Of all the Scottish/English kings, James I was arguably the most evil and degenerate. And there are serious contenders for this title.
Although James produced offspring, most of
his attention was focussed on his “gentlemen of the bedchamber”. Of course, they needed gifts, so he simply seized property and gave it to his catamites.
When criticized for his homosexual relationship with a particular noble, he compared their love to that of Jesus and John.
He successfully covered up his murder of the Ruthven brothers at Gowrie by enlisting the clergy to spread lies about it from the pulpit. The one pastor who refused was locked up in Inverness Castle fir 15 years. Still today, wikipedia yet calls it the Gowrie Conspiracy, as do many sources, implying it was an assassination attempt. You can read James’ deposition on the matter in Ancient Criminal Trials of Scotland.
And don’t get me started in his witch hunts.
Was James’ father actually Lord Darnley? Perhaps not. The Italian musician Rizzio was fucking both Darnley and Mary, the queen. A group of nobles finally had enough and killed him at Holyrood House.
Of possible occult interest, the knife that John Ramsey (one of James’ catamites) plunged into the neck of the younger Ruthven brother on James’ order, was the very weapon that was used 10 years later to assassinate Henry IV of France (query Ravillac knife for pic). What are the odds? Especially if you consider that the Ruthven family ruled Scotland for a year.
Could this coincidence have a connection to James’ book on witchcraft (Daemonology)? Or his keen interest in the subject? Btw James attended the North Berwick Witch Trials, where (if I recall correctly) about 200 suspected witches confessed and were executed.
Confessions were apparently promptly obtained once the “boot” was brought over from Stirling. Yes cruel, but this device was replaced by the gentler “thumbkins”, a Russian invention I believe, that could be used on small subjects, such as children.
Of all the Scottish/English kings, James I was arguably the most evil and degenerate. And there are serious contenders for this title.
Although James produced offspring, most of his attention was focussed on his “gentlemen of the bedchamber”. Of course, they needed gifts, so he simply seized property and gave it to his catamites.
When criticized for his homosexual relationship with a particular noble, he compared their love to that of Jesus and John.
He successfully covered up his murder of the Ruthven brothers at Gowrie by enlisting the clergy to spread lies about it from the pulpit. The one pastor who refused was locked up in Inverness Castle fir 15 years. Still today, wikipedia yet calls it the Gowrie Conspiracy, as do many sources, implying it was an assassination attempt. You can read James’ deposition on the matter in Ancient Criminal Trials of Scotland.
And don’t get me started in his witch hunts.
Was James’ father actually Lord Darnley? Perhaps not. The Italian musician Rizzio was fucking both Darnley and Mary, the queen. A group of nobles finally had enough and killed him at Holyrood House.
Facts
Of possible occult interest, the knife that John Ramsey (one of James’ catamites) plunged into the neck of the younger Ruthven brother on James’ order, was the very weapon that was used 10 years later to assassinate Henry IV of France (query Ravillac knife for pic). What are the odds? Especially if you consider that the Ruthven family ruled Scotland for a year.
Could this coincidence have a connection to James’ book on witchcraft (Daemonology)? Or his keen interest in the subject? Btw James attended the North Berwick Witch Trials, where (if I recall correctly) about 200 suspected witches confessed and were executed.
Confessions were apparently promptly obtained once the “boot” was brought over from Stirling. Yes cruel, but this device was replaced by the gentler “thumbkins”, a Russian invention I believe, that could be used on small subjects, such as children.