Sexuality of James VI and I
From the age of thirteen until his death, the life of King James VI of Scotland and I of England (1566–1625) was characterised by close relationships with a series of male favourites.
[16] Benjamin Woolley, biographer of Villiers, says the language the King and duke used with each other in their letters "clearly shows a very deep, complex, probably sexual relationship between them".
[18]: 30 I discussed with [my friend things] that were secret as of the sin of sodomy, how frequent it was in this wicked city, and if God did not provide some wonderful blessing against it, we could not but expect some horrible punishment for it; especially it being as we had probable cause to fear, a sin in the prince.It was generally believed by James's contemporaries that his relationships with his favourites were sexual[20]: 83 and "[t]he impression that James and his favorites were engaged in sex was widespread".
[1]: 543 "Gossip and concerns over deviant sexuality" was not new (similar denouncements were made of Queen Elizabeth I's favourites) but, according to Cezara Bobeica, "Under James, the novelty was the exponential increase of such accusations of sodomy".
[19]: 39 David Moysie wrote in his memoirs that James, "having conceived an inward affection to [Stewart], entered in great familiarity and quiet purposes with him" (David Harris Willson notes that "great familiarity and quiet purposes" bears a "special connotation in the Scots idiom of the time" to sexual interactions).
[24]: 36 [1]: 543 Similarly, Thomas Fowler reported that James "kissed [the Earl of Huntly] at times to the amazement of many", adding that "It is thought this King is too much carried by young men that lie in his chamber and are his minions".
[19]: 75 Knowing to whom James was attracted,[27] rival factions within the Jacobean court "sought influence with the king by promoting handsome young men whom they hoped would gain his favour".
[35] According to the Italian historian Gregorio Leti the epigram was written on the door of his cabinet and was a pasquinade referring to the unusual natures of both Elizabeth and James.
[40]: 67 The following year, Huguenot poet Théophile de Viau observed from France that "it is well known that the king of England / fucks the Duke of Buckingham".
[1]: 544 Another poem portrays parliament as James's loyal wife and the King as her husband who's been unfaithful to her by being a Ganymede – the passive partner – to Buckingham, thereby leaving himself open to being sodomized by Spain and the Popery.
[2]: 1059 As such, intimate relations between men, which may or may not have involved sexual elements, could be cast positively as friendship, or, where they disrupted the social order, negatively as sodomy.
[19]: 49–50 John Philipps Kenyon comments that despite, in James's time, the stigma placed on sex between men, "homosexuality was an imperial vice [...] and [...] sexual indulgence alone has rarely contributed to the downfall of rulers, or even noticeably undermined their prestige.
Queen Anne was particularly upset with James placing the infant Prince Henry in the custody of John Erskine, Earl of Mar at Stirling Castle, in keeping with Scottish royal tradition.
[55]: 87 James lost interest in his wife and it was said that she led a sad, reclusive life afterward, appearing at court functions on occasion.
[54]: 24 Based on the "sparse though tantilising evidence",[57] some historians, like Coleman[56] and Matusiak, find it "difficult to avoid the impression" that James had "at least one extra-marital excursion with a member of the opposite sex".
Lennox was potentially able to interest James in the Catholic religion and effect cultural change at court, controlling access to the king's bedchamber.
The Scottish Kirk remained suspicious of Lennox after his public conversion and took alarm when he had the Earl of Morton tried and beheaded on charges of treason.
They did so by luring James to Ruthven Castle as a guest, but then kept him as prisoner for ten months; the Lord Enterprisers then forced him to banish Lennox.
Lennox, in these letters, says he gave up his family "to dedicate myself entirely to you"; he prayed to die for James to prove "the faithfulness which is engraved within my heart, which will last forever."
[74] James had repeatedly vouched for Lennox's religious sincerity and memorialized him in a poem called Ane Tragedie of the Phoenix, which likened him to an exotic bird of unique beauty killed by envy.
[79] An emblem produced by engraver Henry Peacham may secretly ridicule Preston for the way in which he gained his honours through the King's favour, rather than personal achievement, and insinuate about his involvement in the "debauchery, effeminacy, and same-sex desire" thought to be in James's court.
According to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, James fell in love with the young man and, as the years progressed, showered Carr with gifts.
[18]: 128 James's nickname for Buckingham was "Steenie" (a Scottish contraction of Steven), inspired by Saint Stephen, who was said to have the face of an angel[88] and whose portrait showed him to be particularly handsome.
[90] While Buckingham was in Spain attempting to arrange the Spanish match, James often wrote to him expressing his longing for his return to "the arms of his dear old dad".
[18]: 134 In reply, Buckingham expressed his eagerness to return home to James: "I cannot now think of giving thanks for friend, wife, or child; my thoughts are only bent on having my dear Dad and Master's legs soon in my arms".
Commenting on Buckingham's words, Young says they are "highly suggestive",[19]: 47 and, Bergeron, that "the pen writes of desire ... [he] could have opted for a less explicit statement.
[18]: 135 In an undated letter to James, Buckingham wrote, "I entertained myself, your unworthy servant, with this dispute, whether you loved me now ... better than at the time which I shall never forget at Farnham, where the bed's head could not be found between the master and his dog" - about which Young comments, "they had more than sleeping in mind",[19]: 135 and Bergernon that Farnham Castle was "presumably the site of the initial sexual encounter between James and Buckingham".
In his poem Au marquis du Boukinquan, de Viau wrote: "Apollo with his songs / debauched young Hyacinthus, [...] And it is well known that the king of England / fucks the Duke of Buckingham.
[25] Buckingham became good friends with James's wife Anne of Denmark; she addressed him in affectionate letters begging him to be "always true" to her husband.
[28] In Hunneyball's assessment, winning over Charles and transforming himself was Buckingham's route to stability, away from the power imbalances inherent in a relationship with a king who had made - and could unmake - him.
