King James VI of Scotland/I of England was a “man’s man.” Despite having a somewhat spindly frame, deformed palate and ambling gait, he first fell for another man, his cousin Esme Stuart, at fourteen. His most prominent male favourites were Scottish Robert Carr, who later became mixed up in a murder case involving Lady Frances Howard during the latter part of James’ reign in England, and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, with whom he exchanged passionate correspondence. So, why do some fundamentalists still insist that he was straight?

It’s true that James could obviously operate effectively when it came to dynastic succession, given his three children- Elizabeth (the “Winter Queen” of Bohemia), Henry Prince of Wales and Charles (his ultimate successor, who later triggered off the English Civil War [1642-49].) However, closing one’s eyes and thinking of England or Scotland is one thing, and fully-fledged heterosexuality is quite another.

According to the fundamentalist Chick Publications website, King James was straight, straight, straight! Mind you, the website doesn’t tell us why we should place such trust in their assurances, given that it has no bibliographic references that would substantiate their claims of kingly heterosexuality. Anyhow, it goes as follows:

    EXPLANATION: King James I of England, who authorized the translation of the now famous King James Bible, was considered by many to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, monarchs that England has ever seen.

[Presumably, this was why England experienced a civil war during the reign of his successor- C.]

Through his wisdom and determination he united the warring tribes of Scotland into a unified nation, and then joined England and Scotland to form the foundation for what is now known as the British Empire.

[Er, what about the Jacobite rebellions of the eighteenth century, led by his Catholic successor, James II, and his heirs, James the Old Pretender and Charles the Young Pretender?- C.]

    At a time when only the churches of England possessed the Bible in English, King James’ desire was that the common people should have the Bible in their native tongue. Thus, in 1603, King James called 54 of history’s most learned men together to accomplish this great task. At a time when the leaders of the world wished to keep their subjects in spiritual ignorance, King James offered his subjects the greatest gift that he could give them. Their own copy of the Word of God in English.

[What about the standard low level of literacy in seventeenth century England?- C.]
   

James, who was fluent in Latin, Greek, and French, and schooled in Italian and Spanish even wrote a tract entitled “Counterblast to Tobacco”,which was written to help thwart the use of tobacco in England.

[Except for the fact that there was an ample tobacco crop from Virginia, which was related to colonial exploitation of the area and consequent disinheritance of its indigenous communities. Wow, yeah, really moral… -C.]

    Such a man was sure to have enemies. One such man, Anthony Weldon, had to be excluded from the court. Weldon swore vengeance. It was not until 1650, twenty-five years after the death of James that Weldon saw his chance. He wrote a paper calling James a homosexual. Obviously, James, being dead, was in no condition to defend himself.

[Prove it, through providing us with an actual reference that substantiates this…C.]
   

The report was largely ignored since there were still enough people alive who knew it wasn’t true. In fact, it lay dormant for years, until recently when it was picked up by Christians who hoped that vilifying King James, would tarnish the Bible that bears his name so that Christians would turn away from God’s book to a more “modern” translation.
    It seems though, that Weldon’s false account is being once again largely ignored by the majority of Christianity with the exception of those with an ulterior motive, such as its author had.
It might also be mentioned here that the Roman Catholic Church was so desperate to keep the true Bible out of the hands of the English people that it attempted to kill King James and all of Parliament in 1605.

[Okay, this is where it gets weird. Cue loopy Catholic conspiracy theories and Popes-under-the-bed -C]

    In 1605 a Roman Catholic by the name of Guy Fawkes, under the direction of a Jesuit priest by the name of Henry Garnet, was found in the basement of Parliament with thirty-six barrels of gunpowder which he was to use to blow up King James and the entire Parliament. After killing the king, they planned on imprisoning his children, re-establishing England as a state loyal to the Pope and kill all who resisted. Needless to say, the perfect English Bible would have been one of the plot’s victims. Fawkes and Garnet and eight other conspirators were caught and hanged.
It seems that those who work so hard to discredit the character of King James join an unholy lot.

[Yeah, and what about all of the plots and conspiracies that were utilised against his predecessor Queen Elizabeth I, and Charles I’s subsequent attempt to woo a Spanish Catholic Princess, and his subsequent marriage to Henrietta Maria of France, a French Catholic? What an utter historical illiterate… -C.]

Fortunately, there’s well-documented historical evidence that King James was a queen. See the bibliographic references below.

Recommended:

David Bergeron: King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire: University of Iowa Press: 1999.

Rictor Norton: Mother Clap’s Molly House: The Gay Subculture in England: 1700-1810: London: Gay Men’s Press: 1994.

Michael Young: King James and the History of Homosexuality: New York: New York University: 1999.

Not Recommended:

“Was King James A Homosexual? No”: http://www.chick.com/reading/books/158/158_03.asp