River between...
, and thereby ensuring that his uncle suffered immediate difficulties on his return to London. Calvert's replacement for Talbot was another Roman Catholic, William Joseph
William Joseph (governor)
William Joseph was the 11th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1688 to 1689. He was appointed by the colony's proprietor Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore...
, who would also prove controversial. In November 1688 Joseph set about offending local opinion by lecturing his Maryland subjects on morality, adultery and the divine right of kings, lambasting the colony as "a land full of adulterers".
Glorious Revolution in England
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
, during which the Catholic King James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
was deposed and the Protestant monarchs King William
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
and Mary II of England
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
were installed on the throne. This triumph of the Protestant faction would cause Calvert considerable political difficulties. Sensibly, Calvert moved quickly to support the new regime, sending a messenger to Maryland to proclaim the new King and Queen. Unfortunately for Lord Baltimore, the messenger died during the journey, and a second envoy (if one was ever sent - Calvert would later claim that it was) never arrived.
Protestant Revolution in Maryland
Meanwhile, Maryland Puritans, by now a substantial majority in the colony, feeding on rumors from England and fearing Popish plots, began to organize rebellion against the proprietary governmentProprietary Governor
Proprietary Governors were individuals authorized to govern proprietary colonies. Under the proprietary system, individuals or companies were granted commercial charters by the King of England to establish colonies. These proprietors then selected the governors and other officials in the colony....
. Governor Joseph did not improve the situation by refusing to convene the assembly and, ominously, recalling weapons from storage, ostensibly for repair. Protestants, angry at the apparent lack of official support for the new King and Queen, and resentful of the preferment of Catholics like deputy governor Colonel Henry Darnall
Henry Darnall
Colonel Henry Darnall , was a wealthy Maryland Roman Catholic planter, the Proprietary Agent of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore . He served as Deputy Governor in Maryland. During the Protestant Revolution of 1689, his proprietarial army was defeated by the Puritan army of Colonel John Coode,...
to official positions of power, began to arm themselves. In the summer of 1689 an army of 700 Puritans led by Colonel John Coode
John Coode (Governor of Maryland)
John Coode is best known for leading a rebellion that overthrew Maryland's colonial government in 1689...
, and calling themselves the Protestant Associators, defeated a proprietarial army led by Colonel Darnall. Darnall, heavily outnumbered, later wrote: "Wee being in this condition and no hope left of quieting the people thus enraged, to prevent effusion of blood, capitulated and surrendered."
After this "Protestant Revolution" in Maryland, The victorious Coode and his Puritan allies set up a new government that outlawed Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
; Catholics would thereafter be forced to maintain secret chapels in their home in order to celebrate the Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
. In 1704 an Act was passed "to prevent the growth of Popery in this Province", preventing Catholics from holding political office. Full religious toleration would not be restored in Maryland until the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, when Darnall's great-grandson Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from Great Britain. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and later as United States Senator for Maryland...
, arguably the wealthiest Catholic in Maryland, signed the American Declaration of Independence.
John Coode would remain in power until the new royal governor, Nehemiah Blakiston
Nehemiah Blakiston
Nehemiah Blakiston was Governor of the Maryland colony from 1691 through 1692. He became Governor as the 2nd Leader of a group known as the Protestant Associators, succeeding John Coode, who has taken control of the state following the Glorious Revolution in England. Blakiston was succeeded by the...
was appointed on July 27, 1691. Charles Calvert himself would never return to Maryland, and, worse, his family's royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
to the colony was withdrawn in 1689. Henceforth Maryland would be administered directly by the British monarchy
British monarchy
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
.
Later life
Calvert's political difficulties did not end with the loss of Maryland. In 1694 he was named in connection with the Titus OatesTitus Oates
Titus Oates was an English perjurer who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.-Early life:...
plot, though he successfully evaded arrest. In 1696 his fortunes improved; he was made brigadier general, and then in 1704 rose to the rank of major-general.
Calvert's second wife Jane died in around 1693, and Calvert married a third time, to Mary Bankes, some time between 1701 and 1710. His fourth and final marriage was to Margaret Charleton, daughter of Thomas Charleton, in 1712.
Calvert may also have had an illegitimate son, Charles Calvert Lazenby
Charles Calvert (governor)
Captain Charles Calvert was the 14th Proprietary Governor of Maryland in 1720, at a time when the Calvert family had recently regained control of their proprietary colony. He was appointed Governor by his cousin Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, who in 1721 came into his inheritance...
, born in England in 1688, who would grow up to have a career in the army and later become Governor of Maryland
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...
in his own right. Captain Calvert's parents have never been positively identified but it has long been assumed that his father was the 3rd Baron Baltimore. His mother's identity is also unknown but, judging by the Calvert family papers, she appears to have been the Countess Henrietta, also known as "Mother Calvert", who died circa 1728.
Calvert's residence in England was his family's estate at Woodcote Park
Woodcote Park
Woodcote Park is a stately home in Surrey, England, currently owned by the Royal Automobile Club. It was formerly the seat of a number of prominent English families, including the Calvert family, Barons Baltimore and Lords Proprietor of the colony of Maryland...
in Surrey. In around 1712, Woodcote was described by Celia Fiennes
Celia Fiennes
Celia Fiennes was an English traveller. Born in Wiltshire, she was the daughter of an English Civil War Parliamentarian Colonel, who was in turn the second son of the William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. Celia Fiennes died in Hackney in 1741.-Pioneering Female Traveller:Fiennes never married...
:
- "Lord Baltimores in Woodcut Green encompassed with a wall at the entrance, a breast wall with pallisadoes, large courts one within the other, and a back way to the stables where there is a pretty horse pond; the house is old but low, though large run over much ground; as I drove by the side saw broad chimneys on the end and at due distance on the side on both ends the sides of a court which terminated in a building on which there is a lead with railes and barristers."
Relations with his son Benedict
Charles never abandoned his commitment to the Catholic faith, despite the adverse political consequences. But his eldest son Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron BaltimoreBenedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore
Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, 10th Proprietary Governor of Maryland was an English nobleman and politician. He was the second son of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore by Jane Lowe. He became his father's heir upon the death of his elder brother, Cecil in 1681...
(1679–1715), faltered. Benedict correctly calculated that the chief impediment to the restoration of his family's title to Maryland was the question of religion. Accordingly, he abandoned Rome and converted to Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
, deciding to "embrace the protestant religion", and gambling that this move would win back his family's lost fortune in the New World. Such a bold move would however come at a high price. Lord Baltimore, furious at his son's apostacy, withdrew his annual allowance of £450 and ended his support for his grandchildren's education and maintenance. However, Charles Calvert died in 1715, passing his title, and his claim to Maryland, to his son Benedict. He is buried in St Pancras.
Legacy
Upon his father's death, Charles' son Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron BaltimoreBenedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore
Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, 10th Proprietary Governor of Maryland was an English nobleman and politician. He was the second son of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore by Jane Lowe. He became his father's heir upon the death of his elder brother, Cecil in 1681...
petitioned King George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
for the restoration of his family's proprietarial title to Maryland. Unfortunately, before the king could rule on the petition, Benedict died, just two months after his father, passing on his title in turn to his son Charles. On May 15, 1715 Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...
soon found himself, aged just sixteen, in the fortunate position of having had his family's proprietarial title to Maryland restored by the king. In 1721 he came of age and assumed personal control of the colony, which would remain under the control of the Calvert family until 1776. The younger Charles Calvert would also have to convert to Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
in order to win back his family's province. The Calvert family's dream of a haven in the Americas for Roman Catholics was at an end, and it would take an American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and the overthrow of the Calvert proprietary government to restore religious tolerance to Maryland.
Charles County, Maryland, was named after him.
Charles Calvert's portrait, along with those of the other Barons Baltimore, still hangs today in the Enoch Pratt Free Library
Enoch Pratt Free Library
The Enoch Pratt Free Library, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the oldest free public libraries in the United States. Established in 1882 after a grant from philanthropist Enoch Pratt, the library now includes twenty-two branches in Baltimore, plus the Central Library...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, the city that bears his family name.
See also
- Baron BaltimoreBaron BaltimoreBaron Baltimore, of Baltimore Manor in County Longford, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1625 for George Calvert and became extinct on the death of the sixth Baron in 1771. The title was held by several members of the Calvert family who were proprietors of the palatinates...
- Colonial families of MarylandColonial families of MarylandThe Colonial families of Maryland were the leading families in the Province of Maryland. Several also had interests in the Colony of Virginia, and the two are sometimes referred to as the Chesapeake Colonies. Many of the early settlers came from the West Midlands in England, although the Maryland...
- List of colonial governors of Maryland
- Province of MarylandProvince of MarylandThe Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
External links
- Charles Calvert at http://mdroots.thinkport.org Retrieved Jan 24 2010
- Charles Calvert at www.thepeerage.com Retrieved Jan 24 2010
- Epsom and Ewell History Explorer Retrieved August 31, 2010