In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, to be English and Catholic was to face persecution, financial penalties, and sometimes death. Yet some English Catholics prospered, reconciling their faith and loyalty to their country. Among the most prominent was George Calvert, a talented and ambitious man who successfully navigated the politics of court and became secretary of state under King James I. A conforming Protestant from the age of twelve, Calvert converted back to Catholicism when a political crisis forced him to resign his position in 1625. The king rewarded Calvert by naming him Baron of Baltimore in Ireland. Insulated by wealth, with the support of powerful friends, and no longer occupied with court business, Baltimore sought to exploit his land grants in Ireland and Newfoundland. Seeking to increase his own fortune and status while enlarging the king's dominions, he embarked on a series of colonial enterprises that eventually led to Maryland. The experiences of Calvert and his heirs foster our understanding of politics and faith in Jacobean England. They also point to one of the earliest codifications of religious liberty in America, for in founding Maryland, Calvert and his son Cecil envisioned a prosperous society based on freedom of conscience. In English and Catholic, John D. Krugler traces the development of the "Maryland Designe," the novel solution the Calverts devised to resolve the conflict of loyalty they faced as English Catholics. In doing so, Krugler places the founding and early history of Maryland in the context of pervasive anxieties in England over identity, allegiance, and conscience. Explaining the evolution of the Calvert vision, Krugler ties together three main aspects of George Calvert's career: his nationalism and enthusiasm for English imperialism; his aim to find fortune and fame; and his deepening sense of himself as a Catholic. Skillfully told here, the story of the Calverts' bold experiment in advancing freedom of conscience is also the story of the roots of American liberty.

This book shows King James VI and I, king of Scotland and England, in an unaccustomed light. Long regarded as inept, pedantic, and whimsical, James is shown here as an astute and far-sighted statesman whose reign was focused on achieving a permanent union between his two kingdoms and a peaceful and stable community of nations throughout Europe.

Includes entries for maps and atlases.

This book reinterprets London's role in the defeat of Charles I in the English Civil War.

The Collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, is renowned for its portraits from the Tudor and Jacobean eras, many of which are on display at the Gallery or at Montacute House, our regional partner in Somerset. This book presents portraits of key individuals from this period, from the monarchs and members of the ruling elite to the writers, artists and artisans that characterised the literary and artistic flourishing of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. An introductory essay provides important historical context, and the ninety works selected from the collections of the National Portrait Gallery and National Trust are accompanied by extended captions exploring the sitter and artist's significance to the period and technical information about the portrait. The publication features sections on Tudor monarchs, the Stuarts, courtiers, the family in portraiture, and iconography.The Collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, is renowned for its portraits from the Tudor and Jacobean eras, many of which are on display at the Gallery or at Montacute House, our regional partner in Somerset. This book presents portraits of key individuals from this period, from the monarchs and members of the ruling elite to the writers, artists and artisans that characterised the literary and artistic flourishing of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. An introductory essay provides important historical context, and the ninety works selected from the collections of the National Portrait Gallery and National Trust are accompanied by extended captions exploring the sitter and artist's significance to the period and technical information about the portrait. The publication features sections on Tudor monarchs, the Stuarts, courtiers, the family in portraiture, and iconography.

Politics and Political Culture in the Court Masque considers the interconnections of the masque and political culture. It examines how masques responded to political forces and voices beyond the court, and how masques explored the limits of political speech in the Jacobean and Caroline periods.

This is a collection of 128 of William Cecil, Lord Burghley's letters to his son Sir Robert Cecil, 1593-8.

Over 300 years, fifty-seven individuals have held the office of British Prime Minister - who have been the best and worst?