Editing Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (section)

==Crisis before and during the English Civil War==
{{main|Battle of the Severn}}
The enterprise took place in the context of serious unrest in England. In 1629, [[Charles I of England and Scotland|King Charles I]] had dissolved [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] and governed for the next eleven years without consultation from any representative body.<ref name=B39/> [[William Laud]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], and his [[Star Chamber]] campaigned against both [[Puritans]] and Catholics.<ref name=B39/> As a result, the Puritans and [[Separatists]] began to emigrate to New England in [[Plymouth Colony]] and [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]. Catholics began to see Maryland as a possible English-speaking place of refuge.<ref name=B39/>

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 (Maryland governor)|William Stone]], as his governor. It is accepted he did this exclusively to maintain possession of the colony during the civil war, as his loyalties were with King Charles.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}