The Kingdom of Maryland

Cecilius Calvert established the colony of Maryland just at the outbreak of the English Civil War. As a Catholic he made it a refuge for Catholics fleeing persecution from England after Cromwells victory in the English Civil War.

As a member of the aristocracy he made the colony more of an extension of European feudal mindset, with marriage between nobility and the flag of Maryland being the only one in the US to be a heraldic standard.

What if the influx of colonists was great enough that he considered creating his own kingdom and enticing colonists or other nobility, dispossessed due to their Catholicism, the civil war or other reasons to help establish a new realm in the New World?

Could a new Kingdom of Maryland survive?

I have to admit my knowledge of this period is lacking and I would like to see what people think or can create who have better grasp of the time period.
 
Here's a link to some early history of Maryland. Unlike most of the colonies, which stayed on the sidelines during the English Civil War, Maryland saw some fighting on a small scale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Maryland#Colonial_Maryland

I don't think a separate kingdom is immediately hopeless. Cromwell and the Parliamentarians might even welcome it if it would take unwanted, dispossessed Catholics from England and Ireland.

Otherwise, independent Maryland would have to adopt a defensive strategy suited to a weaker party that knows the terrain better against a stronger outside power. In particular, (i) find some potential allies; (ii) don't let the enemy's ships land if possible, then pull back to the west, and harass the enemy's advance from the wilderness. [von Lettow's East Africa campaign would have provided a great model except it was 200+ years in the future].

Comments on potential allies: Possible allies include Virginia, which was royalist in sympathy. Of the other English colonies, New England was solidly protestant, but far away and separated from Maryland by the Dutch and Swedes. I don't know anything about Pennsylvania in that period, except that it was before Penn himself was involved so probably no significant European presence. Indian tribes might line up with either side, but my guess is that the puritans would eventually alienate them.

France and the Netherlands both had ties to the Stewarts, but were unlikely to think Maryland was worth fighting for since they stayed out the the Civil War itself. Spain was at war with Cromwellian England in the Caribbean, but sending forces to Maryland doesn't strike me as an effective way to fight back.
 
The main issue for Maryland though was that despite bein started as a Catholic refuge, eventually the Protestant population outnumbered the Catholics who had become the Landed Elite and were eventually overthrown. Especially with Protestant Virginia next door.

And eventually the Calverts devolved into party boys.


If Maryland had remained Catholic, it would of course be based in St Mary's, Annapolis was founded by the Puritains and was the Protestant capital, which would not have collapsed due to a lack of reason to exsist.
 
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Cecilius Calvert established the colony of Maryland just at the outbreak of the English Civil War. As a Catholic he made it a refuge for Catholics fleeing persecution from England after Cromwells victory in the English Civil War.

As a member of the aristocracy he made the colony more of an extension of European feudal mindset, with marriage between nobility and the flag of Maryland being the only one in the US to be a heraldic standard.

What if the influx of colonists was great enough that he considered creating his own kingdom and enticing colonists or other nobility, dispossessed due to their Catholicism, the civil war or other reasons to help establish a new realm in the New World?

Could a new Kingdom of Maryland survive?

I have to admit my knowledge of this period is lacking and I would like to see what people think or can create who have better grasp of the time period.

No it would not survive. The colonial charter would be revoked and the rebellion eventually crushed by the English Army.
 
I think you'd need a bigger Maryland for that... I think their best chance to grow would be having the upper hand in colonial disputes, like those:

For example, it could get areas of Virginia, and then further west.
The problem would be... Why the hell would the english grant precious land to a bunch of dangerous-potentially-separatist papists?
Plus, developing the areas west of Virginia wouldn't be a thing Mister Calvert'd see on his life, i guess.

Also, if you want it to survive post-revolutionary war (assuming there'd be one TTL) i think you'd need a situation where the colonies would, each one, want to form their own countries - think of a three-way revolt between Maryland, the southern states and the northern states (divided by a Maryland-wank in the middle). When the dust goes down, they'd be stronger than Maryland, and would want to divide it between themselves.

United_States_land_claims_and_cessions_1782-1802.png
 
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