King James I’s “favourites” were his closest courtiers and confidantes. They wielded a huge amount of influence in James’s court, which earned them the ire of many other members of the nobility and political establishment. The unpopularity of James’s favourites was not helped by the king’s openhandedness with them regarding court appointments, noble titles, and revenue. Some used their position to elevate those closest to them, as George Villiers did after his meteoric rise to power near the end of James’s reign. It has been surmised—both by James’s contemporaries and by later scholars—that James’s choice of favourites was sometimes motivated not only by political reasons but also by his attraction to other men.
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