Fast, consider an English king well-known for having insatiable appetites, beef with the pope, and a romantic life so messy that hooking up with him was a shortcut to both limitless political energy or the Tower of London. Should you’re considering of Henry VIII, he of six wives and the entire “divorced, beheaded, died” factor, come on. The Tudors don’t have a monopoly on weird, horny royal drama. Frankly, they’ve had sufficient time within the highlight.
Starz’s “Mary & George” lastly shifts that highlight to the Jacobean period — named for King James I of England and VI of Scotland, who grew to become king when the Tudor line ended and who remodeled the English courtroom into what occurs when the VIP part of a Scottish homosexual bar takes over the federal government. And that’s only the start of the story. Right here’s what it’s essential know in regards to the world of “Mary and George” earlier than watching the present.
How did James I turn into King of England and Scotland?
Within the remaining years of her life, the childless Tudor queen Elizabeth I named her cousin James as her inheritor. On one hand the selection made good sense. James was already King James VI of Scotland, so changing into King James I of England was a cautious first step in direction of creating some kind of…uk. He was as religiously certified (learn: Protestant) as a monarch may get, and he was Tudor-ish on his mom’s facet by blood if not by identify.
Alternatively, England and Scotland have been nowhere close to able to unite, James’ spouse was a not very secret Catholic, and James’ Tudor-ish mom was Mary Queen of Scots, who Elizabeth had imprisoned and executed in 1587. However hey, free throne!
After Elizabeth I’s loss of life, James got here down from Edinburgh with an entourage of Scottish nobles who demolished and rebuilt the English social order to raised swimsuit the brand new king’s way of life. That meant a number of events, a number of looking, and plenty of sizzling dudes swarming across the king like a gaggle noun of Instagram fashions recognizing an NBA participant within the wild. Simply how James appreciated it.
Was King James I homosexual?
The brief reply is sure, with the caveat that usually, placing the language of contemporary queer identification — “homosexual,” “bi,” “pan,” “queer,” and so forth — into the mouths of seventeenth century figures is unhealthy scholarship. However James was phenomenally homosexual. As in, one among his favourite pastimes was watching males dance for him in tight little costumes produced from “curious materials” homosexual. Wrote love poems about cute guys and recited them at dinner homosexual. As soon as nearly cried in entrance of his privy council as a result of he obtained choked up speaking about how a lot he loves his boyfriend homosexual. Was so clearly flamboyant that the yr he arrived in England a satirical journal revealed a joke that learn “Elizabeth was King, now James is Queen” homosexual.
Who’re “Mary and George” and what’s their function in all of this?
Mary Villiers was a superb and ruthless girl who realized that James I’s presence on the throne of England supplied a golden alternative. It hadn’t been that way back when the important thing to social ascension was tossing a daughter onto the bonfire that was Henry VIII and James burned no much less brightly, only for males. This was the season for mothers with sizzling sons, which put Mary in thoughts of her son George.
It’s an historic indisputable fact that George was astonishingly stunning. Even individuals who hated him admitted he was gorgeous and magnetic, with contemporaries writing that they discovered themselves watching him in full captivation for minutes at a time. Good factor too, as a result of he didn’t have a ton else going for him. He hadn’t accomplished nicely with formal training and displayed few different skills, save dancing. Had James I remained in Scotland, Mary might need written George off as nothing, however within the Jacobean market the worth of a buff twenty-one yr previous baddie who may dance was price every part.
Mary had the brains, George had the seems to be, and James didn’t stand an opportunity.
Who else is vital to the story?
Each story wants a villain, and from the angle of Mary and George in “Mary and George,” that villain is Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset and James’ lover. Carr was a Scottish courtier who used his standing as the favourite to dam English affect on the king, which predictably pissed off a variety of English nobles. For the English celebration at courtroom, it might be way more handy if James turned his consideration to a stunning younger Englishman as an alternative. If solely they might discover one. Hmm. There needed to be one round right here someplace…
Sources used for this text embrace “The King’s Murderer” by Benjamin Woolley, upon which “Mary and George” is predicated.
“Mary and George” is streaming on Starz now, with new episodes on Fridays.