In preparation for our Oct. 2nd event, Thompson Mayes, the Vice President and Senior Counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, discusses why old places matter.

This month Dr. Travis Harris discusses the often misunderstood and underreported relationship between religion and race, particularly its roots in English ethnocentrism.

This month we discuss the undertold narrative of Catholic Christians in 16th century Chesapeake, Recusants at Jamestown, a mysterious member of the House of Burgesses and George Washington’s advocacy for religious freedom.

King Charles I inherited from his father, James I (also referred to as James VI of Scotland), a divided kingdom when it came to matters of religion. England was also the ruler of Presbyterian Scotland and the largely Catholic Ireland. Closer to home, there were many dissenting groups; Brownists, Diggers, Levellers, and Enthusiasts just to name a few.

The British colonization of North America, not unlike most other colonizations, centered around the prospect of wealth and interest in evangelization. It is no surprise then that many of the conflicts that occurred in the British colonies started out of the friction this caused between the Native Americans and the colonists.

When modern people think of church, we think of a voluntary gathering of like-minded people, who meet to worship God and endeavor to strengthen their spiritual lives. The Church of the 17th century, especially in Virginia, has to be seen in a different light. Within the Empire of Great Britain, the church was a vehicle of the state to promote its imperialistic goals.