(June 20, 1632), was originally issued by King Charles I, to George Calvert (1580–1632), First Lord Baltimore. He had served as Secretary of State for King James I, but he died before he could embark. The Charter was then reissued to his son, Cecilius Calvert (1605–1675), Second Lord Baltimore, who commissioned his brother, Leonard Calvert (1606–1647), to found the colony and serve as its administrator.
The Charter of the Colony of Maryland, June 20, 1632, named in honor of Charles I’s wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, stated:
Charles, by the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom these Presents come, Greeting.
II. Whereas our well beloved and right trusty subject Coecilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore, in our Kingdom of Ireland, Son and Heir of George Calvert, Knight, late Baron of steps of his Father, being animated with a laudable, and pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion, and also the Territories of our Empire, hath humbly besought Leave of Us that he may transport, by his own Industry, and Expense, a numerous Colony of the English Nation, to a certain Region, herein after described, in a Country hitherto uncultivated, in the Parts of America, and partly occupied by Savages, having no Knowledge of the Divine Being, and that all that Region, with some certain Priviledges, and Jurisdiction, appertaining unto the wholesome Government, and State of his Colony and Region aforesaid, may by our Royal Highness be given, granted and confirmed unto him, and his Heirs.
IV … the Patronages and Advowsons of all Churches which (with the increasing Worship and Religion of Christ) within the said Region … hereafter shall happen to be built, together with License, and Faculty of erecting and founding Churches, Chapels, and Places of Worship, in convenient and suitable Places within the Premises, and of causing the same to be dedicated and consecrated according to the Ecclesiastical Laws of our Kingdom of England.293