Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History by Bucholz Robert & Key Newton

Author:Bucholz, Robert & Key, Newton [Bucholz, Robert & Key, Newton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2013-03-28T00:00:00+00:00

The new king’s manner also contrasted sharply with that of his Tudor predecessors, sometimes to his disadvantage. Once again, some of his personal traits were far more damaging then than they would be today. For a king, he could be remarkably informal, even affable. He was not a stickler for ceremony and was good at putting people at ease. This was, in some ways, an advantage, for it meant that, early in the reign, at least, his court was welcoming to men and women of all political and religious persuasions. This openness meant that the king always had a pretty good idea of what various sides in a debate were thinking; while each might hope that their view would prevail. On the other hand, the Tudors’ success had stemmed, in part, from their ability to keep people off balance and inspire loyalty, awe, and fear. The new king’s personality and reputation worked against these feelings in several ways. For example, there were rumors of excessive drinking, made worse by a poor ability to tolerate its effects. More seriously, and unlike his Tudor predecessors, the new king hated crowds and rarely showed himself to his people outside London. Once, when told that a number of his subjects had gathered to express their loyalty to him, he responded testily and with characteristic earthiness, “God’s wounds! I will pull down my breaches and they shall also see my arse.”4 Worse, as the reign wore on he grew increasingly lazy, leaving pressing matters to government ministers with whom he did not always communicate and whom he sometimes undermined. This actually served to increase faction because on any given issue there always seemed to be hope of changing the king’s mind. An athletic man – he introduced the Scottish sport of golf to England – he preferred to spend his time hunting with his favorites at his beloved lodge at Theobalds, Hertfordshire.

And then there is the matter of the favorites themselves. Though James’s marriage to Anne of Denmark (1574–1619) produced several children, his sexuality has long been a matter of debate. It soon became clear to frequenters of his court that he preferred the company of handsome young men. His correspondence with these favorites reveals a depth of playful affection that is certainly homo-erotic, if not homosexual. Admittedly, historians are still debating how people in the past constructed their sexuality, and what they would have considered to be heterosexual or homosexual behavior or identity. In any case, sodomy, as it was then most often called, was considered a heinous sin in Church law, dangerous to allege against a ruler. What we can say is that James’s relations with his favorites – Esmé Stuart, duke of Lennox (ca. 1542–83), in Scotland; Robert Carr, earl of Somerset (ca. 1585–1645), and then George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, in England – were, if not overtly sexual, certainly physical, and contemporaries noticed. They remarked at length on how James hung about their necks, in the words of one scandalized Puritan

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