Valentines - Power Couples From History

As it's close to Valentine's, we thought we might share some of our favourite couples in history. From Cleopatra and Mark Anthony to Victoria and Albert, there has been some very famous and powerful couples throughout time. Some were partnership's of convince, for power, for a treaty or just a matter of friendship and care. Each seemed to play its part and have either changed the face of history or have become immortal couples we all know. So below are 5 couples from history that all three of us feels have played their part in history. 

1. Anne Boleyn & Henry VIII

We all know this famous royal couple and how it played out. Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon when Anne arrived at court, he was also famously having an affair with Anne's sister Mary. Henry first noticed Anne in 1526 and showered her with letters and gifts that she sent back to him. The letters that Henry wrote are kept in the Vatican in Rome, but all of Anne's were destroyed once she died. Anne was determined not become like her sister and to become known as the King's mistress, so in many ways she played hard to get. While she was at a court she became a lady in waiting to Catherine on Henry's orders.

Roughly a year later Henry proposed to Anne, but there was the issue of his current wife Catherine. Henry needed an annulment, he had read in the Bible, with the help of Anne, that because he had married his dead brothers wife no male heir would be produced from the marriage, this was enough evidence for him to get rid of Catherine. The Pope in Rome said no and Catherine wasn't going without a fight. Because the annulment wasn't granted, he went behind the Church and broke away from Rome, he also had Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declare Henry's marriage to Catherine on 23rd May 1533 as null and void. Five days later he then declared Anne and Henry's good and valid.

Anne and Henry married twice, once in secret in November 1532 when they returned from Dover. Not long after Anne fell pregnant and because their first marriage was declared unlawful they had a proper ceremony in January 1533. Anne believed she was pregnant with what was promised to be the male heir that Henry was so desperate for. Their marriage changed the Religious face of England, Henry had to start his own Church and he also appointed himself the head. All Catholic buildings, relics and services were destroyed and banned. This started what we know as the English Reformation.

At 3am on 7th September 1533, Anne gave birth to a daughter, she was named after her fathers mother but it didn't soften the blow that she wasn't male. It was from here that things went down hill for Anne, she suffered 3 miscarriage's one of which was a male. Henry wanted Anne gone and he got Thomas Cromwell to do the job. He collected evidence and testimonies against Anne and then in May 1536 she was arrested and then put on trial. She was found guilty of treason, adultery and incest with her brother. Anne was beheaded 19th May 1536, her marriage to Henry had been made null and void a few days before hand along with her title of Queen and she would never see Elizabeth again. Once she was dead all evidence of her was destroyed and Henry became engaged to Jane Seymour, Anne's lady in waiting, the following day and then married her 10 days later. 

2. Elizabeth I & Robert Dudley 

This has to be one of the most romantic but scandalous couples in Tudor history. Elizabeth and Robert had been childhood friends and at some points even grown up together, this made them very close and would always confide in each other. When Mary I had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London, Robert was also there at the same time. When Elizabeth became Queen she made sure that she had Robert by her side especially when she needed him the most, this is when the gossip around the court began to start about their relationship.

She showered him with affection, gave him money, gifts, land and titles along with being made a member of her Privy Council, those around him became jealous. At some of her households they had rooms that would be connected by a door. Everyone at court could see the connection that was between them and the way they acted whenever in each others presence. There were rumors that the pair would eventually marry, but there was a issue, Robert was already married to Amy Robsart. 

Elizabeth is known as the Virgin Queen and always claimed that she would never marry, but it seemed with Robert it was different. Whenever he had asked her, she had promised on multiple occasions but she never carried out her promise. Mysteriously Amy was found dead at the bottom of the stairs of her home with her neck broken, this allowed Elizabeth and Robert to marry but Amy's death caused people to speculate that they had a hand in it so they stayed low and away from each other, but once it all cleared up Elizabeth still never gave in to Robert's many proposals. He eventually realized that Elizabeth would never marry him and the fact that he needed a male heir so gave up and married her second cousin, Lettice Knollys.

Elizabeth was mad and banished them both from court for a time, eventually she forgave them but the connection between them was never the same, they remained just friends and he remained part of her council. As time went on Robert spent more and more time away from court due to his failing health. While travelling to Bath the take the waters he died, the last letter that he wrote to Elizabeth was cherished by her and was kept in a box by the side of her bed till she herself passed away. After Robert died his step son Robert Devereux took his place at court. He to became favorite to Elizabeth, but he would cause issues for her and would soon lose his head. 

3. Victoria & Albert 

One of England's greatest couples that changed the face of monarchy forever, but it also led to heartbreak. Victoria and Albert were cousins, who met on the stairs at Kensington Palace when he came over to England. Her uncle King Leopold, on her mothers side, wanted her to marry Albert. Leopold had Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, invite Albert over to England so the two could meet. Victoria liked his company at the start, yet her uncle George IV didn't approve.

After Albert went home the pair continued to write nonstop to each other, yet Victoria was 17 and not ready to marry. When she became Queen it was seen that the only way to get away from her mothers rule was to marry and Albert was her only choice, but she still didn't feel she was ready to marry. Albert came over to England in October 1839 and the pair slowly started to find feelings for each other. On the 15th, just five days after he had arrived, Victoria proposed to him. They were married 4 months later on 10th February at St James's Palace. It was her that stated the tradition of brides wearing white at their wedding. Victoria was in love and she made in clear in her diary entries. Albert became her companion and a political advisor which shoved out her Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. Over the next 17 years the couple had 9 children, despite her hating new born babies and the act of childbirth. 

Albert wanted to be apart of Victoria's rule and wanted to be known as her equal, but she didn't allow this to happen and was told no by her Government. When she fell pregnant she would pass over some of her work load to him but that was it. Albert wanted to change Britain for the better and a few of his ideas didn't go down well with Victoria, but yet he still carried on only to have her praise him afterwards. At their family home at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, their desks were placed together so they could help each other with work and duties. It was also Victoria and Alberts that became the first monarchs to allow their subjects to see them for the people that they were.

When Albert died in 1861, it broke Victoria's heart. She famously went into mourning for the rest of her life. She wore black everyday till she died, had his clothes laid out every morning, rarely went back to London and stayed away from the public, she would also put on more weight. During the final years of her life she became close to other men around her, but nobody could replace her Albert. When Victoria passed away she had written out what she wanted as her last wishes, some of Albert's clothes and a cast of his hand was placed in her coffin and she was to wear her wedding veil. She was then laid to rest beside Albert at Frogmore. 

Victoria and Albert have links with most of the European Royal Families, they had their children married off to these families which would then produce their own families. This means that Victoria and Albert helped to make this happen. These 2 have probably become known as one of the most romantic couples in history, its a true Romeo and Juliet like story. The pair truly loved each other and did their best to make each other happy.   

4. Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio

I know these 2 never had an effect on history, but to me it is a nice little love story that started off on the rocks but by the end got better. Marilyn at the time was the biggest star in Hollywood and Joe was a retired baseball star. She originally never wanted to go on a date due to being so tired and at one stage she even asked not go. She feared he would be big headed and arrogant, but she found that he was the opposite, he was shy and reserved. During the meal they had together, according to Marilyn he didn't eat the food in front of him and kept watching her. She then noticed that she was no longer tired, he asked her for dinner the following night which she did until he had to leave for New York. 

Due to a bad article being published about Marilyn for being being suspended from a film on the front page of the papers, she wanted something that would counteract the head lines. Her and Joe eloped and got married at San Francisco City Hall on January 14 1954.  They went to Japan for their honeymoon as Joe had some work that he had to do, it's from here that Marilyn went to on to sing for the troops in Korea. When they returned to America a few months later she started work on her next film The Seven Year Itch, the most famous scene in the film would cause an issue in her marriage and show Joe's true nature. 

From the start of their marriage he had shown a jealous, controlling nature and was at times physically abusive, this would all come to a head after the skirt flying scene in The Seven Year Itch as it caused them to have outburst arguments due to Joe not agreeing with the scene. In October 1954 Marilyn would return to New York from LA where she would then file for divorce. She would carry on a relationship with Joe despite the divorce proceedings, but she would also have flings with other men in which she would meet Arthur Miller. 

After their divorce Joe underwent therapy and stopped drinking in the hope that it would make him better. After Marilyn's marriage to Arthur Miller fell apart Joe came back into her life and had her released from a psychiatrist hospital. She would go and join him in Florida and would remain in a 'just friends' relationship, yet Joe was debating asking her to marry him again. But 4 days later Marilyn was found dead at her home in Brentwood, his son had spoken to her the night before on the phone and said that she had seemed fine. 

Joe claimed her body and organized her funeral at Westwood Village Memorial Park. He banned Hollywood's elite and members of the Kennedy family including JFK for attending the service. For the next 20 years he had half a dozen red roses delivered to her crypt 3 times a week. He would then refuse to talk about their relationship publicly and would never marry again. When Joe died, his attorney claimed that his last words were "I'll finally get to see Marilyn". 

5. Ragnar & Aslaug

A few fans of the TV show Vikings will be familiar with this infamous power couple. King Ragnar the legendary Danish king and a character of questionable existence, and very much the equivalent to Britain's King Arthur. Aslaug, the daughter of Sigurd the Dragon slayer and the shieldmaiden Brynhildr. The pair are known throughout Scandinavia for their various appearances in the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok (Ragnars saga loðbrókar) and in  Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum ("Deeds Of The Danes"). Ragnar's saga is also a sequel of sorts to the infamous Völsunga saga, which links him to Sigurd and Brynhildr. As for Aslaug's tale she originally was named Kráka ("Crow") to hide the nobility of her parents, and she was a figure of renowned beauty. So, when she was fostered, in order to hide her beauty, the universally accepted sign of her noble origins, her foster parents rubbed her in tar and dressed her in a long hood. 

Once as she was bathing in a river, and  she was discovered by some of the men of the legendary king Ragnar Lodbrok. Entranced by Aslaug's beauty, they allowed the bread they were baking to burn (this could have a link to the story about Alfred the Great and the loaves of bread, the distracted in thought/by other people arch leads the king to neglect the farmer's wife's bread in which she scolds him for it). When Ragnar asked the men about this mishap, they told him about the girl. Ragnar then sent for her, and as displayed in the show and in saga he uses his wits and sends her these instructions;

"To arrive neither dressed nor undressed, neither fasting nor eating, and neither alone nor in company"

Aslaug, also incredibly witty arrived dressed in a net, biting an onion (an apple in the show), and with only a dog as a companion. Her ingenuity impressed Ragnar and finding her a wise companion, Ragnar proposed marriage to her. Which in the saga she originally refused until he had accomplished his mission in Norway. In the show she spends time with Ragnar and he brings her back to Kattegat much to the chagrin of Lagertha (more on her in a moment). From this marriage spawned the infamous Ragnarssons, mightily leaders, warriors and explorers that led the Great Heathan Army to avenge the death of King Ragnar at the hands of Northumbrian King Ælle, and the snake pit he was flung into. The sons are;

In the saga (age order);

Rognvald, Bjorn Ironside, Hvítserk, Ívar the Boneless, Sigurð Snake-Eye (the grandfather of famous Norwegian king Harald Fine-Hair)

In the show (age order); 

Bjorn Ironside, Ubbe, Hvítserk, Sigurð Snake-Eye, Ívar the Boneless

However, you're left asking the question, "where is Lagertha?". Lagertha the Shieldmaiden was not originally in Ragnar's saga. She is still a wife of Ragnar but only in Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum. However, scholar's have concluded that she was not actually a historical figure (sorry guys!), but a reflection of tales about Viking warrior women or about the Norse deity Thorgerd. This would make her parental claim on Bjorn in the show a historical artistic licence. The show however, does make use of the story of their meeting;

"Impressed with her courage, Ragnar courted her from afar. Lagertha feigned interest and Ragnar arrived to seek her hand, bidding his companions wait in the Gaular valley. He was set upon by a bear and a great hound which Lagertha had guarding her home, but killed the bear with his spear and choked the hound to death. Thus he won the hand of Lagertha. According to Saxo, Ragnar had a son with her, Fridleif, as well as two daughters, whose names are not recorded." -  Saxo Grammaticus. "The Danish History, Book IX". Translated by Oliver Elton.

Ragnar, also had one other wife, this wife appeared in the original Saga and the Gesta Danorum. Her name was Thora Borgarhjört, and was the daughter of Herrauðr, the legendary Earl of Götaland. According to Saxo this wife was the one Ragnar married after divorcing Lagertha as he returned to Denmark, annoyed that she had set beasts on him. Thora is also a mythical character in the sagas but to gain her hand in marriage Ragnar fought off a mighty serpent (linking him to Sigurd by any chance?). It was on this mission that he gets the name Lodbrok (which mean's "Hairy Breeches");

"Wearing breeches that he had treated with tar and sand to protect his legs from the serpent's poison. It was from these that he gained the epithet Loðbrók (which literally means "Hairy-Britches"). Wielding a spear, Ragnar approached the serpent. It spat poison at him, but the poison could not penetrate Ragnar's shield or breeches. He stuck his spear through the serpent's heart and cut off its head. Thora and Ragnar were then married."

Thora allegedly dies of an illness, and according to the Tale Of Ragnar's Sons, she gave Ragnar two more sons named Eiríkr and Agnar. After Thora's death he married the aforementioned Aslaug. As you can see he was a bit of a womaniser but whether he was successful with these women depended on fighting beasts or using wits, a true Viking romance.