Those annoying people sent to teach us a lesson
King Henry VIII was known for having six wives, so it's likely there was more than one love triangle throughout his life! However, the most significant one was between himself, his first wife Catherine of Aragon, and his lover Anne Boleyn.
Louis XIV of France named himself the Sun King, seeing himself as the center of his kingdom the same way the Sun is the center of our solar system. Needless to say, many women were caught in his orbit.
The Marquise de Montespan was a noblewoman in the court of Louis XIV who had a reputation for being a greedy social climber. She became his chief mistress for decades and gave birth to seven children!
Maria Theresa died young, and the Marquise of Montespan eventually lost favor with Louis XIV, allegedly for consorting with witches. His affections switched to the governess of his children, the Marquise de Maintenon. They were secretly married and their relationship status remained a secret for the next 30 years.
Queen Victoria's younger daughter, Prince Beatrice, was married off to a German royal called Prince Henry of Battenberg. It's said that Prince Henry became very close with Princess Louise while Princess Beatrice was busy being a dutiful daughter to her mother. She was suspicious of their relationship, and when Henry died, Louise claimed that he had confided in her that he never loved Beatrice. The two sisters grew apart because of the alleged love triangle.
Her first marriage was to King Louis VII of France, who had originally intended to become a monk. They embarked on the Crusades together and had a relatively happy marriage, but Eleanor's lively and adventurous antics became too much for the puritanical Louis. He had their marriage annulled in 1152.
Nonetheless, Lady Franesca had to honor the engagement and married Gianciotto, but all the while she carried on a torrid affair with Paolo. When Gianciotto discovered their affair, he killed both his wife and his brother. The terrible story was immortalized in Dante's most famous work, the 'Divine Comedy.'
Eleanor of Aquitane was a powerful monarch of the 12th century. Through her two marriages she served as Queen of France and Queen of England, and also took part in the Crusades.
President Andrew Jackson was Rachel Jackson's second husband. She believed herself to be divorced when she married him, but her ex-husband attested that they were still married. When a rival of President Jackson called him out on this bigomy scandal, he challenged him to a duel and ended up killing him. The President was not charged with murder because dueling was a legitimate form of conflict resolution at the time.
Lady Francesca da Rimini was an Italian noblewoman during the Renaissance period. She was engaged to a man called Gianciotto da Malatesta, but the legend goes that she was in love with his younger brother, Paolo.
Rachel Jackson was the wife of the 7th president of the United States, Andrew Jackson. He was a fiercely loyal husband and would respond swiftly and aggressively to any insult to himself or his wife. Unfortunately, his political opponents had quite a bit of ammunition in that regard.
Henry asked the Pope's permission to leave his wife and marry Anne Boleyn, but his request was denied. This led Henry to separate from the Catholic Church and create the Church of England, which allowed him to divorce Catherine. The Church of England is still the dominant religion in the UK today.
Ray wasn't interested in Hackman and rejected his advances. Driven mad with jealousy and heartbreak, the unstable Hackman shot and killed Ray one night as she was leaving the theater. The Earl of Sandwich made sure to keep the matter quiet so his reputation wouldn't be harmed.
The Earl was married, but he had a mistress named Martha Ray. She remained his mistress for years, but she also had another admirer. James Hackman was a clergyman of the Church of England, and he was wildly in love with Ray.
John Montagu succeeded his grandfather to become the fourth Earl of Sandwich in 1729. His obvious claim to fame is that he invented the sandwich one night while playing cards. He was hungry but didn't want to leave the game, so he requested a slice of roast beef be served to him between two slices of bread so he could eat it with his hands.
Most people have heard of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but few people have heard of Etta Place. Place was a woman from the Wild West who was involved with both of the famous outlaws at various times. Pictured here is actress Katherine Ross playing Etta Place in the 1969 Western 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.'
She eventually married the Sundance Kid and took his mother's maiden name, Place. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were members of a loosely organized gang called the Wild Bunch. Almost all of them were captured or killed at a young age, but Etta Place lived to a ripe old age.
Sources: (Medium) (Ranker) (Your Tango)
Place reportedly met Butch Cassidy (pictured) and the Sundance Kid at a brothel, and started dating Cassidy. However, she is said to have switched back and forth between the two outlaw partners.
Helen of Troy started out as Helen of Sparta, which gives you an idea of where this story is going! At a young age, she was married to Menelaus, ruler of the Spartans. However, she was seduced by the handsome young Paris of Troy, who snuck her back to Troy with him.
When it comes to Antony and Cleopatra, their love triangle was more of a love pentagon. First of all, Cleopatra was the lover of Julius Caesar, a colleague and ally of Antony's. When Julius Caesar died, Antony took over joint rule of Rome, and he and Cleopatra fell in love.
Louis XIV was married to Maria Theresa of Spain, but his eyes wandered frequently. Maria Theresa gave birth to five children, but only two survived.
Queen Victoria was one of the most influential queens in British history. She had nine children, and made sure to arrange strategic marriages for each of them, ensuring that the British royal family had marital ties with all of the other powerful royals of Europe. However, they weren't all happy about their matches.
Princess Louise was said to be Victoria's most beautiful and free-spirited daughter, and she got away with choosing her own husband. She married a Scottish nobleman rather than a fellow royal, but their marriage wouldn't be a happy one.
The kings of East and West Numidian were at war with each other, but their greater enemy was Rome. When Syphax was captured by the Romans, Masinissa took power in Numidia and Sophonisba fell under his protection. History says that Sophonisba seduced Masinissa to ensure he wouldn't hand her over to the Romans. Apparently she was successful, and they proceeded with a bigamous marriage.
But, surprise, surprise, Mark Antony left his second wife and went back to Cleopatra in Egypt. This time, it started a war. Both Mark Antony and Cleopatra ended up dead, and Egypt fell under Roman rule.
Antony followed Cleopatra back to Egypt to live in romantic bliss. This was a problem because he was already married. He later returned to Rome to try to smooth things over because his infidelity was causing political issues. Sadly, his wife died shortly afterwards. In an effort to resolve things, he hastily married the sister of another Roman leader, Octavian.
Sophonisba was a noblewoman born in Carthage in the year 235 BCE. During her short life, she was at the center of a dangerous love triangle between two of the greatest rivals of the era. At first, Sophonisba was engaged to Masinissa, king of the eastern Numidians. However, she ended up marrying his enemy instead. Her husband was Syphax, king of the western Numidians.
Masinissa later allied with the Romans, who then wanted to take Sophonisba as their prisoner. She chose to poison herself because she would rather die than become a slave to the Romans. The story became a popular subject of tragic plays in the centuries that followed.
The "theft" of his wife led Menelaus to start a war. The Spartans and the Trojans engaged in a bloody war that lasted 10 years, and Helen is still named as the cause to this day.
Eleanor did not stay single for very long. Within two months, she was married to Louis' great rival, King Henry II of England. The marriage gave Henry land that helped him oppose his enemy. The insult to King Louis sparked an even greater feud that carried on for generations.
Love is one of the driving forces of human nature. It inspires us to make unwise decisions, and sometimes completely change our lives. If it's passionate, dramatic, and painful, it's all the more addictive, but causes even more chaos. This becomes rather dangerous when it involves the most powerful people in history. Some of the most infamous love triangles have brought nations to their knees, caused the deaths of thousands, and inspired great works of art.
Click through this gallery to learn about some of the messiest high-stakes love triangles in history.
The most shocking love triangles in world history
Some of these affairs quite literally changed the world!
LIFESTYLE Love affairs
Love is one of the driving forces of human nature. It inspires us to make unwise decisions, and sometimes completely change our lives. If it's passionate, dramatic, and painful, it's all the more addictive, but causes even more chaos. This becomes rather dangerous when it involves the most powerful people in history. Some of the most infamous love triangles have brought nations to their knees, caused the deaths of thousands, and inspired great works of art.
Click through this gallery to learn about some of the messiest high-stakes love triangles in history.