The Calvert Family, Catholicism, and Court Politics in Early Seventeenth‐Century England

Notes1. For the details of Calvert's forced resignation, see John D. Krugler, “Sir George Calvert's Resignation as Secretary of State and the Founding of Maryland,” Maryland Historical Magazine 68 (Fall 1973): 239–54. For the final resolution of his religious doubts, see idem, “‘The Face of a Protestant, and the Hearl of a Papist’: A Reexamination of Sir George Calvert's Conversion to Roman Catholicism,” Journal of Church and State 20 (Autumn 1978): 507–31. On the problems confronted by Catholics during this period, see John Bossy, The English Catholic Community, 1570–1850 (Oxford, 1976), and J.C.H. Aveling, The Hammer and the Axe: The Catholic Recusants in England from Reformation to Emancipation (Condon, 1976).2. G.R. Alan smith, “The Secretariats of the Cecils, circa 1580–1612,” English Historical Review 83 (July 1968): 493; John More to Sir Ralph Winwood. 28 July 1610, Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC), Report on the Manuscripts of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensbury, K.G., K.T., Preserved at Montague House Whitehall, 3 vols. (London, 1899–1926), 1:91; Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of James I, ed. Mary Anne Kverett Green, 4 vols. (London, 1858–59), 1619–1623, 14; John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, 26 February 1624/25, Letters of John Chamberlain, ed. Norman Egbert McClure, 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1939), 2:603.3. Acts of the Privy Council of England, ed. John Roche Dasent et al., 44 vols, to date (London, 1890‐), 1625–1626, 5, 33 (hereafter cited as APC);Amerigo Salvetti to Grand Duke of Florence, 1–11 April 1625, HMC, The Manuscripts of Henry Duncan Skrine, Esq., Salvetti Correspondence (London, 1887), 3; Chamberlain to Carleton, 9 April 1625, Letters, ed. McClure, 2:609. A later source indicated that Charles was willing to dispense with the oath of supremacy but at Baltimore's request gave him leave to retire from court. British Museum, Sloane Manuscripts 3662. Mr. Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville, 13 April 1625, Original Letters Illustrative of English History including Numerous Royal Letters, ed. Sir Henry Ellis, 3 series (London, 1842–46), 1st ser., 3:187; David Rothe to Peter Lombard, 17 September 1925, Irish Manuscripts Commission, Wadding Papers, 1614–1638, ed. Brendan Jennings (Dublin, 1953), 101–2.4. Wedgwood believed that Wentworth was “as strongly prejudiced against the Roman Catholic Church and all its works as any other Protestant English gentleman of his age and was in favour of rigid application of the penal laws.”Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford, 1593–1641: A Revaluation (New York, 1962), 70;John D. Krugler, “ ‘Our Trusty and Well Beloved Councillor’: The Parliamentary Career of Sir George Calvert, 1609–1624,” Maryland Historical Magazine 72 (Winter 1977): 473, 487;John K. Gruen‐felder, “The Electoral Patronage of Sir Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, 1614–1640,” Journal of Modem History 49 (December 1977): 559–63; Baltimore to Wentworth, 12 August 1630, The Earl of Strafforde's Letters and Dispatches, with an Essay Toward his life by Sir George Radcliffe, ed. William Knowler, 2 vols. (London, 1739), 1:53 (hereafter cited as Strafforde's Letters).5. Baltimore to Buckingham, 24 February and 30 November 1626, Calendar of State Papers, Relating to Ireland, of the Reign of Charles I, ed. Robert Pentland Mahaffy, 3 vols. (London, 1900–1903), 1625–1632, 95, 117.6. Letter to Rev. Joseph Mead, 9 February 1626/27, The Court and Times of Charles the First, comp. Thomas Birch, 2 vols. (London, 1848), 1:192–93; Calendar of State Papers, and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs Existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice ed. Rawdon Brown et al, 38 vols. (London, 1864–1947), 1626–1628, 147, 160; Calvert Papers, ed. Richard J. Cox, 3 vols. (Baltimore, 1889–99), microfilm edition (Maryland Historical Society [MHS]), roll 5, no. 107; Calvert to Wentworth, 1 May 1627, Strafforde's Letters, 1:37.7. Baltimore to Wentworth, 1 and 21 May 1627, and Clifford to Wentworth, 20 May 1627, Strafforde's Letters, 1:37, 38. The Italian phrase “il naso grande” (the big nose) perhaps meant to look down in a haughty fashion. I am grateful to the Reverend J. Patrick Donnelly, S.J., for this suggestion. Calvert to Edward Nicholas, 7 April 1627, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies, ed. W. Noel Sainsbury el al., 37 vols, to date (London, 1860‐), 1574–1660, 83 (hereafter cited as CSP, Colonial); APC, 1627–1628, 216. For Calvert's ill‐fated adventure in Newfoundland, see the two excellent articles by Thomas M. Coakley, “Sir George Calvert and Newfoundland: ‘The Sad Face of Winter’,” Maryland Historical Magazine 71 (Spring 1976): 1–18, and R.J. Lahey, “The Role of Religion in Lord Baltimore's Colonial Enterprise,” Mary/and Historical Magazine 72 (Winter 1977): 492–511.8. Baltimore to Wentworth, 17 April 1627, Wentworth Papeis, 1597–1628, ed. J. P. Cooper (London, 1973), 291; Baltimore to Wentworth, 21 August 1629, Sheffield City Library (SCL), Wentworth Papers, 12/75; Wedgwood, Wentworth, 79–115.9. Baltimore to Cottington, 18 August 1629, in “Tobacco or Codfish: Lord Baltimore Makes His Choice,” ed. Lawrence C. Wroth, Bulletin of the New York Public Library 58 (November 1954): 523–33; Robert Ruigh, The Parliament of 1624: Politics and Foreign Policy (Cambridge, 1971), 261–62,288, 364–65. The details of Cottington's life are from Martin J. Havran's biography, Caroline Courtier: The Life of Lord Cottington (Columbia, S.C., 1973). Havran played down Cottington's Catholic associations. However, Michael Foster intimates a much stronger connection in the person of Sir Richard Forster, a Catholic who had close ties to both Cottington and Calvert. “Sir Richard Forster (P1585–1661),”Recusant History 14 (May 1978): 165.10. Baltimore to Cottington, 18 August 1629, in “Tobacco or Codfish,” ed. Wroth, 523–33; Baltimore to King Charles, 19 August 1629, Archives of Maryland, ed. William Hand Browne et al., 70 vols, to date (Baltimore, 1883‐), 3:15–16 (hereafter cited as Md. Arch.); King to Baltimore, 22 November 1629, CSP, Colonial, 1574–1660, 101.11. Md. Arch., 3:15–16.“Tobacco or Codfish,” ed. Worth, 527. For the details of the Stourton matter, see Coakley, “Calvert and Newfoundland,” 14, and Lahey, “The Role of Religion,” 506–8.12. Governor John Pott el al. to Privy Council, 30 November 1629, Md. Arch., 3: 16–17; Mead to Stuteville, 23 January 1629/30, and Mr. Pory to Mead, 12 February 1629/30, Charles I, comp. Birch, 2:53–54. The compromise oath which Baltimore offered to take is no longer extant. Mead very definitely stated that Baltimore took the oath of allegiance but refused the oath of supremacy.13. W. Robinson to Wentworth, 27 August 1630, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 12/129. I used the copy and transcription of this letter in the James W. Foster Papers (MS 2002) in the Maryland Historical Society. Baltimore to Wentworth, 12 September 1930, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 12/136.14. Baltimore to Wentworth and Baltimore to Christopher Wandesford, 27 September 1630, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 12/140, 12/141.15. Ballimore knew of the anticipated appointment long before it became public. When rumors emerged, Baltimore, as Wentworth's friend, was expected to know. When asked, however, he denied any knowledge. This forced Baltimore to write to Wentworth to implore him not to let anyone know that he knew of the appointment. Baltimore to Wentworth, 17 September 1631, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 12/176.16. Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles..., ed. John Bruce el at., 22 vols. (London, 1858–93), 1629–1631, 524 (hereafter cited as CSPD, Charles I). Baltimore remained in good spirits while awaiting Cottington's return. He joked to Wentworth about meeting with others at “sundry times at Arundell howse to Wynne my Lo. Marshalls money at tables.” Wentworth was “alwayes remembered” at these gatherings. Baltimore to Wentworth, 9 December 1630, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 12/176. In discussing the “Spanish party” as of 1624, Ruigh noted that Buckingham was not able to destroy all his enemies and that “the political hatreds” occasioned by his decision to scrap the king's peaceful foreign policy “plagued him until his death.” Ruigh, Parliament of 1624, 259. It would appear, given the closeness between Thomas Howard, the earl of Arundel, Baltimore, Cottington, and Wentworth, that Buckingham's influence, negative though it was, prevailed even after his death. For additional evidence, see Kevin Sharpe, “The Earl of Arundel, His Circle and Opposition to the Duke of Buckingham, 1618–1628,” in Faction and Parliament: Essays on Early Stuart History, ed. Kevin Sharpe (Oxford, 1978), 238–43.17. Baltimore to Wentworth, 7 September 1631, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 12/249; Michael Van Cleave Alexander, Charles I's Lord Treasurer: Sir Richard Weston, Earl of Portland (1577–1635) (Chapel Hill, 1975), 161, 173–75.18. Baltimore to Wentworth, 11 October 1631, Strqfforde's Letters, 1:59–60;CSPD, Charles I, 1631–1632, 175; MHS, Calvert Papers, ed. Cox, roll 5, no. 107; Public Record Office C66/2579, copy and transcript in Foster Papers (MS 2002); First “Warrant to Mr. William Noye Esqr. His Majesties Atturney Generall” and “Second Warrant to Mr. William Noye Esqr. His Majesties Atturney Generall,” Young Manuscripts, in Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore.19. Cahert Papers, ed. Cox, 1: 49.20. Wentworth to George Calvert, 28 July 1623, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 2/103–104; Baltimore to Wentworth, 17 April 1628, Wentworth Papers,ed. Cooper, 291–92. Baltimore undoubtedly wrote a similar letter to Cottington, but I have been unable to locate it. The details of the marital transaction are in MHS, Calvert Papers, ed. Cox, roll 5, no. 39.21. Wentworth to Cecil, Lord Baltimore, 6 February 1638/39, and Cecil to Wentworth, 1 July 1634, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 10a/255, 14/117; Cecil to Wentworth, 10 January and 16 May 1633/34, Straffordes Letters, 178–79, 257; Hugh F. Kearney, Strafford in Ireland (Manchester, 1959), 51n.; Journals of the House of Lords (Dublin, 1783), 1:16–17.22. Cecil, Lord Baltimore, to Wentworth, 16 May 1634, Strafforde's Letters, 1:257; Cecil to Wentworth, 1 July and 1 December 1934, and Wentworth to Cecil, 17 February 1638/39, SCL, Wentworth Papers, 14/117, 14/236, 10a/255. If Wentworth bought out of his obligation cheaply, it is nevertheless significant that he did buy out. Wentworth was intent on building his own patronage following, and obviously Baltimore had no place in it. Terrence Ranger, “Strafford in Ireland: A Revaluation,”Crisis in Europe, 1560–1660,ed. Trevor Aston (New York, 1967), 288–89. For his own part, Baltimore was probably satisfied with a cash settlement. Having committed all his resources to the Maryland enterprise, he was strapped for funds during the late 1630s. Thomas, Lord Arundel, to Secretary of State Windebank, 17 February 1638/39, CSPD, Charles I, 1638–1639, 476.23. On the potential wealth of Maryland, see To Live Like Princes: “A Short Treatise Sett Downe in a Letter Written by R. W. to His Worthy Freind C. J. R. concerning the new Plantation Now Erecting under the Right Ho[nora]ble the Lord Baltemore in Maryland ..., ” ed. John D. Krugler (Baltimore, 1976).24. For an elaboration of this thesis, see John D. Krugler, “Lord Baltimore, Roman Catholics and Toleration: Religious Policy in Maryland during the Early Catholic Years, 1634–1649,” Catholic Historical Review 65 (January 1979): 49–75.Additional informationNotes on contributorsJohn D. KruglerThe author is Associate Professor of History at Marquette University. He wishes to acknowledge the support of the Marquette University Committee on Research and to thank his colleagues. Dr. John Berens, Fr. J. Patrick Donnelly, S.J., and Dr. Thomas Hachey, who read an earlier version of this article

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