Editing Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (section)

==Settlement of the Maryland colony==
===Maryland Charter===
Lord Baltimore, as Cecil now was, received a Charter from [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] for the new colony of [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]], to be named for the [[Queen Consort]], [[Henrietta Maria]] (wife of King Charles I). This was shortly after the death, in April 1632, of his father, George who had long sought the charter to found a colony in the mid-Atlantic area to serve as a refuge for English Roman 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 (later known as the [[Delmarva]] peninsula).{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

When [[the Crown]] realised that settlers from [[Colony and Dominion of Virginia|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 20 June 1632. This charter would be heavily contested by the 2nd Lord Baltimore's heirs and the Penn family in the [[Penn–Calvert Boundary Dispute]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

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 Castle|Windsor]] every Easter.<ref>Browne, pp. 35–36</ref> The Charter established Maryland as a [[County palatine|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]].<ref>Browne, p. 36</ref> In questions of interpretation of rights, the Charter would be interpreted in favour of the proprietor.<ref>Browne, p. 37</ref>

Supporters in England of the [[Province of Virginia|Virginia colony]] opposed the Charter, as they had little interest in having a competing colony to the north.<ref name="B39">Browne, p. 39</ref> 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 Calvert|Leonard]] in his stead. He never travelled to Maryland.<ref name=B39/>

While the expedition was being prepared, Baltimore was 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.<ref name="B43">Browne, p. 43</ref> They had informally tried to thwart the founding of another colony for years, but their first formal complaint was lodged with the "[[Board of Trade|Lords of Foreign Plantations]]" (Lords of Trade and Plantations) in July 1633.<ref name=B43/> 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, Maryland|Kent Island]] in the middle of the [[Chesapeake Bay]] off the [[Eastern Shore (Maryland)|eastern shore]].<ref name=B43/> 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.<ref>Browne, pp. 43–44</ref>

===''Ark'' and ''Dove''===
[[File:Maryland Dove.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Modern reconstruction of ''[[Maryland Dove|Dove]]'', one of the two ships that carried settlers to plant Lord Baltimore's first settlement in Maryland in 1634.]]

The first expedition consisted of two ships that had formerly belonged to Baltimore's father George, ''[[The Ark (ship)|Ark]]'' and ''[[Maryland Dove|Dove]]''.<ref name="B40">Browne, Page 40</ref> Both ships departed from [[Gravesend, Kent]] with 128 settlers on board, but were intercepted and forced to return to port by the [[Royal Navy]] so that the settlers would take an oath of allegiance to the King as required by law. They then sailed to the [[Isle of Wight]] in October 1632 to pick up more settlers.<ref name="B40" /> There, two Jesuit priests (including [[Andrew White (missionary)|Father Andrew White]]) and nearly 200 more settlers boarded before the ships set out across the Atlantic Ocean.<ref>Browne, p.  45</ref>

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 William Claiborne to determine his intentions for the trading station on [[Kent Island, Maryland|Kent Island]].<ref name="Browne4657">Browne, pp. 46–57</ref> He also emphasised the importance of religious toleration among the colonists, who numbered nearly equally Catholic and Protestant.<ref name="Browne4657" />

[[File:Leonard Calvert, by Jacob Van Oost I or II (1640).jpg|thumb|[[Leonard Calvert]], Lord Baltimore's younger brother and the first governor of the [[Province of Maryland|Maryland colony]].]]

With these last instructions, the expedition crossed the Atlantic and sailed through [[Cape Charles (headland)]] and [[Cape Henry]] into the large harbour and lower bay called [[Hampton Roads]] at the entrance to the [[Chesapeake Bay]] and the mouth of the [[James River]]. After meeting with the Virginians at their colony and capital of [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]], they continued up the Bay to the [[Potomac River]], then further upstream and landed on 25 March 1634 at [[Blakistone Island Light|Blakistone Island]] (later called [[St. Clement's Island State Park|St. Clement's Island]]). There they erected a 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, Maryland|St. Mary's City]] (in the future [[St. Mary's County, Maryland|St. Mary's County]]), on 27 March 1634, on land purchased from the native [[Yaocomico]] tribe, a branch of the [[Piscataway Indian Nation and Tayac Territory|Piscataway]] Indians.<ref>Browne, pp. 59–62</ref>

From England, Baltimore tried to manage the political relations with the Crown and other parts of government. Claiborne, the trader on Kent Island, resisted the new settlement and conducted some naval skirmishes against it.<ref>Browne, pp. 62–64</ref>

Calvert 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 first was his younger brother [[Leonard Calvert]] (1606–1647),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/000100/000198/html/198bio.html |title=Leonard Calvert ''MSA SC 3520-198'' |publisher=Maryland State Archives |date=7 March 2003}}</ref> and the last was his only son [[Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore|Charles]].