History is Queer: Robert Carr
History is Queer is a series of entries highlighting LGBTQ individuals in the contemporary world and throughout history.
Who: Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
When: 1587-1645
Where: England, obviously
The opinions expressed here are those of the blogger, and do not represent the views of The Cube or Southern Tier AIDS Program.
Why you should care: Robert Carr was born Robert Kerr to Sir Thomas Kerr and his second wife, Janet. When it comes to inheriting titles, England passes down titles from father to oldest son, which means young Robert was screwed unless his older brother died. (This is called “having an heir and a spare.”)
Later accounts refer to him as Robert Carr rather than Robert Kerr, and even though he wasn’t born into priviliege, he made up for it by being damn lucky. He managed to become a page (kind of a young male servant) to the 1st Earl of Dunbar, and met Sir Thomas Overbury while being a page.
Overbury recognized that Carr was charismatic, and became a mentor and secretary to the young man. Overbury arranged for Carr to enter a jousting match and sadly, dude broke his own leg. Luckily, King James I of England (who was also King James VI of Scotland) was at the match, and helped young Carr up.
Love at first sight! Cue the trumpets.
King James nursed Carr back to health and taught him Latin. Carr was still basically an unintelligent pretty boy, which suited King James well. So well, in fact, that James knighted the man before the age of twenty. Not only that, but the King also gave Carr Sherborne Manor in 1607. (This pissed off the wife of Sir Walter Raleigh, the former owner. Raleigh had left the manor to his son, but the King found a small flaw in the document and rendered it invalid.)
Carr started living at Sherborne in 1609, following a court case over ownership of the manor. His influence and affair with James strengthened. In fact, Carr talked James into dissolving Parliament in 1610. Carr’s royal titles also increased: he was now the Viscount Rochester and gained a seat on King James’ privy council (the king’s version of a cabinet.)
Carr relied a lot on Overbury to take care of his duties at court, which left him free to enjoy James’ company. King James, himself overworked, soon found that a group of nobles known as the Howard Group was consolidating power within the government, with the eventual goal of unseating James. (Stuff like this happened in England all the damn time.)
To head off a crisis, James urged Carr to marry Frances Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and member of the Howard Group. James and Carr managed to get Frances to nullify her estranged marriage to the Earl of Essex. Three months later, on December 26, Frances Howard and Robert Carr married.
This made Overbury pissed. Because he had tried to prevent the marriage, the Howard Group tried to get back at him. The Group told James that Overbury had insulted the Queen of England, which caused James to offer Overbury a post in Russia, a dead-end assignment. Overbury refused, wanting to be near Carr. This was what the Howard Group wanted, because refusing an assignment from the King was treason. Overbury was imprisoned in the Tower of London and died there five months later of natural causes. Or did he?
This didn’t trouble Carr, because he was still getting more and more titles: he became the Earl of Somerset, the Treasurer of Scotland, and Lord Chamberlain to King James, overseeing the royal household.
Now married and without Overbury’s council, Carr distanced himself from King James. In a letter, King James complained that Carr had “withdrawn” himself from the King’s chambers. Hell hath no fury like a King scorned, and it was no coincidence that it soon came to light that Overbury had been poisoned. Carr and his wife were among the last to be put on trial. Carr’s wife Frances confessed, and she was pardoned almost right away, probably because she cut a deal. Carr, probably innocent, nonetheless was convicted and condemned to live in the Tower of London, where he remained until 1624.
Carr’s imprisonment left King James heartbroken, and the ruler sent endless letters to his lover both during and after the trial. James wanted Carr to plead guilty and receive a pardon like his wife did. Carr continued to protest his innocence, and was thus sentenced.
After being released, Carr largely disappeared from public view. He died in 1645, leaving a daughter.
REFERENCES:
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
The Rise and Fall of Robert Carr
The opinions expressed here are those of the blogger, and do not represent the views of The Cube or Southern Tier AIDS Program.
