Graham Parry, The Golden Age Restor'd: The Culture of the Stuart Court 1603–42, Manchester University 1981, p. 143 The nobles were concerned, not so much at James’ unabashedly open affection, but rather at what the observer notes first: that the king was persuaded and led by him. Within months,Esmé begun to reap the rewards of his relationship, not only in expensive gifts such as Mary Queen of Scots’ diamond The Great H of Scotland,but more significantly in titles and positions in government. By March 1580, Esmé had been made the Earl of Lennox and was already so powerful that the English Ambassador reported firstly that he ‘carryeth the sway in court’, and then, a few months later, that ‘few or none will openly withstand anything that he would have forward’[iv]. Henry Benjamin Wheatley, Peter Cunningham, London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions, Cambridge University 2011, p. 539 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’. Yet, ultimately, the main problem was that James’ men were not right for the positions they held. He chose them for their looks and their flattery, not for their competence. They were greedy and unfit for the roles he gave them. They influenced him into decisions the canny King, who had survived so much as a child, should not have made, often putting himself and his kingdoms at risk of not only being financially milked but also of war. But when in love, James loved passionately and loyally:

On the death of the 4th Viscount Grandison in 1699, the title passed to his grandson, the 5th Viscount. He was the son of Brigadier-General the Hon. Edward Villiers († 1693), eldest son of the 4th Viscount. In 1721 the 5th Viscount Grandison was created Earl Grandison. Upon his death in 1766, the earldom became extinct while the viscountcy passed to his second cousin William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey, who became the 6th Viscount Grandison. In 1746 Elizabeth Mason, daughter of the 1st Earl Grandison, was created Viscountess Grandison, and in 1767 she was made Viscountess Villiers and Countess Grandison. All three titles became extinct on the death of the 2nd Earl Grandison in 1800. Now, you can read about whether King James VI/I’s predecessor, Queen Elizabeth I, was really the ‘Virgin Queen’ here . Intense lobbying by opponents of the king’s favourite Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, secured his appointment as Royal Cup-bearer.Lt. Hon. Augustus Algernon Villiers, RN (14 April 1817 – 13 July 1843), died unmarried, Knight of Isabella the Catholic French, Allen. "The Siege of Ré, 1627.” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, vol. 28, no. 116, (1950), pp. 160–68. online Jowitt, C. (2004), "Massinger's The 'Renegado' (1624) and the Spanish marriage", Cahiers Élisabéthains, 65: 45–53, doi: 10.7227/CE.65.1.5, S2CID 154505848

Under the care of the Earl of Northumberland, George and his brother travelled abroad and lived in Florence and Rome. When the Second English Civil War broke out they joined Royalists under the command of Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland in Surrey, in July 1648. [1] The masque begins with the entry of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Pallas Athena, who announces to the ‘seated’ courtiers the will of Jove to ‘settle Astraea [goddess of justice] in her seat again’ in place of the Iron Age. Athena imparts that Jove intends to ‘let down in his golden chain/The Age of better metal’, that is, the Golden Age. Shortly after this point, ‘[a tumult, and clashing of arms heard within]’ disrupts Athena’s speech, who fears the ‘noise’ and ‘strife’ is the sound of the ‘Iron Age…up in arms!’. The personification of the Iron Age calls forth the Evils, physical representations of vices of the Iron Age: ‘Ambition, Pride, and Scorn, Force, Rapine, and thy babe last born, Smooth Treachery’. 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] The final painting was destroyed in a fire in 1949, so it is very fortunate to have found this version, Grosvenor said.

Framed & unframed prints

In addition to participating in masques, he commissioned portraits of himself as a means of manoeuvring for political and court advancement. Lord Francis Villiers (bef. 21 April 1629– 7 July 1648), died in a skirmish at Kingston during the Second English Civil War. Under the care of the Earl of Northumberland, George and his brother travelled abroad and lived in Florence and Rome. When the Second English Civil War broke out they joined Royalist combatant Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland in Surrey, in July 1648.

Timothy Murphy, ed. (2013). Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies. Taylor & Francis. pp.314–315. ISBN 978-1135942410. While preparing for a second expedition to La Rochelle on 23 August 1628, he was assassinated by John Felton, a naval lieutenant who believed that the death of Villiers would serve the good of the country.a b c Sainty, J.C. (1975). "Marine pay department". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660–1870. pp.85–90.