Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
A few years later after the controversy over his relationship with Lennox faded away he began a relationship with Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset. In 1607, at a royal jousting contest, 17-year-old Robert Carr, the son of Sir Thomas Carr or Kerr of Ferniehurst, was knocked from a horse and broke his leg. According to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, James fell in love with the young man, and as the years progressed showered Carr with gifts. Carr was made a gentleman of the bedchamber and he was noted for his handsome appearance as well as his limited intelligence. His downfall came through Frances Howard, a beautiful young married woman. Upon Carr's request, James stacked a court of bishops that would allow her to divorce her husband in order to marry Carr. As a wedding present Carr was named Earl of Somerset.
In 1615, James fell out with Carr. In a letter James complained, among other matters, that Carr had been "creeping back and withdrawing yourself from lying in my chamber, notwithstanding my many hundred times earnest soliciting you to the contrary" and that he rebuked James "more sharply and bitterly than ever my master Buchanan durst do".
At this point public scandal erupted when the underkeeper of the tower revealed that Carr's new wife had poisoned Sir Thomas Overbury, his best friend who had opposed the marriage. James, angered over Carr's attachment to his wife, exploited the opportunity and forcefully insisted that they face trial.
Carr blackmailed the King, threatening to reveal that they had slept together. At the trial, while testifying before the Lords in Westminster Hall, two men were posted beside him by order of the King, prepared to muffle him with cloaks should he begin to divulge delicate matters. They were not needed, and though he refused to admit any guilt, his wife confessed, and both were sentenced to death. The King commuted the sentence. Nevertheless they were imprisoned in the Tower for seven years, after which they were pardoned and allowed to retire to a country estate.
Read more about this topic: Personal Relationships Of James VI And I
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