Actually, he may have been. Some historians have speculated that he was, but since the royal chronicler of the era wouldn't have dreamed of writing honestly about homosexual relationships, there will never be anything but speculation.
He died without an heir, unusual for that era, but that has no bearing on his sexual orientation as in those days it didn't matter if you were gay - every last royal or aristocratic man was expected to enter an arranged marriage and father children! If Richard didn't marry while he was still a prince that was more due to political wrangling than his own preferences, he was engaged at least twice but politics kept the weddings from happening. He didn't marry until he was 34 and then it was politically expedient, he spent little time with his wife before they parted while he spent years in warfare and captivity. Yes, he was close enough to Phillip II of France to horrify his father, but as the "sleeping in the same bed" was part of a political alliance hostile to Henry, they were definitely political allies and nobody knows about the personal relationship. Richard supposedly had one illegitimate son, an unusually low number for the era.
So there's the possibility he actually was gay, but since standard historical practice has actively suppressed the stories of same-sex relationships for centuries, the history of homosexuals has been reduced to speculation and theorization.
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joej2923 (3021)
3 years ago
There is zero evidence in the historical record to support any accusations about him being gay. Based on my research, the only two major indicators were the shared bed with Philip and the hermit warning him not to sin. The hermit's warning did not specifically refer to homosexuality and sharing beds was common back then. I've shared beds with guys on a few sports/scouting trips but we always flipped to see who could sleep alone on the couch.
He was married and had an illegitimate son. He died at 41 so he could have possibly had a proper heir a few years later. Henry VIII had two wives beheaded and he divorced a couple more in his efforts to produce a male heir.
There has always been an effort by gay authors to out historical figures. It was an effort to advance the gay acceptance movement and there are efforts today to make further strides for gay people in various types of media. I personally believe DEAD people should not be misrepresented as homosexuals or anything else if there isn't enough documented proof.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/14/richard-lionheart-battle-addict-france
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Otter (24464)
3 years ago
But there *can't* be the kind of proof you want to insist on, because the chroniclers and commentators of Richard's day refused to record anything about homosexual relationships, and so did historians for centuries afterwards. LGBT history was deliberately erased for centuries, and you want to continue the erasing process, by holding LGBT history to standards that are impossibly high, because of all the deliberate erasure that's come before you.
Which isn't to say that I believe Richard I *was* gay. He *might* have been gay or bi, there are enough possibilities that I don't think it was ridiculous to put that gay plot twist in "Lion in Winter" - it's as plausible as Alys being Henry's mistress (something that's also been speculated about by historians). Most writers of historical fiction do that, take speculation by historians and old unconfirmed rumors and write them into the story. And if you only approve of that when it involves heterosexual relationships being fictionalized, you can go fuck yourself.
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TheCaliforniaOp (78)
2 years ago
When this comes up (Richard’s preferences) I idly speculate if he was asexual, because this too is a possibility for people.
He may have been traumatized as a younger person.
I don’t think about it for long, because I feel like a voyeur; that’s just me. If his actions affected my life directly, then perhaps I’d…no.
That part of his life belongs to him.
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Otter (24464)
2 years ago
Hundreds of years of selective recording of information have made damn sure that his private life is still private!
We will never know, but it's not like speculating now is going to hurt his feelings.
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