Charles Calvert

Background

Charles Calvert was born on August 27, 1637, the son of Cecilius Calvert, 2d Baron Baltimore, and Ann Arundell, daughter of a prominent Catholic aristocrat.

Career

Calvert's life is inseparable from the colony projected by his grandfather, George Calvert, and settled by his father. Maryland was unique among the American colonies for the tenacity the Calverts exhibited in upholding their proprietary claims. Inasmuch as these claims were largely based on an outmoded system of feudal privileges, deriving from a royal charter, bitter controversies arose between each proprietor and his subjects. These conflicts wracked Maryland from its inception, but they developed greatest intensity under Charles Calvert. Calvert was appointed governor in 1661, succeeding as proprietor when his father died in 1675. He brought to the governorship an unyielding concept of authority. Although compassionate and dedicated to Maryland's welfare, Calvert judged the value of every public act against his desire to protect his proprietary interests. He was unable to embrace the opposition or to reach out beyond his relatives and Catholic friends for help in governing Maryland. There were complaints about his alleged antagonism to Protestants and the disproportion of Catholics appointed to provincial offices. In 1670 Calvert restricted the franchise and called to the assembly only half the delegates elected. He interfered with the rights of the lower house, vetoed legislative acts years after they had been passed, and appointed to the highest offices men of little ability. There were major upheavals in 1659, 1676, and 1681, during which Calvert's proprietary authority was seriously challenged. While Calvert was in England, a revolution occurred in the colony in 1689, partly triggered by the Glorious Revolution in progress in England. When Calvert failed to promptly proclaim William and Mary as the new rulers of England, insurgents in the Maryland colony, fed by fear of the Catholics and of Indian marauders, took over the government. Instead of giving power back to the proprietor, the new English monarchs accepted only Lord Baltimore's claim over the land and sent a royal governor to oversee the colony. Calvert spent the rest of his life in England trying unsuccessfully to regain political control of Maryland. He died in 1715. The Calverts secured limited political authority in the province under the 5th Baron Baltimore, who had been raised as a Protestant, but the full proprietary power under the old charter was never restored.

Achievements

• Charles County, Maryland, was named after him. Charles Calvert's very large full-length portrait, along with those of all the other Lords Baltimore, (collected by philanthropist Dr. Hugh Young) all still hang today in the skylighted Great Hall of the central Enoch Pratt Free Library on Cathedral Street in downtown Baltimore, the city that bears his family name (along with several others usually with the prefix of 'New' attached across America), along with frequent historical and ceremonial commemorations of the colonial proprietors.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Colonial Period of American History (Volume 1)

    (This three-volume work won the 1935 Pulitzer Prize in His...)

Connections

Calvert married four times and had at least 2 children.

Father:

Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore

August 8, 1605 - November 30, 1675

Mother:

Anne Calvert (Arundell)

1615 - 23 May 1649

Wife:

Mary Calvert (Darnall)

1637 - ____

Wife:

Margaret Charleton

Wife:

Mary Bankes

They were married from 1701 to 1710.

Wife:

Jane Calvert (Lowe)

1644 – 1694

Son:

Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore

21 March 1679 – 16 April 1715

References

• Colonial Records of Southern Maryland: Trinity Parish & Court Records, Charles County; Christ Church Parish & Marriage Records, Calvert County; St. Andrews & All Faiths Parishes, St. Marys County
• The Lords Baltimore and the Maryland Palatinate; Six Lectures on Maryland Colonial History Delivered Before the Johns Hopkins University in the Year 1902
• The Colonial Period of American History (Volume 2) by Charles M. Andrews (2001-01-20)