View source for Plundering Time

{{short description|Period of lawlessness in colonial Maryland (1644-1646)}}
{{No footnotes|date=November 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{
Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Plundering Time
| partof      = [[English Civil War]] and [[Protestant Revolution (Maryland)|Protestant Revolution of Maryland]]
| image       = William Claiborne conquestofvirg1939sams 0411.jpg
| image_size  = 
| caption     = [[William Claiborne]], one of the infamous leaders (along with Captain [[Richard Ingle]]) during a lawless period in the [[Province of Maryland]]
| date        = 1644-1646
| place       = [[Province of Maryland]] 
| coordinates = 
| result      = With the end of hostilities, the Maryland colonial assembly issued the [[Maryland Toleration Act]] of 1649 to allow religious freedom for Catholics to worship in the colony.
| combatant2  = Maryland [[Puritans]]
[[Puritan]] [[privateers]] ([[piracy|pirates]])
[[outlaw]]s
| combatant1  = Maryland [[Catholic Church in the Thirteen Colonies|Catholics]]
[[Maryland National Guard|Maryland proprietary colonial militia]]
| commander2  = [[William Claiborne]]
[[Richard Ingle]]
| commander1  = Governor [[Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore|Lord Baltimore]] [[Leonard Calvert]]
| strength2   = 
| strength1   = 
| casualties2 = 
| casualties1 = 
}}

The '''Plundering Time''' (1644–1646), also known as "'''Claiborne and Ingle's Rebellion'''", was a period of civil unrest and lawlessness in the English colony of the [[Province of Maryland]]. [[William Claiborne]] and [[Richard Ingle]] took opportunities to seize property and pillage in and around [[Kent Island (Maryland)|Kent Island]] and [[St. Mary's City, Maryland]].

==Causes of rebellion==
The causes of the rebellion included [[William Claiborne]]'s disputed claim with the Calverts over [[Kent Island, Maryland]], bitter relations between the [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] minority elite and the [[Protestant]] majority, and the political partisanship of the [[English Civil War]].{{cn|date=February 2025}}

The period was marked by the fall of the British King and religious intolerance, which led directly to the event.

==Kent Island dispute (1638-1644)==
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[[File:Maryland time of troubles marker Photo491137b.jpg|thumb|"Time of Troubles" historical marker]]

In the winter of 1638-1639 ([[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S./N.S.]]), the first provincial Maryland governor [[Leonard Calvert]] seized a [[trading post]] on [[Kent Island, Maryland|Kent Island]] established by [[William Claiborne|Captain William Claiborne]].<ref name="wm1921">Claiborne, J. Herbert. “William Claiborne of Kent Island.” The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, vol. 1, no. 2, 1921, pp. 74–99. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1923023. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025.</ref>

In 1644, Claiborne led an uprising of Protestants and reclaimed the Island.<ref name="wm1921"/> 

==Richard Ingle's coup (1644-1646)==
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Although not officially allied, [[privateer]] Captain [[Richard Ingle]] seized the Kent Island opportunity to overthrow the government based at [[St. Mary's City, Maryland|St. Mary's City]].<ref name="wm1921"/> Catholic Governor Calvert escaped to [[Virginia Colony|Virginia]].

Protestant pirates began plundering the property of anyone who did not swear allegiance to the [[English Parliament]], mainly Catholics. By the end of 1646, Calvert recovered control.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/speccol/sc2600/sc2685/html/gov06.html | title=Maryland State Archives, Governors of Maryland 1634-1689 }}</ref>

==End of rebellion==
In 1647, the Rebellion was ended by Maryland Governor Lord Baltimore, who successfully led Maryland colonial forces against the [[Roundhead|Parliamentary]] [[privateers]] and regained control of the colony, effectively ending the rebellion.

==Aftermath==
{{seealso|Maryland Toleration Act|Battle of the Severn}}
[[Image:Large Broadside on the Maryland Toleration Act.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Following the end of the  "Plundering Time" the Maryland colonial assembly passed the [[Maryland Toleration Act]] allowing Catholics freedom of worship in the Protestant majority colony.]]
[[Image:Battle of the Severn Cropped.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Almost ten years after the "Plundering Time" hostilities erupted once again between Maryland Protestants and the Catholic minority within the colony at the [[Battle of the Severn]], a Puritan victory now present-day [[Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis]]]]
The Maryland colonial assembly issued the [[Maryland Toleration Act]] of 1649 to mollify the two factions. A [[Commonwealth of England|Parliamentary victory]] in England renewed old tensions leading to the 1655 [[Battle of the Severn]], now present-day [[Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
*Timothy B. Riordan, ''The Plundering Time: Maryland in the English Civil War, 1642-1650.'' Maryland Historical Society, 2005.
*Paul F. Liston, ''The plundering Time: The Hardships of Southern Maryland Catholics in Colonial Times.'' Abbeyfeale Press, 1993.

{{Riots in the United States (1607–1865)}}

[[Category:1644 in Maryland]]
[[Category:1645 in Maryland]]
[[Category:1646 in Maryland]]
[[Category:Province of Maryland]]
[[Category:St. Mary's County, Maryland]]
[[Category:North America in the English Civil War]]
[[Category:Looting in the United States]]