“Mother have you found me a wife yet?” “I think we aim higher… King James” - Nicholas Galitzine and Julianne Moore in Mary and George (2024).

About Mary&George, there's something really important to understand about king James's attitude.

James VI and I was deepley traumatized because he had a shitty and traumatic childhood, something who affected him for all his life.

The first trauma happened when he wasn't even born!!!

9th march 1566, queen Mary's secretary, the Italian Davide Rizzio ( or Riccio ) was stabbed 57 times by plotters, he tried to save himself hiding behind the queen but it doesn't work.

Mary was deeply traumatized for this not only per sè but for an other motive. She was six moth pregnant and lord Ruthven pointed his sword against his belly and threated to cut her "in pieces". Yes, James was not even born, it was said that he was afraid of swords 'cause this.

when he was 8 months his father was killed, by the man who became his stepfather, his mother was innocent

The 24 april 1567 he saw for the last time his mother, queen Mary Stuart was abducted, imprisoned and raped by james Hepbun lord bothwell. Yes, I know for someone Mary/Bothwell are a very romantic love story but let's be clear. it was a toxic relationship

Two moths later his mother is forced to amrry Bothwell 'cause she's pregnant, with twins, and after a short civil war she's imprisoned by the queen Elizabeth

James is crowned king at 13 months and the regency is on his half uncle, lord James Moray

James Moray was killed in 1570

The the regenty become yhe king's granfather: Matthew Lennox

Matthew Lennox was killed when James was 5, and it's very gory: the consipirator stab him in front of the child, Lennox tried to save himself behind his king, and grandchild but he was taken away by force, then his body, baraly alive, was take near a window and throw away.... ALL OF THIS in front a 5 year child

James was physically abused by his tutor George Buchanan, a puritan fanatic who hates monarchy and beat his pupil nearly every day. James will be one of the most cultured king but he the trauma never left him, one day when he was already king of England he met an old man who looks like Buchanan and he started to tremble.

He said about his tutor "I learned Latin before English", Buchanan also lied about queen Mary's involment in the Darley's death

when he was 13 he met hsi father's cousin, Esmé Stuart and he fall in love with him. Esmé is 39, he's catholic and French so after one year he is forced toi exil but he helps James to start to debunk some things about his mother

when he was 14 he was abucted for an year and nearly killed

It could be end very bad, with James become a psycho but luckly he become a very traumatized man who seek affection from everyone, he came out at 13 so... Esmé, John, Philip, Richard, Robert and then George, he always tried to recreate the relationship between him and Esmé.

and that's all folks

The queers giveth

And the queers taketh away

5th November 1605. Guy Fawkes waits in a cellar with 36 barrels of gunpowder, preparing to blow up the King. But did you know this event is still celebrated every year in the UK 400 years later? This week @duchessofostergotlands and @princesscatherinemiddleton explore the infamous Gunpowder Plot, from its royal roots to its impact on modern revolutions.

Episode 78- “Life of Guy” - on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and Amazon!

I always thought that Nicholas Galitzine was an underrated actor and I'm so happy and excited that he's gained more attention and popularity since the last year... I'm so proud of him...

Also, I don't care how many times he's played a royal or a noble character , it's never enough for me... I can't really explain it but it seems like he was born to play that genre of characters? and for your information, I'm very picky when it comes to the actors and actresses playing historical figures and royals...

Nicholas Dimitri Constantine Galitzine as George Villiers in the new tv series

"Mary and George" (2023)

King James VI/I is the bane of homophobic historians everywhere because he just went out of his way to make sure everyone knew how much he loved dick.

The play had many topics of possible offense to King James; so why did Shakespeare write Macbeth?

One possible answer is that the Tragedie of Macbeth told history the way that King James wanted it to be told. The drama was based on the historical record. All the main characters and the progression of events—murder of Duncan, flight of Malcolm Canmore, and his eventual triumphant return—are historically attested, with one exception: Banquo. The murder of Duncan by Macbeth could have been seen by James as parallel with the murder of his father Henry Darnley, while the victory of Malcolm was similar to his triumph over the Scots and English nobility. James’ fear of witches can be judged by his Demonology of 1599, where he sees them as enemies of humanity. Even prophecy was dubious and, since the fifteenth century, any prophecy that juxtaposed royalty with chronology was illegal. In the play, however, all these unsavoury elements are destroyed. The prophecies are shown to be deceitful and the witches deliberately mislead Macbeth. Finally, the world is put right when Malcolm avenges his father.  

Like Robert Cecil, William Shakespeare understood how the theatre offered an insight into the mind of a prince. The Tragedie of Macbeth was drama of the sort that King James wanted and for which he paid.

mary & george making me insane how good it looks could not have cast it better with infinite money in dreamland is this real life?? the letters between james & george are unfuckingbelievable if you haven’t read them btw. george signs them as the king’s slave & dog. hello!??

Portrait of James Charles Stuart. Circle of Daniel Mytens I.

On August 22nd 1582 James VI was abducted and taken to the Castle of Ruthven by the Earls of Mar and Gowrie - the so-called "Ruthven Raid".

If you read about James, it soon becomes clear that after years of manipulation by the men that controlled the kingdom through him (Regent Morton in particular), he desperately wanted friends he could trust. At the age of 13, when he formally started to reign in his own right, he met a cousin, Esme Stuart, who was French, handsome, worldly, debonair, gentile and charismatic - all the things that James was not! James was smitten and Esme Stuart immediately began to gather Royal rewards and preferements. He was created Earl of Lennox in 1580, and then Duke of Lennox in 1581. And of course he quickly earned the hatred of those he trampled over during his rise! By 1582, there was widespread opposition to the Royal favourites, Esme Stuart, and also the Earl of Arran. This was made worse by fears that the new Duke of Lennox was a secret Catholic and an agent of the Pope! Against this background, on 22 August 1582, in an event now known as "The Ruthven Raid", the young king was seized while hunting near Atholl, by a group of Protestant lords led by William Ruthven, the newly created Earl of Gowrie, and brought here to Ruthven Castle. The following day, his abductors tendered a 'supplication' to James, to explain their actions, which included the following:

"We have suffered now about the space of two yeeres such false accusations, calumneis, oppressions and persecutions, by the moyen of the Duke of Lennox, and him who is called Erle of Arran, that the like of their insolenceis and enormeteis were never heretofore borne with in Scotland." At one point during his captivity here in the castle, the young King is said to have burst into tears, to which the Earl of Gowrie responded "Tis better that bairns weep than bearded men!" The King was to remember this treatment and would take his revenge. James remained an unwilling guest of the Earl of Gowrie for some 10 months at Ruthven Castle, during which time he was forced to banish the Duke of Lennox back to France (where he died the following year). The King's captivity came to an end in June 1583, when he escaped while on a visit to St Andrews. The Ruthven conspirators were in turn banished from the kingdom. The Earl of Gowrie was shortly afterwards pardoned and allowed to return, but after involving himself in further plotting, was executed in May 1584.

The pic, called "The raid of Ruthven" is by the 19th century Scottish painter John Faed.

My only sweet and dear child,

Notwithstanding of your desiring me not to write yesterday, yet had I written in the evening if, at my coming out of the park, such a drowsiness had come upon me as I was forced to sit and sleep in my chair half an hour. And yet I cannot content myself without sending you this present, praying God that I may have a joyful and comfortable meeting with you and that we may make at this Christmas a new marriage ever to be kept hereafter; for, God so love me, as I desire only to live in this world for your sake, and that I had rather live banished in any part of the earth with you than live a sorrowful widow's life without you. And so God bless you, my sweet child and wife, and grant that ye may ever be a comfort to your dear dad and husband.

King James VI letter to George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham - December 1623

James R.

Trailer: Mary & George (2024) - Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galitzine.

Plugging shamelessly from my YouTube channel, Historical Duck. If you've ever wondered about how a certain king handled witches and why he did it, this is the video for you.

It is 1580 and witch hunting has started to peak in Europe.  Tens of thousands of people, mostly women, will be executed for the crime of being a witch. The Scottish witch hunts were in full gear. King James VI of Scotland, futuristically King James I of England, will have his hand in some of these executions beginning in 1590. It is a tale of religious and cultural fear that brings the reign of King James tumbling into a web of hunting witches to avoid death himself...

Go here to learn more in blog form.

George Villiers & King James I MARY & GEORGE (2024) · S1·EP7

Some of the historical royals who have been described as being LGBTQ+ over the centuries: Queen Anne, Frederick the Great,  King Edward II, Isabella of Bourbon-Parma, Queen Christina of Sweden, and King James VI of Scotland and I of England.

In our most recent episode we touch on some of these examples and discuss the challenges of aligning modern understandings of gender and sexuality with the social norms of the past. You can listen here. 

Weekend Sightseeing (Is Exhausting)

Weekend Sightseeing (Is Exhausting)

Portobello Beach This weekend was a busy one for me—I packed a lot of living into two days.  On Saturday, I took a bus out to the seaside, specifically the Portobello Beach Promenade.  It was cold and blustery, but there were plenty of people (and dogs!) playing in the sand and several people had their feet in the water.  There was even a couple of lunatics up to their waists in the North Sea. …

View On WordPress