Duke of Buckingham
Buckingham, George Villiers, First Duke of (1592–1628), an English nobleman and royal favorite. He was knighted by James I, raised to the nobility, and finally made a duke. He became James's chief favorite and adviser. Buckingham tried to arrange a marriage between Prince Charles (later Charles I) and a Spanish princess, and when this effort failed he negotiated a marriage with a French princess.
The duke intervened in the Thirty Years' War by sending troops to reinforce the German Protestants, but the reinforcements lacked proper provisions and most died from starvation or disease. Later King Charles authorized Buckingham to lead a force to aid the French Huguenots (Protestants) of La Rochelle. He failed to break the French Catholic siege, and as he was organizing a second expedition, he was murdered by one of his officers.