Was richard the lionheart gay

As we talked, the main evidence historians who believe Richard the Lionheart was gay is that extract from Hoveden’s chronicles where he states that Richard and Philip spent some nights together. Actually, sharing a bed was seen as a statement of trust between two politicians. Richard the Lionheart and Philip II are just a couple of kings who seemingly would rather have a relationship with a man than produce an heir and a spare.

However, though Richard has been treated as something of a gay icon for years, direct evidence that he and Philip actually had a homosexual relationship is scant. The idea that Richard I might have been gay came about in , in The Plantagenets by John Harvey. This was thoroughly disputed by John Gillingham in his biography of Richard.

In , the French scholar Jean Flori argued that Richard was probably bisexual in his book Richard Coeur de Lion: le roi-chevalier. While there are many ways to study Richard, this article focuses on two: that of his contested sexuality and of his complicated status as a crusading hero in the post-9/11 world. In Richard slept in the same bed with the year-old King Philip II of France, but this is regarded as a symbol of friendship between the two countries with no sexual connotations.

However a number of historians have maintained that Richard was homosexual, or at lest bisexual. I agree with your conclusions. Historians have debated this since the eighteenth century, fuelled by the accounts of his stay in Paris when he used to share a bed with Philip Augustus himself.

England’s most famous medieval monarch,

But this in itself is evidence of nothing very much-people regularly shared beds in the twelfth century. If you were to stay in a medieval hall at this time it was not unusual to find several beds accommodating two or three or even more men.

Women were also expected to share the same quarters. I agree as well. I think this is yet another example of modern-day writers trying to shoehorn modern-day attitudes and mores on people from the past. I suppose another complication in trying to assess the sexuality of historical figures is that classifying people as "heterosexual" or "homosexual" appears in itself to be a fairly recent concept.

Excellent post. Oh, I so detest the bed-sharing as a "proof" for same-sex. Houses and castles were cold and drafty, sharing bed is a very good way to keep warm. I've heard of, but never really interested me for the theory that Richard III preferred med, but if the proofs are what you have just given us, I don't give much for them. One of my uncles he'd be in his 90's now mentioned sharing a bed when he lived and worked in Alaska.

They did it for warm. Nothing sexual about it. Times sure have changed. I have enjoyed all the comments. There is no doubt that our view of history changes with changoing perspectives. But when we try to apply current views of the world to the past, we end up reading something "between the lines" that is not there. I think that's what started the "Richard the Lionheart is gay" idea, and everyone who commented helps make the argument even stronger that he was not.

For me, this helped me make a decision on how to depict a character. As I said, I think I got it right, and the Britannica and revisionists got it wrong. Thanks to everyone who stopped in! I disagree. I think Richard WAS gay. Many commenters dwell on how it was not unusual for men to share a bed. I think that's probably true. However, here's how this whole discussion got started: "Richard, [then] duke of Aquitaine, the son of the king of England, remained with Philip, the King of France, who so honored him for so long that they ate every day at the same table and from the same dish, and at night their beds did not separate them.

And the king of France loved him as his own soul; and they loved each other so much that the king of England [Richard's father] was absolutely astonished at the passionate love between them and marveled at it. Roger was not writing about something commonplace or typical. He was writing about "passionate love".

So I think the argument about normal bed-sharing fails. Jay Spears jay gayheroes.