A short view of the life and death of George Villers, Duke of Buckingham written by Henry Wotten ... (1642)

Product Information

In the 2003 British television mini-series Charles II: The Power and The Passion, Villiers is portrayed by the British actor Rupert Graves. Guy, Alan James (1985). Oeconomy and discipline: officership and administration in the British army 1714–63. p.163. In The Golden Age Restored, George Villiers proved victorious in an allegoric defeat of corrupt vices by reinstating courtly justice and splendour with the brilliance of his dancing. It seems more than a coincidence that this masque was staged under the cloud of the increasingly notorious Overbury murder, a case in which elite corruption, jealousy, lust and vice had manifested itself in a brutal killing. As Robert Carr was disgraced, the star of George Villiers was on the rise, bursting onto the court scene by employing the aesthetics of his physicality. Hille writes how dancing in masques ‘linked the dynamics of sexual potency to…political power, thereby asserting the legibility of the dancing male body as an object of erotic display’. Whilst this explains how the eroticism of Villiers’ performance was accepted in the court, we can assume from the private correspondence between the king and Villiers that James enjoyed the performance as a display of eroticism, thus adding an element of homoeroticism to Villiers’ dancing. George Villiers was utilising his physical prowess by presenting himself as sexually available. Such a display of homoerotic desire endowed Villiers the power of his ‘body politic’.

However, his disgrace was not over. After his resignation, Villiers had been replaced by Lord Mulgrave's brother, Edmund Phipps, [18] as paymaster and lost his prospective place as a commissioner of woods and forests. Then, he was informed on 4 May 1810, after the release of the finance committee's report, that the king had removed from him the supervision of the farms at Windsor (he also lost the rangership). The news threw him into a state of great mental distress; he wrote to the king begging him to suspend judgement on the points raised by the committee's report. The king replied that it was "indispensable" to remove Villiers from his office under the circumstances, but extended his sympathy and suspended judgement on him. [16] He was released by 17 July, was restored to favour and to his appointments on 15 September, and took an active part in the prosecution of Clarendon. When Clarendon fell, he became the chief minister, even though he held no high office except that of Master of the Horse, bought from the Duke of Albemarle in 1668. Francis Bacon, the Lord Chancellor, led the campaign against the proposed marriage and along with other MPs suggested that Charles should be married to a Protestant princess. James insisted that the House of Commons be concerned exclusively with domestic affairs and should not be involved in making decisions about foreign policy. (19)

See this portrait

This allowed for a new assessment of its attribution and the painting was authenticated as a Rubens by Ben van Beneden, the director of the Rubenshuis in Antwerp. In 1613 Carr began to make plans to marry Frances Howard, the daughter of Admiral Thomas Howard, the son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk. The Howard family were having a growing influence over King James. This included Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and Charles Howard, Lord of Effingham, They were all sympathetic to the Roman Catholic church and wanted an alliance with King Philip III of Spain. According to John Philipps Kenyon, the author of The Stuarts (1958): "They (the Howards) urged James to marry his son to the daughter of Philip III of Spain and use her huge dowry to pay off his debts, with the ultimate aim of reconciling the English church with Rome." (9) Grosvenor saw the painting while visiting the stately home with his wife and daughter “as regular punters”. Grosvenor said: “The chance to discover a portrait of such a pivotal figure in British history by one of the greatest artists who ever lived has been thrillingly exciting.

In 1611 Villiers met Sir John Graham, a gentleman of the privy chamber, who acted as his mentor and promoter. He arranged for Villiers to be introduced to King James I who took an immediate liking to Villiers. Throughout his reign he associated with attractive young men and according to Maurice Ashley he had developed homosexual feelings in his youth. (2) Sir Edward Villiers's second and third sons, John († c.1661) and George († 1699), succeeded as 3rd and 4th Viscounts Grandison, while the fourth son, Sir Edward Villiers († 1689), was father of Edward Villiers († 1711), who was created both Baron Villiers and Viscount Villiers in 1691 as well as Earl of Jersey in 1697. The 1st Earl of Jersey's sister, Elizabeth Villiers († 1733), was the presumed mistress of King William III of England from 1680 until 1695. Thomas Villiers († 1786), the second son of the 2nd Earl of Jersey, was created Baron Hyde and Earl of Clarendon in 1776. By his first wife Lady Frances his children were Edward, 1st Earl of Jersey, Katherine and Barbara. The Earl of Jersey succeeded his father as Knight Marshal, and was Master of the Horse to Mary II, and an ambassador abroad. He was also a principal secretary of state and Lord Chamberlain, being created Earl in 1697. He married Barbara, daughter of William Chiffinch, closet keeper to Charles II. His sons were William, 2nd Earl of Jersey, and Henry. He was buried in the north ambulatory on 4th September 1711 aged 56. Katherine Villiers married James Louis du Puissar, a refugee officer, in the Abbey on 20th July 1685. Her second husband was a cousin William Villiers, son of Viscount Grandison. Barbara is the only one of this family to have an extant gravestone. The inscription reads: Here lyeth the body of BARBARAH VILLIERS VISCOUNTESS FITZHARDING Governess to His late Royall Highness the Duke of Glocester, daughter to the Hon. Sr EDWARD and the Hon. Lady FRANCES VILLIERS and who died September 19th 1708 in her 52nd year. Francis Villiers Okay, SO. Louis XIII of France married Anne of Austria (who was actually Spanish) in 1615, when they were both 14 years old. It is believed that the marriage was not consummated until several years later, after Louis overthrew his own mother, who had been acting as queen. Anne suffered several miscarriages and stillbirths before finally giving birth to Louis XIV in 1638, when she was 37 years old. In the interim, there was so much intrigue. It was now decided to change foreign policy and James now opened up talks about the possibility of an alliance with Louis XIII of France that involved the marriage of Charles to Henrietta Maria, the king's sister. It was unprecedented for a Catholic princess to be married to a Protestant. Pope Urban VIII only gave his permission when he was assured that the treaty included "commitments about religious rights of the queen, her children, and her household; while in a separate secret document Charles promised to suspend operation of the penal laws against Catholics". (26)Gregg, Pauline (1981). "5: Prince of Wales". King Charles I. Berkeley: University of California Press (published 1984). p.49. ISBN 9780520051461 . Retrieved 30 December 2018. In 1625, Villiers organised an expedition against Spain with the intention of seizing the treasure fleet. a b c Crompton, Louis (2003). Homosexuality & Civilization. Boston: Belknap/Harvard University Press. pp. 381–388. ISBN 978-0-674-01197-7. Elizabeth Villiers († 1654), daughter of Sir George Villiers († 1606), married John Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler of Brantfield. I shall never pardon myself but shall carry that cross to the grave with me, for raising a man so high as might make him presume to pierce my ears with such speeches.’

The couple had four children: Mary (1622), Charles (1625), George (1628) and Francis (1629). His second son was born after his death.Norbrook, David (2000), Writing the English Republic: Poetry, Rhetoric and Politics, 1627–1660, Cambridge University Press, pp.23 ff, ISBN 978-0-521-78569-3 By the second half of the twentieth centuries, the issue was discussed more openly though historians were still finding it impossible to shake off disapproving moralistic attitudes: the historian Donaldson wrote in 1971 that James's affair with Esme Stuart had "a physical, but not necessarily gross, side to it." (Donaldson is quoted in M. Young's 2012 account of the historiography in this area). [1] Some historians of this time advanced the surprising view that James's public displays of affection for his favourites were proof that there was not sexual activity in private. [6] Antonia Fraser's 1975 biography of the king takes an opposing and famously pragmatic view: French, Allen. "The Siege of Ré, 1627.” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, vol. 28, no. 116, (1950), pp. 160–68. online The final painting was destroyed in a fire in 1949, so it is very fortunate to have found this version, Grosvenor said. Other notable members [ edit ] Theresa Villiers (born 1968) was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2012 until 2016