Henrietta Maria: Queen of Mary’s Land

 From The Easton Gazette:

What followed was one of the most peaceable colonial interactions with the Native Americans on record. Leonard Calvert bought land from the Yaocomico tribe, with whom the colonists became friendly. In 1639, after Fr. White healed the son of Chief Kittamaquund of the Piscataway tribe, the Chief and his family were baptized Catholic. The Chief took the name “Charles” in honor of Charles I, his wife was “Henrietta Maria” and their daughter became “Mary,” known in history as “Princess Mary of Maryland.” Mary was educated by Catholic settler Margaret Brent and married Margaret’s brother Giles Brent. Their descendants can be traced to the present day.

   The first “sea” battle occurred in the Chesapeake Bay in 1638 between the Calverts and a Puritan named William Claiborne. A village in Talbot County, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay was named for Claiborne. Claiborne was trying to claim Kent Island for the Virginia Colony. Charles I, however, gave Kent Island to the Calverts as part of Maryland. In 1644, during the English Civil Wars, Claiborne led an uprising against the Calverts which eventually led to them being driven out of Maryland, while the penal laws of England were imposed on Catholic Marylanders. The Church had to go underground, which it did until American Independence was finally won in 1783. Meanwhile, St. Mary’s City, the original capital of Maryland, was burned by Claiborne and the capital was moved to a place called “Providence” but renamed “Annapolis” after Queen Anne, the Protestant granddaughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. So while Henrietta Maria’s plans for England were ultimately unsuccessful and her family was practically destroyed, she returned to England during the Restoration of her son Charles II to the throne. And one of the most beautiful states of the United States bears her name to this day. (Read more.)

 

My novel on Henrietta Maria is available HERE.

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