Leonard Calvert

Leonard Calvert (born around 1606 in England , † June 9, 1647 in St. Mary's City , Saint Mary's County , later in the US state of Maryland ) was an English colonial governor of the Province of Maryland .

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Leonard Calvert was a member of the Maryland Calvert family, which was very influential. Maryland Colony was then owned by this family. Several family members were governors of the only English Catholic colony in North America during the 17th and 18th centuries. Leonard was the second son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore . This received the area of the later Maryland from the English King Charles I as a gift. After his death, Leonard's older brother Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, inherited the colony. But he stayed in England and commissioned his younger brother Leonard Calvert to manage the colony. In 1634 he came with the so-called Ark and Dove Expedition to the Province of Maryland and became the first colonial governor of Maryland. Leonard Calvert held this office between 1634 and 1647. He began his reign in the aristocratic style. The first capital was St. Mary's City. As early as January 1635, the first colonial parliament was brought into being, which was given a certain say, even though Calvert continued to hold the most important threads in his hand in consultation with his older brother. In 1638 he was forced by parliament in Maryland to introduce the common law valid in England also in the colony. Leonard Calvert built up the administration of the colony during his tenure. It was then that the first laws specifically applicable to the colony came into being. In the meantime Leonard Calvert traveled to London to discuss the further development of Maryland with his brother, the owner of the colony. During this time he was represented in Maryland by his brother-in-law, Giles Brent. In the 1640s a conflict with the neighboring colony of Virginia, which had been going on for years, escalated. It was about a dispute over Kent Island or a trading post there. The merchant and governor William Claiborne of Virginia claimed this island as did the Calvert family in Maryland. A war broke out that was also religiously motivated. Claiborne was a Protestant and the Calverts were Catholic. Claiborne supported or initiated a rebellion in Maryland against Calvert. This was temporarily evicted and Claiborne was given control of the colony of Maryland for some time. Calvert put together a force at the head of which he recaptured Maryland. He fell ill soon afterwards and died on June 9, 1647. With his wife Ann Brent he had a son and a daughter.

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personal data
SURNAME	Calvert, Leonard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Governor of the Province of Maryland
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1606
PLACE OF BIRTH	England
DATE OF DEATH	June 9, 1647
Place of death	St. Mary's City , Maryland