George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

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Portrait, painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1625.

Villiers' signature:
Signature George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.PNG
Coat of arms of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG (born August 28, 1592 in Brooksby, Leicestershire , † August 23, 1628 in Portsmouth ), was an important English diplomat and statesman at the beginning of the 17th century. He was a favorite and chief minister under the English kings James I and Charles I.

Life

He was a younger son of the lower nobleman and politician Sir George Villiers († 1606) and belonged to the English branch of the De Villiers family .

Because of its extraordinary beauty, King James I noticed him; Not least because of this, Villiers succeeded in ousting the previous favorite of King Robert Carr from his favor. In 1616 he was promoted to Viscount Villiers and Baron Whaddon , of Whaddon in the County of Buckingham , and in 1618 to Marquess of Buckingham .

In political terms, Villiers drew attention to himself through the feuds with the parliament, which met in 1621, and the trip to Spain, which he undertook in 1623 with Crown Prince Charles. This trip, which was supposed to prepare Charles's marriage to a Spanish Infanta, was of dubious value in terms of foreign policy and turned into a political fiasco due to Villiers' undiplomatic behavior in Spain. The turn to Catholic Spain was also strongly disapproved of among English Puritans . For Villiers, however, the trip was a success because it brought him the friendship of the future king.

He was made Duke of Buckingham and Earl of Coventry in 1623 and was more a courtier than a diplomat and a soldier. After the failure of the Spanish marriage plans, Villiers later managed to mediate a marriage between Charles I and the French princess Henrietta Maria .

After Charles I ascended the throne, Villiers was the determining figure in English politics. This influence was not affected by the serious foreign policy failures for which Villiers was responsible: when parliament wanted to bring charges against Villiers in 1625, the king immediately dissolved it. In 1627, an attempt by Villiers to support the Huguenots led to a defeat at La Rochelle that cost 4,000 English soldiers their lives. From 1625 to 1628 he was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports . When he landed on the Île de Ré in 1627, he made the mistake of ignoring the small French fort de La Prée . In his protection, the French troops landed under Henri de Schomberg and forced Villiers to withdraw from the island.

When the opposition to the Stuarts grew, he tried to inspire the population to go to war against the hereditary enemy Spain and even commanded the expedition against the silver fleet to Cadiz , which failed. In the middle of the preparations for a new expedition to La Rochelle, Villiers was stabbed to death by John Felton in 1628 .

He is known for the portrayal of himself in The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas .

Marriage and offspring

On May 16, 1620 he married Lady Katherine Manners against the wishes of her father Francis Manners , 6th  Earl of Rutland . When her father died in 1632, she inherited the title of 18th  Baroness de Ros . He had four children with her:

  1. ⚭ 1634 Sir Charles Herbert,
  2. ⚭ James Stewart, 4th Duke of Lennox ,
  3. ⚭ Colonel Thomas Howard

literature

  • Roger Lockyer: Buckingham. The life and political career of George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham, 1592-1628 . Longman, London 1981, ISBN 0-582-50296-9 .
  • Buckingham, George Villiers, 1st Duke of . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 4 : Bishārīn - Calgary . London 1910, p. 722 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

predecessor Office successor
New title created Duke of Buckingham
1623-1628 		George Villiers
New title created Marquess of Buckingham
1618-1628 		George Villiers
New title created Earl of Buckingham
1617-1628 		George Villiers
New title created Viscount Villiers
1616-1628 		George Villiers
personal data
SURNAME Villiers, George, 1st Duke of Buckingham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1592
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooksby, Leicestershire
DATE OF DEATH 23 August 1628
Place of death Portsmouth