id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
en-wikipedia-org-984		Favourite - Wikipedia			.html	text/html	3534	245	66	From 1600 to 1660 there were particular successions of all-powerful minister-favourites in much of Europe, particularly in Spain, England, France and Sweden.[1] The term has an inbuilt element of disapproval and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "One who stands unduly high in the favour of a prince",[2] citing Shakespeare: "Like favourites/ Made proud by Princes" (Much Ado about Nothing, 3.1.9[3]). The favourite can often not be easily distinguished from the successful royal administrator, who at the top of the tree certainly needed the favour of the monarch, but the term is generally used of those who first came into contact with the monarch through the social life of the court, rather than the business of politics or administration. Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester favourite of Elizabeth I of England for 30 years, rumoured lover and long-term candidate for her hand; also a leading patron and statesman.	./cache/en-wikipedia-org-984.html	./txt/en-wikipedia-org-984.txt