Editing Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (section)

===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>