Was king james openly gay

The same lords feared that Esme’s influence might affect the king politically or convert the king to Catholicism. In the following seven years Carr was created a gentleman of the bedchamber, Viscount Rochester, Knight of the Garter, Privy Councillor, Lord Treasurer of Scotland, Earl of Somerset, Lord Chamberlain, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Secretary of State for England.

In another naval case from 1638 the offender was imprisoned but eventually pardoned. In a 1622 case from Somerset, sex crimes involving multiple unwilling partners had been going on for 14 years before victims came forward. A relationship that alienated the Scottish nobility to the point that they went so far as to kidnap the king to separate them. 

Esme Stewart, Duke of Lennox

Twenty four years the senior to King James, his cousin Esme Stewart was born and spent most of his life in France.

Four years later, a tournament was held to celebrate his accession in which Carr participated. They gathered support, including that of the reluctant queen, and bankrolled a whole new wardrobe for Villiers. The embalmed heart found its way to the king some weeks later, without the knowledge of Esme’s widow, a fitting tribute to all the very many times Esme had signed that his heart belonged only ever to James.  

Unsurprisingly, James was devastated and in response to the loss composed a poem; ‘Ane Tragedie of the Phoenix’.

It had been James who had put Overbury in the Tower in the first place, and he likely didn’t want any connection with the sordid plot not even by inference. 

During Carr’s trial, Overbury’s letters were used as evidence, if not of murder then at the very least dereliction of duty and abuse of the trust put in him by the king. With the exception of his wife, this is the only apparent instance of James’ involvement with a woman.

When James was invited to take the throne of England in 1603, he did so immediately and without Anne by his side.

When James opened it, the only thing inside was ash.

Anne of Denmark

As to the causes, I doubt not it is manifestly known to all how far I was generally found fault with by all men for the delaying of so long of my marriage. James’s deep attachment to his favorites often led to biased decisions, loss of authority, and criticism of his leadership.

His personal feelings sometimes mattered more than what was best for the kingdom.

In the end, his private relationships influenced public politics, showing how gender, emotion, and power were deeply connected in his reign.

Final Thoughts

King James I’s personal life continues to interest because it touches on power, love, secrecy, and identity, all timeless themes.

Seen as a ruler shaped by his time or as someone who quietly defied social norms, his story reminds us how complex historical figures can be.

As readers, it’s important to approach the past with curiosity and empathy, not judgment.

James may have had relationships with men but we would be remiss to overlook the fact that his wife had nine pregnancies by him. Corinthians 6:9 classed the “effeminate” and “abusers of themselves with mankind” among the “unrighteous” who would not inherit the kingdom of God.

The puritan theologian William Perkins, writing in 1591, itemised “strange pleasures about generation, prohibited in the word of God”.

Considering that he was the most powerful man next to the king, it offered considerable opportunities for other courtiers to undermine him when he eventually and inevitably screwed up. She wore it on her wedding day to the Dauphin of France, was allowed to keep it after his death, and we mention it here because it’ll be significant later. 

Among other honours, James created Esme Earl of Lennox and then Duke of Lennox, which made Esme the only Duke in Scotland, invoking the ire of the other lords who resented the sudden rise of a man who also held allegiances in France.

Some of their letters actually consider the implications of what they mean by this, exploring the idea that their love, the love between a man and a man, might be more pure than that than could exist between a man and a woman. 

I shall lose no time in hastening their conjunction in which I shall please him, her, you, and myself most of all, in thereby getting liberty to make the speedier haste to lay myself at your feet; for never none longed more to be in the arms of his mistress.

That the poem is about Esme Stewart is undeniable. Villiers was minor gentry.