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George Villiers,
1st Duke of Buckingham |
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| 1592 |
Born Aug 28th, 1592 at Brooksby, Leicestershire. |
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| 1614-1619 |
George Villiers completed his education in France and was
introduced at the court of James I in August
1614...charming...handsome...and immediately impressed the King.
He became ...
- Master of the Horse in 1616,
- Earl of Buckingham in 1617,
- a Marquess in 1618 and
- Lord High Admiral in 1619.
He used his influence to help his relatives gain wealth and
status...which did not go down well the rest of the upper classes! |
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| 1620 |
He married Lady Katherine Manners, daughter of the Earl of
Rutland - a Roman Catholic. |
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| 1623 |
He accompanied James' son Charles (not yet King) to Madrid
in Spain to arrange a marriage between Charles and Maria, the daughter of
the Spanish King...but his display of arrogance contributed to the failure
of the negotiations.
Returning to London he was made a Duke and persuaded James to go to war
with Spain...with the backing of Parliament...so he was a hero until... |
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| 1625 |
The marriage that Buckingham had arranged between Charles
and Henrietta Maria of France failed to
bring peace with France, and raised the possibility of Roman Catholics
coming to the Royal line...which made him very unpopular.
He arranged a naval and land expedition against Cadiz, the Spanish
port... embarrassing failure! |
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| 1626 |
A bill to impeach the Duke was brought before parliament in
May 1626...but he was saved by King Charles dissolving parliament before
he could be tried. The case was brought before the Royal Court instead
where ... surprise!... the case was dismissed. |
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| 1627 |
Buckingham led 8000 men to the French port of La Rochelle to
help the Huguenots (French protestants) who were under attack. He was
eventually forced to withdraw... another embarrassing defeat... |
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| 1628 |
Parliament tried to get the King to dismiss Buckingham, but
the King was very supportive of his friend.
On Aug 17th he went to Portsmouth to arrange another expedition to La
Rochelle, but on the 22nd he was stabbed to death by a naval lieutenant
John Felton, ... there was much rejoicing in the land! |
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