ABBEY HOUSE MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12 – 5pm
Sun: 10am – 5pm
Last admission: 4.30pm
Address
Abbey Walk
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
ABBEY HOUSE MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12 – 5pm
Sun: 10am – 5pm
Last admission: 4.30pm
Address
Abbey Walk
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
LEEDS ART GALLERY
Opening Hours
Mon: Closed
Tues -Sat: 10am – 5pm
Sun: 11am – 3pm
Address
The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AA
LEEDS CITY MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed (11am – 5pm on bank holidays)
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat & Sun: 11am – 5pm
Address
Leeds City Museum
Millennium Square
Leeds
LS2 8BH
Ticket Provider
LEEDS DISCOVERY CENTRE
Opening Hours
Visits by appointment/special event only.
Free public store tours are now available by booking in advance. Please call or email us.
Address
Leeds Discovery Centre
Off Carlisle Road
Leeds
LS10 1LB
LEEDS INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: Closed (10am – 5pm on bank holiday Mondays)
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat – Sun: 12 – 5pm
Last admission one hour before closing.
Address
Canal Road
Leeds
LS12 2QF
KIRKSTALL ABBEY
Opening Hours
Mon: closed (10am – 4pm on bank holidays)
Tues – Sun: 10am – 4.30pm
Last admission: 4pm
Address
Abbey Road
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
LOTHERTON
Opening Hours
Open Daily
Estate opens: 7.30am
Hall: Open (Downstairs only) 10am-5pm
Wildlife World: 10am – 5pm
Estate closes: 7pm
Last entry 45 mins before estate closing time
TEMPLE NEWSAM
Opening Hours
House: Tues – Sun: 10.30am – 5pm
Home Farm: Tues – Sun: 10am – 5pm
Last entry 45 minutes before
THWAITE WATERMILL
Address
Thwaite Lane
Stourton
Leeds
LS10 1RP
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Lord Darnley’s Sexuality
Featured, Temple Newsam, VenuesHenry Stuart, better known to history as Lord Darnley, was born with high hopes in Temple Newsam in 1545 to Margaret Douglas, niece of King Henry VIII, and Mathew Stuart the Scottish earl of Lennox. With Tudor and Stuart blood flowing through his veins, Darnley and his family were full of ambition for his future. This ambition would reach its zenith in 1564, when he married Mary Queen of Scots, and Darnley was proclaimed King consort.
A portrait of Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots, by an unknown artist, in the collection of the National Trust at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. Image © National Trust photographic library/ Bridgeman images.
But only his father shouted ‘God save his grace’ upon him being proclaimed, and his time as King consort would prove disastrous, something agreed by historians ever since. However, one thing historians do debate is very personal to Darnley, and rarely broached in the 16th century court: his sexuality.
An anointed monarch was styled as being beneath only God, and an example of moral superiority to ‘lesser’ mortals. Darnley’s great uncle, King Henry VIII, presented himself as Gods representative on Earth: something the Pope (and a few of his 6 wives) would come to disagree with. Darnley lacked the regal authority of his Great Uncle, and wanted the authority and respect of being King without undertaking any of the duties required. Although he presented himself as a respectable suitor whilst courting Mary, once married their infatuation rapidly declined and Darnley searched for new distractions. Contemporaries described the new King Consort as ‘much addicted to base and unmanly pleasures‘.
One of these ‘unmanly pleasures’ is likely that of David Rizzio, an Italian musician who rose to prominence around the time of Darnley’s courtship with Mary. Mary trusted Rizzio implicitly, much to the anger of the Scottish nobles. When Darnley appeared as a prospective husband for Mary, Rizzio realised that him and Darnley were alike: both were foreign Catholics, and that a marriage to Darnley might allow Rizzio to secure more influence over the Queen. Rizzio therefore championed Darnley as a suitor.
Darnley appreciated this greatly – but to what extent he showed this appreciation, is debated. Several witnesses would record that the two men would often ‘lie in one bed together’ and that Darnley was entirely ‘governed’ by Rizzio. Elsewhere, other reports have Darnley travelling into Edinburgh and indulging in the taverns and brothels of the capital. Darnley made less and less effort to disguise his unfaithfulness, and would openly have an affair with a noble woman at court – and made another pregnant – all within a few months. Mary was likely fully aware of it all.
Still from the film ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ (2018) showing Darnley and Rizzio in bed together, taken by the author.
The behaviour of Darnley meant that Mary refused him the crown matrimonial, which would have given him the power and authority of a King, and inheritance of the throne if she died prematurely. She cited his inexperience as reason for refusal, and considering reports that he spent more time in brothels than in court, was to be expected. Mary was pregnant however, which made matters worse for Darnley and his ambitions. The birth of a son would mean that his role would be reduced to the father of a King.
Perhaps the final straw which alienated Mary from Darnley was reports of his behaviour from the Isle of Inchkeith. Darnley was hunting with nobles, but on the island, he did something so ‘vicious’ that it could not be described despite there being many witnesses. When Mary heard of this incident, she ‘withdrew her company away from him’. Some historians think that this mysterious incident could be that of Darnley being discovered engaged intimately with another man, and that Mary’s ultimate fallout with him reinforces this. Mary turned to Rizzio for advice, and rumour has it, romantic comfort. This accusation endured into Mary’s son, James I’s reign, when his lineage was questioned and he was labelled by his enemies as the ‘son of David’.
For Darnley, who was never particularly paternal, this rumour was enough for him to conspire against Rizzio and the Queen herself. The conspiracy struck at the heart of the royal household in Holyrood Palace where Darnley and the Scots nobles burst into a small room where Mary, Rizzio and others were eating. After a small scuffle in which Mary had a gun held against her heavily pregnant belly, Rizzio was dragged to the nearest room and stabbed to death 56 times. Darnley did nothing to help, and all the while was restraining Mary.
‘Murder of David Rizzio’ by Sir William Allan, exhibited in 1833 and owned by National Galleries Scotland.
Darnley then changed his allegiance and helped Mary escape, alienating himself with the Scottish nobles who were rallying against the Queen. His wife never forgave him for his involvement in the murder, or his promiscuity. As historian Alison Weir concludes:
‘Whatever the truth about his sexuality, he was certainly promiscuous, and either form of his behaviour would have aroused Mary’s disgust’.
Upon the birth of his son, the future James I, Darnley confirmed his parentage but refused to attend the Christening, fearing his own life. His paranoia led him to try fleeing Scotland, but a mysterious illness prevented this. Some blame poison, but more than likely it was syphilis (who saw that coming?) and Mary would move him from Glasgow, the territory of his father where he was safe, back to Edinburgh where he lodged in Kirk O’Field house until he had fully recovered.
Mary would spend a great deal of time with him here and her court was described as moving to the house. But there was little time for the marriage to mend, as on the night of 10 February 1567 a huge explosion destroyed the house. Mary was unharmed, but Darnley’s body was discovered… in a nearby orchard, half naked with a dagger, a chair and a piece of rope beside his corpse.
Drawing of Kirk o’Field after the murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 1567 © The National Archives
455 years later we have no certainty about what happened to Darnley, and it’s one of Britain’s greatest unsolved murder mysteries. But this blog has been about the intimate side of Darnley; he was most likely bisexual, and this alongside his promiscuous behaviour isolated him from his wife and potential supporters. Excessive drinking, indulging in brothels and taverns, betraying his wife and then the nobility, meant that his assassination seemed an expected end. Sadly, not quite a historical icon for the LGBTQ+ community, but Darnley’s sexuality is an interesting and often untold part of his history, and through him and his lineage comes the present royal family. This aspect of his character is just as relevant as his murder.
You can find out more about Lord Darnley and explore his childhood home at Temple Newsam.
By Tyler Smith, Visitor Assistant at Temple Newsam