Qurbani – the strange life of the Duke of Buckingham

By: Jane Shaw / The Financial Times
Translation: Telegrafi.com

George Villiers [George Villiers], the first Duke of Buckingham [Buckingham], one of the most powerful men of the early 17th century, was called many unpleasant names during his life: filthy monster, devil, vulgar, traitor, comet that disrupts the natural order, etc. And yet, he was also described as "one of the most beautiful men in the whole world", as "natural, modest, loving, kind and polite" and "with such a sweet approach".

Lucy Hughes-Hallett – in the last sentence of the book Sacrifice [The Scapegoat], her brilliant and engaging biography of Buckingham – says he was “the riddle of the world”. And yet, in the previous 629 readable and elegantly written pages, she has brought Buckingham as an interesting and glorious character: the paradoxes of his life and the society at the royal court, where he was long a favorite, have been revealed that we may know that man, his kings, and his times.

Hughes-Hallett, award-winning author of biographies of Cleopatra and the Italian fascist Gabriele D'Annunzio, is no stranger to slippery and paradoxical figures. With this biography of Buckingham, she once again brings her emotional insight and deep research to a person who has often divided opinion, but who has always been the subject of fascination.

"Buckingham was a man who lived a woman's life" – this is perhaps the central paradox that Hughes-Hallett explores. Brought to court in 1614 to woo James I—middle-aged, lonely, reclusive, and gay—from those who wanted one of their own to have the king's attention, Buckingham played the role of a royal lady, but, as a man, he was "able to convert the influence of a favorite into the power of a prime minister". James fell in love and lavished great wealth on her. Buckingham's rise was meteoric and he knew how to please the king. With the title of Master of the Cavalry, Buckingham created a new breeding program for the king's horses: James (who had difficulty walking) enjoyed riding and hunting. Until Buckingham got large houses, he built parks around them so that James could hunt animals whenever he visited.

Hughes-Hallett evokes the early royal culture of the Stuart dynasty through a series of thematic chapters – on masks and dance, art and collecting, femininity, law, magic and court intrigue – ensuring that her narrative flows with pace. Buckingham marries; James includes Buckingham's wife, Katherine, and their children at court and reveals to them the happy possibilities of family life (albeit in a queer version) unknown to him as a child or with his wife. Buckingham befriends the king's heir, Charles, and James gets to know his son better. Buckingham continues to rise to power, working hard as prime minister and cultivating beauty – in his clothes, art, horses, houses and gardens.

Interwoven throughout this story are religion and politics. James' troubled childhood (as the son of Mary, Queen of Scots) made him a pacifist. He had a vision of a united Europe, where Protestant and Catholic countries would be in friendship – a vision that was not shared by the majority of his people. Attempts to marry Charles to the Spanish royal family were unpopular and disastrous. The people wanted war with Catholic Spain, and Buckingham changed his positions to suit the mood of the country. James reluctantly agreed. War required money, and so James, who had ruled contentedly (according to him) without Parliament for seven years, needed Parliament to raise taxes.

As the first session in an increasingly acrimonious parliamentary series convened, war loomed on the horizon and the mood grew somber. Neither James nor Charles liked Parliament, nor the consultations and compromises it involved. James died in 1625; King Charles continued the same policies and Buckingham remained the favourite. But the Crown and Parliament were at loggerheads that would last the rest of Buckingham's life and (two decades later) lead to Charles' execution.

Buckingham was now preoccupied with the defense of the kingdom. While he was as adept as ever at negotiating court intrigues, he stubbornly persisted in pursuing lost political causes. Although the "Spanish connection" was so unpopular, he encouraged Charles to marry a Catholic (French) princess. Naval-military operations were consistently organized and conducted recklessly, underfunded and without strategy, leading to humiliation and tragic loss of life. The British public turned against him for the war they had once demanded. Rumors about him were many. The favorite had been sacrificed.

In the end, it was a lone ranger, a wounded and damaged Calvinist soldier, who killed Buckingham on 23 August 1628. Catherine remarried, and their two sons grew up alongside the royal princes in the king's household. Buckingham's magnificent art collection, including works by Tintoreto, Titian and Rubens, escaped Puritan destruction; most of it now resides in the Vienna Museum. Those who thought that, with the elimination of the favorite, the goodness of the king "like the glory of the sun" would shine again and be no longer eclipsed, were greatly disappointed. /Telegraph/