A short view of the life and death of George Villers, Duke of Buckingham written by Henry Wotten ... (1642)

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By the second half of the twentieth centuries, the issue was discussed more openly though historians were still finding it impossible to shake off disapproving moralistic attitudes: the historian Donaldson wrote in 1971 that James's affair with Esme Stuart had "a physical, but not necessarily gross, side to it." (Donaldson is quoted in M. Young's 2012 account of the historiography in this area). [1] Some historians of this time advanced the surprising view that James's public displays of affection for his favourites were proof that there was not sexual activity in private. [6] Antonia Fraser's 1975 biography of the king takes an opposing and famously pragmatic view: The question of James' sexuality might be considered of only prurient interest, and certainly less important than the political consequences of the power and status he granted his favourites. [3] However, particularly since the late twentieth century, historical analysis and commentary on James's personal life has raised important questions about how early modern same-sex relationships (whether sexual or friendship-based) were structured and understood, and the extent to which modern categories of sexuality can be applied to historical figures.

Masson, David (1859), The life of John Milton: narrated in connexion with the political, ecclesiastical, and literary history of his time, Macmillan and co., pp.150–151 The masque begins with the entry of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Pallas Athena, who announces to the ‘seated’ courtiers the will of Jove to ‘settle Astraea [goddess of justice] in her seat again’ in place of the Iron Age. Athena imparts that Jove intends to ‘let down in his golden chain/The Age of better metal’, that is, the Golden Age. Shortly after this point, ‘[a tumult, and clashing of arms heard within]’ disrupts Athena’s speech, who fears the ‘noise’ and ‘strife’ is the sound of the ‘Iron Age…up in arms!’. The personification of the Iron Age calls forth the Evils, physical representations of vices of the Iron Age: ‘Ambition, Pride, and Scorn, Force, Rapine, and thy babe last born, Smooth Treachery’. In 1613 Carr began to make plans to marry Frances Howard, the daughter of Admiral Thomas Howard, the son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk. The Howard family were having a growing influence over King James. This included Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and Charles Howard, Lord of Effingham, They were all sympathetic to the Roman Catholic church and wanted an alliance with King Philip III of Spain. According to John Philipps Kenyon, the author of The Stuarts (1958): "They (the Howards) urged James to marry his son to the daughter of Philip III of Spain and use her huge dowry to pay off his debts, with the ultimate aim of reconciling the English church with Rome." (9) Eales, Jacqueline (2004), "Fairfax , Anne, Lady Fairfax (1617/18–1665)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (onlineed.), Oxford University Press, doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/66848 (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) In the 2003 British television mini-series Charles II: The Power and The Passion, Villiers is portrayed by the British actor Rupert Graves.the handsomest-bodied in England; his limbs so well compacted and his conversation so pleasing and of so sweet a disposition.’ v]Bergeron, David M, King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire, University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, 1999, p38

Charles I twice rescued Villiers from impeachment by Parliament. However, Villiers’ unpopularity continued to soar, and he was widely viewed as a public enemy.Born on 28 August 1592 in Brooksby, Leicestershire, George Villiers was the son of Sir George Villiers and Mary, daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield. At a young age, he was sent to France to be educated for court life. Generally an excellent student, he learnt to dance, fence and speak a little French. He was well-known for his physical attractiveness and elegance. One of his courtiers, Anthony Weldon, claims James had several "male lovelies" and was guilty of expressing his feelings in public: "The King's kissing them after so lascivious a mode in public, and upon the theatre, as of were, of the world, prompted many to imagine some things done in the retiring-house that exceed my expressions no less than they do my experience." (5) George Villiers and King James Herbert, Edward (Lord Herbert of Cherbury) (1860), Lord Powis (ed.), The Expedition to the Isle of Rhe, London: Philobiblio Soc., OCLC 5093195