#queen james

I am, at long last, beginning my research in earnest for this sprawling historical-novel of a fic. First up is Gareth Russell's Queen James: The Life and Loves of Britain's First King, a very recent biography of the private life of James VI & I (private life as opposed to political life) told “through the prism of men and women James loved and those with whom he was intimate”. This was the third item on my Christmas list (the second being my 2026 season pass and the first being a copy of The Tudor Tailor), and I expect it to be my most important source in this endeavor.

I started reading it months ago, but quickly stopped when I realized that I would absolutely want to share things on here as I came across them, which I couldn't do before a certain point. But I have reached that point, so now I'm gonna read this book and you're gonna read it with me. This is now a research blog about King James the sixth of Scots and first of England, sorry (don't worry, I'll also still post other stuff), and I'll start by sharing the single funniest paragraph ever written about European history, from the author's note.

Owned?: No, library Page count: 390 My summary: King James the I and VI was a man of many loves. The handsome young men who came to his court were often rewarded, and brought closely into the King's favour. But his life was one racked with intrigue. Crowned as a baby, he survived kidnappings and assassination attempts, the murder of his father and the execution of his mother, betrayal and war and public loathing. This is his story, from birth to death, and the stories of those he loved along the way. My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Look, sometimes you just have a historical figure who is fascinating to you for weird reasons, and for me that person is King James I and VI. He was the King of Scotland from the age of one, inheriting the English throne as well after the death of Elizabeth I, ruling both for the rest of his life. Among his many quirks were 1. rampant homosexuality, 2. ardent belief in witchcraft and 3. unshakeable faith in the divine right of kings, which kinda backfired when his son and heir got his head cut off about it later in life. He fascinates me for several reasons; he's a very well-documented example of a historical gay or bisexual man (while many of his sexual liaisons throughout his life were with men, he may have had one female mistress) but he had a strange upbringing and was not necessarily a good person. I'm always interested in learning about James I as a person, particularly in accounts that do not shy away from depicting his sexuality in frank terms, and not see it as a stain on James' character. This book is named for a contemporary quote saying that Elizabeth was king, while James was queen - he was seen as weak and effeminate in the latter part of his rule, largely because of his extreme reluctance to get involved in a war in Europe. That he also enjoyed sex with men was seen as part of this. Subject to homophobic abuse in his time, James was also, you know, the most powerful man in the country, and such is the dichotomy of his character. He's a fascinating guy.

And this book is a fascinating book! I've made it sound a bit more salacious than it is - the author takes a very measured and nuanced view both of James' reign and his sexuality, taking care to dispel some of the myths that have grown up around him, but also to present the facts of each period of his reign as accurately as can be. The result is a book that feels very comprehensive, that presents James 'warts and all', criticising what there is to be criticised about him and his reign but not going too hard into conspiracy or slandering the man. There's no point lying about a historical king to make him look bad, so many of them just did some terrible things all on their own. But anyway. This was a really interesting read, despite my already-existing fascination with King James I feel like I learned a lot, so kudos! This was a fun one!

VoK 494: The Great Linear Re-Read part 77 – Sorrows and Stutters

http://archive.org/download/494VoKReRead77/494VoKReRead77.mp3

The re-read moves swiftly(ish) through some of the most depressing chapters in the series as we watch Jon running out of food, Tyrion without power, and Sam ready to give up hope.

These events take place between March 30th and April 5th 300 AL.

Jon 5 – ADWD – 02:00 Tyrion 5 – ADWD – 28:00 Sam 3 – AFFC – 55:00

Hosts: Adam…

VoK 490 – Sense8 Series Finale – aka Hakuna Matata

The Vassals bid a fond farewell to the Netflix series Sense8 as we review the series finale. Join David (davidhhh), Marie (Nymeria), Hannah (Shadowbaby), Matt (blu3arm0r), Jock (munrojock2), James (QueenJames) as we discuss our love for this show and how much we’ll miss it… and orgies, polyamory, and rainbow sex toys too. After all, this IS VoK! The aftershow hilarity starts at 1:58:36.

Music…

VoK 481 – The Great Linear ASOIAF Reread Part 72 – Titan, Gerion and Aemon

Join Adam/DrownedSnow, DavidHHH, Hannah/Shadowbaby, James/QueenJames, Jock/MunroJock, Sarah/LadyWeaver and Zander/The Lord Baron, as they continue the epic reread. In this episode they discuss events of the 1st and 2nd March 300 AL.  They begin, at 2m in, with Arya 1 from Feast, wherein Arya enters the temple of the many-faced god. They continue at 37m with Tyrion 3 from Dance wherein Tyrion and…