|
|
| |
 Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia
(356-323 B.C.E.) was a conqueror who vastly
expanded the empire he inherited from his father,
Philip II.
The great soldier was renowned for his passionate love of his
comrade-in-arms, Hephaestion. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Anne, Queen of
England (1665-1714)
was the last of the
Stuart monarchs. She conducted romantic friendships with several women,
including Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Julius
Caesar (ca 100-44 B.C.E.) was one of the most powerful men of the
ancient world. Some of his contemporaries publicly addressed him as
"queen" and one Roman poet even disparagingly called him a
cinaedus, or
passive homosexual. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Christina
of Sweden (1626-1689) was
officially declared "King of Sweden" when she was just six years old. Christina was an enigmatic monarch
and an enthusiastic patron of the arts who shocked Europeans by her
aversion to marriage, her "mannish" ways, and her love for women. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Edward II, King of
England (1284-1327) was an early fourteenth-century king
who formed intense relationships with his male favorites. Those
relationships ultimately
cost him his throne and led to his violent death. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Elagabalus (204
or 205-222) briefly ruled Rome. His reign was so legendary for its sexual
excesses that he became an emblem of the debauched, sexually perverse
ruler. |
|
|
|
| |
| |
 Frederick
the Great, King of Prussia (1712-1786) was a military genius and
cynical diplomat who vastly expanded his kingdom through a series of
brutal wars. Though his homosexuality was an open secret during his
lifetime, subsequent historians have often tried to conceal it. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Gustav III, King of
Sweden (1746-1792) was an enlightened despot who encouraged a
remarkable flowering of art and culture. His contemporaries, including
his mother, assumed he was homosexual. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Gustav V,
King of Sweden (1858-1950), the last monarch to exert direct power over
his nation's government, was a successful king whose bisexuality was
covered up during his lifetime. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
 Hadrian
(76-138), a Roman emperor who earned a reputation for military prowess
and administrative skill, is remembered today for his love for the
beautiful youth Antinous. Their relationship was not exceptional
because the lovers were male, but for its intensity. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Henry III
(1551-1589), the last French king of the Valois dynasty, was widely
accused of sodomy, but such charges were probably not true. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 James VI and I
(1566-1625) was the
sponsor of the English translation of the Bible that bears his name and
himself an accomplished author. King James was well known for his passionate
attachments to handsome young men. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 Louis XIII, King of France
(1601-1643) reigned from 1610 to 1643. His most intense
emotional relationships were with a series of handsome men. |
|
| |
| |
| |
King Louis XVIII, King of France (1755-1824), who reigned
from 1814 to 1824, is often included in lists of famous gay people, but the evidence is unclear. His case illustrates the difficulty of attributing a homosexual
orientation to people in the past. |
|
| |
| |
| |
Ludwig II, King of Bavaria
(1845-1886) is best known for his
enthusiastic patronage of Richard Wagner and for his fabulous castles.
King Ludwig ultimately withdrew from public life, perhaps in part due
to the impossibility of living openly as a gay man. |
|
|
|
| |
| |
Philip II, King of Macedon (382-336 B.C.E.), the father of
Alexander the Great,
achieved the hegemony of all of Greece before being killed by an
enraged young favorite. |
|
| |
| |
| |
 William
III, Prince of Orange, King of England (1650-1702) became the
acknowledged defender of Protestant Europe. His preeminence has made
it difficult for Anglophone admirers to assess his sexual orientation
candidly. |
|
| |
| |
