A painting of Charles I and Henrietta Maria with their two oldest children, painted by Anthony van Dyck in 1632.

Charles I, King of England (1600-1649) and Henrietta Maria, Queen of England (1609-1669)

Charles I

King Charles I reigned in England from 1625 to 1649. He was a member of the Stuart family. He was also the second king to rule both England and Scotland together.

King Charles I was the English king who signed the Charter of Maryland on June 20, 1632. This made Maryland an English colony. George Calvert had been a wise Secretary of State for King James I, King Charles’ father. Charles I knew that Calvert was a good man. George Calvert petitioned King Charles I for a charter to establish the Province of Maryland, but died before it could be granted. Five weeks after George Calvert’s death, Charles I signed the Charter of Maryland, making George's son, Cecil Calvert, and his heirs the Proprietors of Maryland.

George Calvert had a son named Cecil. Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore, received the province of Maryland from King Charles I. During his reign, Charles I made certain that Cecil Calvert could maintain control of the colony. However, the English Civil Wars from August 22, 1642 to September 3, 1651 between Parliament and Charles I left the possession of the Maryland Province in question.

Henrietta Maria

Maryland got its name from Henrietta Maria, the daughter of King Henry IV of France and Marie de Médici of Italy. In 1625, Henrietta Maria married King Charles I and became Queen of England. Many people did not want Charles I to marry Henrietta Maria because she was a member of the Roman Catholic Church rather than the Church of England, a Protestant denomination.

Queen Henrietta Maria’s Catholic heritage made her unpopular with many English people and members of Parliament. They did not like that she assisted English Catholics like the Calverts who did not follow the practices of the Church of England. When the Calverts received their colony from King Charles I, they chose to name their new province in North America “Maryland” in the queen's honor.

Henrietta Maria had a hard life, largely because of the English Civil Wars during her husband's reign. Henrietta Maria had to flee England while her husband was on trial for treason against his nation. She went to the Netherlands to raise money and find soldiers to support King Charles I.

In 1649, King Charles I was sentenced to death by Parliament and executed. Her husband’s death deeply saddened Henrietta Maria. She went home to her family in France and entered a convent. She returned briefly to England in 1660 to see her eldest son crowned King Charles II. Another son, King James II, ruled from 1685 to 1688. Henrietta Maria died in Paris at the age of 51 in 1669.

Vocabulary

Charter: A charter is a legal document granted by the English Crown that established a colony, defined its boundaries, and outlined its government.
Convent: A convent is a religious community of women (nuns) or men (monks/friars) living together under vows, or the building they occupy. In modern English, the word is often used exclusively for nuns.
Executed: Executed refers to a person being killed as punishment for a crime, following a formal legal sentence.
Proprietor: A proprietor is the person who owns the title to a piece of land or colony. This title would give them full legal ownership and the authority to govern the land.
Protestant: A Protestant is a member of a Western Christian church that separated from the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th-century Reformation, or any group descending from them.
Treason: Treason is the crime of betraying one's country by attempting to overthrow the government, waging war against it, or aiding its enemies.

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