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October 6, 2012 – The Long Eighteenth Century

The Glorious Revolution of 1688–desposition of the last Catholic King of England, James II: Catholic low point from 1688 to 1829; demonstrate how Catholics were second-class citizens, neither tolerated nor persecuted, obscure and isolated. Describe the efforts of Bishop Richard Challoner and Father Alban Butler to remind Catholics of their heritage; recount the beginnings of toleration for Catholics in the late eighteenth century–and anti-Catholic reaction. Return to Maryland: end of religious freedom for Catholics until after the American Revolution and the Constitution of 1789.

September 29, 2012 – Puritans and Stuarts

Highlight the religious conflict in England leading to the English Civil War; describe the Puritan Experiment in government, including its attack on Christmas. Describe the great religious crisis of the Popish Plot during the reign of the restored Stuart monarch, Charles II–recount the injustice of the trials of the last great wave of Catholic martyrs from 1679 to 1681. Continue the story of Maryland, describing Calvert’s heirs and their efforts to inculcate religious tolerance and freedom of religion in their colony–the changing fortunes of Catholics in the Maryland colony during the the Civil War and Restoration.