Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore

Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Retrospective painting of the Lord Baltimore by Florence MacKubin in 1910.
Governor of Newfoundland (Avalon)
In office 1629–1632
Monarch	Charles I
Proprietor of the Maryland colony
In office 1632–1675
Personal details
Born	(1605-08-08)August 8, 1605 Kent, England
Died	November 30, 1675(1675-11-30) (aged 70) Middlesex, England
Spouse(s)	Anne Arundel (namesake for future Anne Arundel County)
Relations	Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore (grandson)
Children	Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore
Alma mater	Trinity College
Occupation	laywer politician
Religion	Roman Catholic

Cecilius Calvert, Second Baron Baltimore (August 8, 1605 – November 30, 1675), was an English peer who was the first Proprietor and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland, and ninth Proprietary Governor of the Colony of Newfoundland and the colony of Avalon (in the southeast). His title was "Cecilius Calvert, Second Baron Baltimore, First Lord Proprietary, Earl - Palatine of the Provinces of Maryland and Avalon in America". A Latin term was "Scvto Bonae Volvntatis Tvae Coronasti Nos, 1632". He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, (April 15, 1632), for whom it was intended. "Cecil Calvert" (as he was known) established and managed the Province of Maryland from his home "Kiplin Hall" in North Yorkshire, England; as a Roman Catholic, he continued the legacy of his father by promoting religious tolerance which was unusual for the time of the 17th Century in the colony, even while the Maryland colony was officially Roman Catholic.

Maryland became known as a haven for Catholics in the New World, particularly important at a time of religious persecution in England. Calvert governed Maryland for forty-two years. He also continued to be Lord Proprietor and Governor of Newfoundland for the colony of Avalon. He died in England on November 30, 1675, aged 70 years. He is buried on city hall grounds in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, The USA.

Early life and education

Cecilius Calvert, whose first name was sometimes spelled "Cæcilius", or "Caecilius", was born on August 8, 1605, in Kent, England to George Calvert, the First Lord Baltimore and Anne Mynne (or Mayne). He was generally known as Cecil Calvert, and was the first of several sons of the couple. At the time, his father was under pressure for conformity, and all ten children were baptized as Christians in the Anglican (Protestant) tradition.

Calvert entered Trinity College at the University of Oxford in 1621. His mother Anne Mynne (or Mayne) died the following year. His father George Calvert, First Lord Baltimore converted to Roman Catholicism in 1625, and it is likely that his children followed him; at least his sons did.

On August 8, 1633, Calvert was admitted to Gray's Inn as a barrister.

Settlement of the Maryland colony

Maryland Charter

Calvert received a Charter from Charles I of England for the new colony of Maryland, to be named for the Queen Consort Henrietta Maria (wife of King Charles). This was shortly after the death of his father, the First Baron Baltimore, who had long sought the charter to found a colony in the mid-Atlantic area to serve as a refuge for English Catholics. The "Original Grant" would have included the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay as far south as the Potomac River and the entirety of the eastern shore (future "Delmarva" peninsula). When the Crown realized that settlers from Virginia had already crossed the Bay to begin settling the southern tip of their eastern shore, the grant was revised to include the eastern shore only as far south as a line drawn east from the mouth of the Potomac River (including the future State of Delaware). Once that alteration was made, the final charter was confirmed on June 20, 1632.

Baltimore's fee for the Charter, which was legally a rental of the land from the King, was one-fifth of all gold and silver found and the delivery of two Native American arrows to the royal castle at Windsor every Easter. The Charter established Maryland as a palatinate, giving Baltimore and his descendants rights nearly equal to those of an independent state, including the rights to wage war, collect taxes, and establish a colonial nobility. In questions of interpretation of rights, the Charter would be interpreted in favor of the proprietor. Supporters in England of the Virginia colony opposed the Charter, as they had little interest in having a competing colony to the north. Rather than going to the colony himself, Baltimore stayed behind in England to deal with the political threat and sent his next younger brother Leonard in his stead. He never got to travel to Maryland.

While the expedition was being prepared, Baltimore was kept busy in England defending the 1632 Charter from former members of the Virginia Company; they were trying to regain their original Charter, including the entirety of the new Maryland colony, which had previously been included within the domains described as a part of Virginia. They had informally tried to thwart the founding of another colony for years, but their first formal complaint was lodged with the Lords of Foreign Plantations in July 1633. The complaint claimed that Maryland had not truly been unsettled, as stated in its charter, because William Claiborne had previously run a trading station on Kent Island in the middle Chesapeake Bay off the eastern shore. It also claimed that the Charter was so broad as to constitute a violation of the liberties of the colony's subjects; at this point there were few Marylanders yet in residence.

"Ark" and "Dove"

Modern reconstruction of "Dove", one of the two ships that carried settlers to plant Lord Baltimore's first settlement in Maryland in 1634.

Leonard Calvert, Lord Baltimore's younger brother and the first governor of the Maryland colony.

The first expedition consisted of two ships that had formerly belonged to Baltimore's father George, "Ark" and "Dove". They departed from Gravesend in Kent with 128 settlers on board; they were chased and forced to return by the British Royal Navy so that the settlers could take an oath of allegiance to the King as required by law. They then sailed in October 1632, for the Isle of Wight to pick up more settlers. There two Jesuit priests (including Father Andrew White and nearly 200 more settlers boarded before the ships set out across the Atlantic Ocean.

Baltimore sent detailed instructions for the governance of the colony. He directed his brother to seek information about those who had tried to thwart the colony and to contact Claiborne to determine his intentions for the trading station on Kent Island. He also emphasized the importance of religious toleration among the colonists, who numbered nearly equally among Catholic and Protestant. With these last instructions, the expedition crossed the Atlantic and sailed through the capes of Charles and Henry into the large harbor and lower bay called Hampton Roads at the mouths of the Chesapeake Bay and the James River. After meeting with the Virginians at their colony and capital of Jamestown and then continued up the Bay to the Potomac River mouth and further upstream off the northern shore landed on March 25, 1634 at Blakistone Island (later called St. Clement's Island State Park|St. Clement's Island). There they erected a large cross and celebrated their first Mass with Father White. Several days later they returned downstream and founded the first settlement at St. Mary's City (in the future St. Mary's County, the first to be "erected" [founded]) on March 27, 1634 on land purchased from the native Yaocomico tribe, a branch othe Piscataway Indians. From England, Baltimore tried to manage the political relations with the Crown and other parts of government. William Claiborne, the trader on Kent Island, resisted the new settlement and conducted some naval skirmishes against it.

Lord Baltimore attempted to stay closely involved in the governance of the colony, though he never visited it. During his long tenure, he governed through deputies, the last being his only son Charles. Calvert appointed his younger brother, Leonard Calvert (1606–1647), as the first Governor of the Province of Maryland. He was the second son.

Crisis during the English civil war

Main article: Battle of the Severn

The enterprise took place in the context of serious unrest in England. In 1629, King Charles I had dissolved Parliament and governed for the next eleven years without consultation from any representative body. The Church of England, led by the Star Chamber, intensified its campaign against both Puritans and Catholics. The former left England for the Netherlands and then a colony in New England colony. Catholics began to see Maryland as their sole English-speaking place of refuge.

Lord Baltimore, a Catholic, struggled to maintain possession of Maryland during the English Civil War by trying to convince Parliament of his loyalty; he appointed a Protestant, William Stone, as his governor. It's accepted he did this exclusively to maintain possession of the colony during the civil war, as his loyalties were with King Charles.

Religious toleration

The Maryland Toleration Act, passed in 1649.

In 1649, Maryland passed the Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the "Act Concerning Religion", a law mandating religious tolerance for Trinitarian Christians only (those who profess faith in the "Holy Trinity" - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, excluding Nontrinitarian faiths). Passed on September 21, 1649 by the General Assembly of the Maryland colony, it was the first law establishing religious tolerance in the British North American colonies. The Calvert family sought enactment of the law to protect Catholic settlers and Nonconformist Protestants who did not conform to the established state Church of England of Britain and her colonies.

Baltimore's colony in Newfoundland

Lord Baltimore's family also had title to Ferryland and the Province of Avalon in Newfoundland. Sir George Calvert, (1579-1632), the First Lord Baltimore, administered the colony between 1629 and 1632 when he left for Virginia and later visit the northern reaches along the Chesapeake Bay (which now include the future Maryland). In 1637, however, Sir David Kirke acquired a charter giving Cecil, the Second Lord Baltimore, title to the entire island of Newfoundland superseding the charter granted to his father George, the First Baron. Baltimore fought against the new Charter. Although later in 1661, he gained official recognition of the old Charter of Avalon, he never attempted to retake the Avalon colony.

Cecilius's son and heir, Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore.

Marriage and family

He married Anne Arundell, daughter of the 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, in 1627 or 1628. They had nine children. Of the nine, only three, including Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, survived to adulthood. Later, her name became the inspiration for the naming of one of the earliest counties to be "erected" (founded) as "Anne Arundel County", with a quaint old English spelling of her name "Ann Arundell" and that of the old county which is maintained in the title of the local historical society, centered in [[Glen Burnie, Maryland}|Glen Burnie]] and Linthicum

Cecilius Calvert died in Middlesex, England on November 30, 1675. He was succeeded to the Baronetcy of Baltimore and to his other titles by his son and heir, Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore.

Legacy and honors

Maryland

In 1904, the arms were adopted as the official state Flag of Maryland, one of the most distinctive and memorable in the Union; it is the only state flag in the United States to be based on English heraldry.

Numerous place names honor the Barons Baltimore, including the counties of Baltimore, Calvert, Cecil, Charles, and Frederick.

Cities which include variations of the Calvert and Lord Baltimore's name include:

• Baltimore City,
• Leonardtown,
• St. Leonard,

• Calvert Cliffs was named in their honor,
• Anne Arundel County: Anne Arundell's name survives and the original spelling of her name in Old English is preserved in the name of the county's heritage organization - "Ann Arundell County Historical Society".

Street names include:

• Cecil Avenue,
• Calvert Street,
• Charles Street in Baltimore,
• Calvert Street in Brooklyn neighborhood of South Baltimore,
• Calvert Street in Washington, DC,
• Baltimore Street in Cumberland, Maryland,
• Baltimore Street in La Plata, Maryland,
• Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard (Maryland Route 648),
• Baltimore-Washington Parkway (Interstate 295),

A statue of Cecilius Calvert dedicated in 1908 stands on the steps at the west entrance of the Circuit Courthouse of Baltimore City (built 1896-1900 - now renamed the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse since the 1980s) facing Saint Paul Street and a small Court Plaza with a fountain in downtown Baltimore. It is the site of annual ceremonies every "Maryland Day" (March 25) and continued inside in the elaborate Lobby and ceremonial courtrooms.

Harford County is named for Henry Harford, the illegitimate son of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore. Although precluded by his unfortunate birth status from inheriting the peerage, he inherited the Lord Proprietorship, only to lose it shortly later during the American Revolution.

The official state Flag of Maryland uses the arms of the 2nd Baron with the Calvert (father's family) black and gold (yellow) inverted chevrons and the red and white botoney (tre-foiled) cross of the Crossland (mother's) family. The flag first was flown October 11, 1880, in Baltimore by the newly reorganized Maryland National Guard (state militia) at a parade marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of Baltimore Town (1729-1730). It also was flown October 25, 1888, at Gettysburg Battlefield for ceremonies dedicating monuments to the Maryland regiments of the Army of the Potomac of the Confederate States Army. Traditionally, during the Civil War, the black and gold chevrons were used as a symbol on uniforms and flags by the Northern (Union) Maryland soldiers and units and the bottonee cross from the Crosslands by the Southern (Confederate) regiments and troops from Maryland. The later reunification of the two squares of the colonial seal and proprietary family's coat-of-arms in the increased use of a "Maryland Flag" in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, symbolized the post-war reconcilliation of the two sides of the bitterly divided border state. Officially, it was adopted as the State flag in 1904.

The Great Seal of Maryland, which was stolen in 1645, was replaced by a similar seal by Cecil. The seal features the Calvert arms and motto which is still used in the Government of Maryland.

Newfoundland

• On the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland is the settlement of Calvert
• Baltimore School is in nearby Ferryland.

Coat of arms

The Arms of the Barons Baltimore which were granted to the 2nd Baron.

The black and gold quarters were the arms of the Calverts themselves, while the red and silver were for the Crosslands, the family of the 1st Baron's mother, Alice.

• Quarterly, 1st and 4th Paly of six Or and Sable a bend counterchanged (Calvert),
• 2nd and 3rd Quarterly Argent and Gules over all a cross bottony counterchanged (Crosslands).

Motto: Italian one, Fatti maschii, parole femine, meaning, "Manly deeds, womanly words."

See also

• Baron Baltimore
• Colonial families of Maryland
• List of colonial governors of Maryland
• Province of Maryland

Sources

• Browne, William Hand (1890). George Calvert and Cecilius Calvert: Barons Baltimore of Baltimore. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.
• Krugler, John D. (2004). English and Catholic: The Lords Baltimore in the 17th Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-7963-9

Government offices
Preceded by George Calvert	Governor of Newfoundland 1629–1632	Succeeded by William Hill
New title	Proprietor of Maryland 1632–1675	Succeeded by The 3rd Lord Baltimore
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by George Calvert	Baron Baltimore 1632–1675	Succeeded by Charles Calvert