George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite of King James I of England. Despite a patchy political and military record, Buckingham remained at the height of royal favour for the first three years of the reign of King Charles I, until a disgruntled army-officer assassinated him.
Excerpt from The Life and Times of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, Vol. 1 of 3: From Original and Authentic Sources NO complete life of this favourite of James I. And Charles I. Has hitherto appeared, except the biographical sketch by Sir Henry Wotton. That interesting account deserves all credit, from the character of its author; yet coming from one who owed Buckingham great obliga tions, it is more of a eulogy than a memoir; and is evidently written with a View to silence those slanderous attacks which not only pursued the Duke during his life, but continued after his death. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The Life of Marie de Medicis in three volumes is a biography of Maria de' Medici, Queen of France, Consort of Henri IV, and Regent of the Kingdom under Louis XIII. She was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici. Following the assassination of her husband in 1610, which occurred the day after her coronation, she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII of France, until 1617, when he came of age. She was noted for her ceaseless political intrigues at the French court and extensive artistic patronage. This biography in enriched by numerous curious extracts from a previously unpublished Memoir of M. le Commandeur de Rambure, Captain of the regiment of French Guards who served under King Henry IV and King Louis XIII.
