Interesting stuff.
Time Team covered this site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=071OPeO3bOc
Interesting…the church is Spanish style and these English Jesuits were obviously still very much influenced by their Spanish origin.
In the 16th century, Spanish Jesuits were all up and down the coast, and had tried to start missions up by the Chesapeake. “La Florida” actually encompassed territory all the way up the Hudson. However, the Jesuits didn’t have much success, possibly because they were the very first Europeans the native population had ever seen, or possibly because their style didn’t appeal.
They were recalled from Florida by their General, St. Francis Borgia, because too many of them had been killed. The Jesuits were a fairly new order and didn’t have a huge number of members, and they couldn’t afford to lose any more of what they had on missions that were not taking root.
They returned, of course, but went either further north or further west. Meanwhile, the Franciscans came in and did very well in Florida (the whole coast up to SC) , although they too had martyrs.
Hard to imagine that once upon a time the Jesuits were bold, orthodox missionaries and were the good guys. Look at them now. LGBTQ-Whatever all the way. Sigh.
Also, another factoid, it was one of Calvert’s descendants (grandson, perhaps?) who became an Anglican and led the persecution and suppression of Catholics in Maryland.
History has such unusual and unexpected turns.
p
I lived in St. Mary’s City in the late ‘60s. Back then, it really was a remote place, and there was very little archeology going on there, even at the college. There were black communities nearby tucked away off of Rt. 5 with no access to to the highway except a dirt path. You would see people from them carrying water along the shoulder. They spoke Gullah, which sounded to me like a high-pitched yip-yap. It was very much a place lost in time.
Ping!