George Villiers was known
by many different names, some of which include: 1st Duke of Buckingham,
Sir George Villiers, Baron Whaddon, Viscount Villiers, Earl of Buckingham, and
Marquess of Buckingham. Villiers almost had more names that he was known
by than years that he was alive; he was born on August 28, 1592 and he died on
August 23, 1628. Although Villiers was known by many, using many different
names, he was not liked by many people at all. He was the ruler during the last
years of King James I’s reign and also for the first years of Charles I’s
reign. Villiers and his “aggressive, erratic” foreign policy lead
to tensions being high, which brought upon the Civil War between the royalists
and the parliamentarians.
Villiers was the
mastermind behind many failed attempts to create partnerships and relationships
with other groups of people. A few examples of these are when he tried to
arrange a marriage between Charles (King Charles I) and the daughter of the
Spanish king and the marriage between the French Roman Catholic Princess,
Henrietta Maria. The marriage of Henrietta Maria ended up happening, but
it didn’t create the relationships and deals that he wished it would have(Britannica 1).
One of the many people
who didn’t like Villiers actually went as far as to assassinate him. The
man who did this is John Felton, who was a member of the Cadiz expedition and
also the Isle of Rhé expedition. Once Felton returned to England he was wounded
and extremely upset with Villiers, because he prevented Felton from
getting a promotion. Upon return to England, The House of Commons’ was
lodging attacks on Villiers, and this convinced Felton that he was not the only
person who fell victim to Villiers. These accusations and attacks are what sent
Felton over the edge, and he decided to kill Villiers.
After Felton decided
that he was going to kill Villiers, he wrote a declaration to show what his
intentions were and he sewed it into his hate. At the Greyhound Inn in Portsmouth,
on August 23, 1628, Felton stabbed Villiers in the chest. Felton was soon
taken into custody and told the police officers that he
was working alone, during the interrogation. He was found guilty of the assassination
and was executed on Tyburn Hill on November 29, 1628. After his execution,
Felton’s body was sent back to Portsmouth and was hung up for everyone to see
in public. Even though Felton was found to be guilty and was executed because
of his actions, what he did was toasted all throughout Britain. There were
crowds that would crowd around the prison that he was at and would call down
God’s blessing on him. There were even poets who would write and create lyrical
on his deed.
After Villiers’ death,
there was no right-hand-man that was helping to rule under King Charles I, but
rather his wife, Henrietta Maria played a larger role in his life. After Villiers’
death, it was also possible for Charles I to reconcile his relationship with
John Digby, Early of Bristol. This is due to the fact that many of Charles’ relationships were strained
or gone because of Villiers and the ruling that he was doing. Villiers was
never actually in power, he was just extremely close with those who were in
power and he was calling all of the shots and making all of the
rules(Sommerville 1).
Works Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 24 Aug. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/George-Villiers-1st-duke-of-Buckingham.
Sommerville, J.P. “The Death of Buckingham.” The Peasants Revolt, faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/123%20302%201629.htm
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