English and Catholic: The Lords Baltimore in the Seventeenth Century (review)

Over the past thirty years, John D. Krugler has emerged as the leading authority on the first and second Lords Baltimore, George Calvert and his son, Cecil, and their "pious enterprise" to establish a society founded on the principles of liberty of conscience and the separation of church and state. Until the publication of this book, those interested in learning more about this subject had to rely on a body of work that, for the most part, was focused only on particular aspects of the Calverts' legacy, largely as it related to the founding and early history of Maryland as a British colony. What was missing and has at last been provided through this work is a comprehensive study that attempts to answer many of the unresolved and much debated issues concerning the Calverts, including when and why George Calvert entered the Catholic Church and what his true motives were in establishing a society that promoted religious toleration.

In English and Catholic: The Lords Baltimore in the Seventeenth Century, Krugler carefully reconstructs George Calvert's rise to wealth and prominence that culminated in his appointment as King James I's secretary of state in 1619 and establishes that the relationships Calvert formed during this period were crucial to his later success when, after having resigned political office and publicly declared his profession of the Catholic faith, he pursued his plan to found a colony in the New World, the ill-fated Avalon in Newfoundland. His son, Cecil, would later rely on these same connections to secure a second charter in 1632 that led to the founding of Maryland. Krugler's detailing of these relationships helps to explain how, in the case of the Calverts, personal friendship and political loyalty at times resulted in those at the highest levels of government looking the other way when it came to religious beliefs.

It is in Krugler's treatment of the charters written by George Calvert for Avalon and Maryland that he traces the evolution of what he terms the "Calvert vision" for church-state relations. Calvert, who was still in communion with the Anglican Church when he received the Avalon charter, had initially viewed the colonizing venture through the eyes of a capitalist who hoped to profit handsomely from his investment. His conversion to Catholicism, however, forced him to rethink what kind of society he wanted to create. His new faith labeled him a traitor in the eyes of his fellow Englishmen. The politics of identity in seventeenth-century England were clear—to be a loyal Englishman was to be a member of the Church of England. Devising a plan to reconcile personal faith with political allegiance became his objective and, ultimately, led to the model of church-state relations that was adopted in Maryland. What he proposed was simple, but radical—perhaps too radical for the times in which he lived. In addition to the traditional English rights of liberty and property, settlers were also guaranteed liberty of conscience. Church and state were to be separate and religious groups were responsible for funding their own activities. Unfortunately, George Calvert did not live long enough to see his "Maryland designe" implemented. This was something that was left to his son and heir, Cecil.

Cecil Calvert, Krugler shows, not only proved himself a faithful steward of the Calvert vision, but an astute and shrewd politician. From almost the moment he assumed his father's title, he had to fend off the attacks of political enemies at home who sought to overturn his charter by exploiting anti-Catholic feeling. This situation would prevent him from ever traveling to Maryland, where challenges to his authority took the form of armed uprisings. Twice in the first twenty years of the colony's history the local government was toppled under the banner of the Protestant cause. It was a third...