G******e
发帖数: 9567 | 1 How many folks know that King James (who commissioned the King James Bible
and to whom it was dedicated) loved men and had sex with them?
A physical weakling, as an adolescent James had shown himself to be a coward
, who liked only to hunt, to read (which he did, prodigiously) and to talk.
To protect himself he wore thick quilted doublets, so padded that they
provided a kind of armor against any assassin who might attack him with a
knife. When he revealed a sexual preference for men, falling in love with
his cousin Esmé Stewart and elevating him to a position of authority on the
royal council, some of his nobles kidnapped James and held him captive,
banishing Stewart and controlling James's every move. After nearly a year
James escaped, but continued to resent his jailers; after he began to rule
on his own behalf, at seventeen, he made it a priority to bring the
turbulent Scots nobles under control.
As he aged James indulged his preference for handsome men, living apart from
his wife. His doting fondness was part paternal, part erotic; he called his
favorite George Villiers "sweet child and wife" and referred to himself as
"your dear dad and husband." But to his courtiers, the sight of the aging,
paunchy, balding monarch, who according to one court observer had a tendency
to drool, leaning on his paramours was utterly repellant.
The first of the king's minions was Robert Carr, Groom of the Bedchamber,
who the king elevated to earl of Somerset and appointed Lord Chamberlain.
After six years of favors and royal gifts Carr was brought low, accused of
murder and sent away from court. The second and greatest royal favorite, the
extraordinarily handsome George Villiers, rose from cupbearer to Gentleman
of the Bedchamber and ultimately to Earl of Buckingham.
"I love the Earl of Buckingham more than anyone else," James announced to
his councilors, "and more than you who are here assembled." He compared his
love for the earl to Jesus's affection for the "beloved disciple" John. "
Jesus Christ did the same," the king said, "and therefore I cannot be blamed
. Christ had his John, and I have my George."
With such pronouncements King James seemed to reach a new level of outrage,
especially when he compounded his offense, in the view of many, by heaping
Buckingham with costly jewels, lands, and lucrative offices.
-Royal Panoply, Brief Lives Of The English Monarchs
Carrolly Erickson, History Book Club
http://etb-history-theology.blogspot.com/2012/03/king-james-was |
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