A favourite or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler. It is especially a phenomenon of the 16th and 17th centuries, when government had become too complex for many hereditary rulers with no great interest in or talent for it, and political institutions were still evolving. The period 1600-1660 saw particular successions of all-powerful minister-favourites in much of Europe, particularly in Spain, England, France and Sweden.