Love is the thing that makes history human. It’s the one thing that allows us to relate to the people of past times when they seem too different from us.
History’s greatest love stories weren’t always easy. In fact, a number of them ended in tragedy.
But they remain great because people were willing to risk everything for someone special.
A king left his throne, an emperor spent decades building a monument, and a poet refused to ever remarry.
These thirteen stories span continents and millennia, but they all have one thing in common: devotion.
1. Paris and Helen
The affair of Paris and Helen was legendary even long before anyone wrote it down. Their love was so disruptive that it caused a war!
Paris was a Trojan prince, and Helen was the most beautiful woman in the Greek world, married to King Menelaus of Sparta.
The story goes that they fell for each other so hard that Paris simply had to steal Helen and take her home with him, no matter the cost.
Some sources say she was abducted, while others claim she ran away with her lover.
Ten years of war followed, which resulted in the whole city en destroyed.
Homer made their story immortal in the Iliad, showing just how much was sacrificed for the love of two people.
Now, this story has its pragmatic version too, which takes away from the romance: Helen was the true heir of Greece.
If we look at it this way, Paris and Menelaus were actually fighting for power, and not the hand of one woman.
2. Cleopatra and Mark Antony
Rome itself feared this love story!
Cleopatra VII, a well-known ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, already had a strong alliance with Rome before Mark Anthony came to replace Julius Caesar.
When the new ruler summoned her, she arrived on a golden barge with silver oars and silk sails, surrounded by attendants dressed as sea nymphs, and reportedly wore the costume of Aphrodite herself.
This was a calculated move to impress Mark Anthony because he declared himself the New Dionysus.
But the romance they went on to have was very real!
They built a life together in Alexandria and had three children. Their alliance threatened to reshape the entire Roman world.
When it became clear they would be caught by Octavian’s forces, they died together. Mark Anthony by his own hand, and Cleopatra by a snake bite.
3. Hadrian and Antinous
Emperor Hadrian was one of the most intellectual Roman rulers. He loved to travel, enjoyed Greek philosophy, and fine architecture.
The love of his life was a young Greek man named Antinous, who accompanied Hadrian on his many travels across the Empire.
It’s said that they couldn’t get enough of each other.
But in 130 AD, while traveling along the Nile, Antinous drowned under strange circumstances.
Hadrian’s grief was endless, and even the people of his time reported his behavior as overwhelming.
He had Antinous deified, establishing a cult in his honor. He also founded a city in Egypt called Antinoöpolis in his memory, and commissioned hundreds of sculptures depicting his face.
In fact, there are more surviving portraits of Antinous than of any other person from ancient times!
4. Justinian and Theodora
This love story begins with an impossible social gap!
Justinian was heir to the Byzantine Empire, while Theodora was the daughter of a bear-keeper in the circus.
She also performed and danced for the crowd, so by the standards of their time, she was a completely inappropriate choice for him.
But Justinian was so enchanted by her that he changed the law!
Once they were married, they became equal partners in governing the Empire. She advised him on theology, law, and foreign policy.
Overall, Theodora is remembered as a brave and proud person.
Justinian relied on her completely until her death in 548 AD, and he never recovered from losing her.
5. Héloïse and Peter Abelard
Peter Abelard was one of the most celebrated philosophers and theologians of his time, and Héloïse d’Argenteuil was his student.
She also went on to become one of the most brilliant women of her era.
Their romance was intense, and they had a son named Astrolabe.
From there, the story takes a tragic turn. Héloïse’s uncle and guardian learned about the relationship and had Abelard castrated as punishment!
Both of them were then forced into religious life as a nun and a monk.
They spent the rest of their lives apart, but they continued to communicate through letters, many of which have been preserved.
They were eventually buried together, and today their tomb in Paris still receives fresh flowers daily.
6. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal
Shah Jahan was a Mughal Emperor of India in the 17th century. Mumtaz Mahal was his third wife, but by all accounts, she became his closest advisor and companion.
She even traveled with him on military campaigns, which was very unusual in their time.
In 1631, Mumtaz died in childbirth, and Shah Jahan was inconsolable. The people around him considered his mourning too prolonged, reporting that his hair had turned white in sadness.
In his wife’s honor, he had the Taj Mahal built. It took 20 years and twenty thousand artisans to complete!
The Emperor was later imprisoned by his son, and he spent the rest of his days looking at the Taj Mahal through his cell window.
7. Dante and Beatrice
Dante Alighieri was nine years old when he first saw Beatrice Portinari, and he was never able to forget her.
He saw her again briefly when he was eighteen. Although she was married to someone else, she became his muse.
When Beatrice died at the young age of 24, he placed her at the very top of the spiritual ladder in his Divine Comedy, where she was his guide through Paradise.
In Dante’s vision, Beatrice embodied divine grace. Her existence itself allowed him to understand the world differently.
They had no real relationship, but from those two encounters, Dante created one of the greatest love poems in all of Western literature!
8. Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour
Nine-year old Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was once told by an oracle that she would rule the heart of a king when she grew up.
And indeed, in 1745, she became the official mistress of King Louis XV.
However, their love story remains remarkable because of the intellectual relationship that has grown from the affair.
They became close friends, and Madame de Pompadour even became the king’s closest advisor.
She was also a patron of the Enlightenment who supported Voltaire. She influenced French architecture and art, and especially fashion.
Louis kept her by his side until her death in 1764, and reportedly, he stood in the rain watching her funeral procession leave Versailles.
9. John and Abigail Adams
John and Abigail Adams had something that was truly rare in their era: genuine intellectual equality.
They were married for fifty-four years, and during that time, they exchanged over a thousand letters. They were often apart due to his political career, but their conversations never stopped.
They discussed philosophy, politics, theology, and the shape of the new nation.
When John was creating laws, Abigail gave a crucial instruction: “remember the ladies.”
John called her his best friend multiple times.
By all accounts, their love was marked by genuine devotion and equality, which aren’t common even in modern relationships.
10. Napoleon and Joséphine
Napoleon Bonaparte’s letters to Joséphine de Beauharnais are among the most erotic love letters ever written by any public figure in history.
He was infatuated from the beginning.
She was older, elegant, widowed, and by all accounts, much more casual about the whole relationship than he was.
Their marriage was very turbulent. Joséphine was unfaithful, and Napoleon was obsessively jealous, which is an intense combination.
In 1809, after years of trying for a child, Napoleon finally had to divorce her because he needed to think of the empire.
Reportedly, the separation brought them both to tears.
He married someone else and had an heir, but it’s still said that Joséphine’s name was among the last things he spoke on his deathbed.
11. Mary and Percy Shelley
Mary Godwin was sixteen when she met Percy Bysshe Shelley. He was an intellectual with radical convictions, a poet, and already married.
Mary’s parents were intellectual radicals, so she was able to engage Shelly in any discussion. She also had her own literary ambition, which helped them connect.
Percy left his wife, and the two ran away to Europe together. Their love was heavily condemned, so they were constantly followed by financial issues.
They also lost many of their children. Overall, their lives were turbulent and tragic.
However, their creative and intellectual collaboration made for some of the most memorable literary pieces to this day.
In 1822, Percy died in a sailing accident at the age of 29.
Mary Shelly never remarried, saying she was already married to a genius and couldn’t bear to be someone lesser than him.
12. Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII
In December 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated his throne. His reason: love.
Wallis Simpson was an American divorcée, married twice before. At the time, her marital history made her an unacceptable choice for a king.
Edward had been king for less than a year, and he said that he couldn’t perform his duties without the support of the woman he loved.
He walked away from the most powerful position in the British Empire for love, shocking the whole world.
They got married in France in 1937 and lived in exile as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
They stayed together until the end of Edward’s life.
13. Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco
Grace Kelly was already one of Hollywood’s biggest stars when she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
She was an Academy Award winner at twenty-five, and she met the prince at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955.
He courted her through letters and in person, and within months of their first meeting, he proposed to her!
Grace accepted, gave up her film career, and became Princess of Monaco.
Their wedding felt like a fairytale, especially since it happened a decade after the Second World War, when the world was starved of beauty and goodness.
By most accounts, Grace took her role seriously and worked tirelessly for Monaco’s cultural and charitable life.
After her death in 1982, Rainier never remarried.
A little Aquarius, devoted to writing and embroidery. Through my writing, I hope to empower readers to align with their true selves and navigate life’s mysteries with confidence.