favourite of James I and Charles I. In 1615 James appointed Villiers, a young man of no distinction but attractive to the king, to the office of Gentleman of the Bedchamber. Thereafter he amassed fortune and power for himself and his followers by distributing offices and favours. His personal extravagance, promotion of Archbishop Laud, and political incompetence combined to tarnish the reputation of the court. After Charles’s accession in 1625 Buckingham remained the king’s policy-maker, ignored Parliament’s hostility towards war, and insisted on a costly campaign against Spain, which ended with a disastrous expedition to Cadiz in 1625. Parliament attempted to impeach him, charging him with corruption and financial mismanagement, but the king dissolved Parliament and Buckingham pursued campaigns against both France and Spain, personally leading an unsuccessful expedition to the relief of the Huguenots at La Rochelle. In 1628 he was murdered by a soldier aggrieved by the mismanagement of the war.