For Better or for Worse: 20 Devastating Historical Marriages That Ended in Tragedy

Henry was desperately obsessed with Anne, going so far as to overthrow the Church of England for the sole purpose of marrying her. But the lovebirds never really adapted to life as a couple: when Anne failed to bear Henry a son, he quickly turned against her, accusing her of adultery and plotting to overthrow him. Two years later, Henry had Anne executed for treason.

For years, the lovers ruled Alexandria like a king and queen, throwing wild parties and reveling in their wealth. But their happiness was short-lived: Rome never forgave Mark Antony for helping Cleopatra turn Egypt into a monarchy. When they were defeated at the Battle of Actium by Octavian’s fleet, Mark Antony fell from grace.

Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia, hated his wife of convenience from the moment she was chosen for him. To make matters worse, Eudoxia did her best to sabotage all of Peter’s efforts to modernize Russia. Tired of her constant criticism, Peter ordered that she be put in chains and expelled from the palace.

The unlikely union between a brilliant, introverted playwright and Hollywood’s most sensual blonde captivated the public but quickly turned into a nightmare for both of them. Miller was constantly grappling with the frenzied media circus surrounding his fragile wife. For her part, Marilyn felt deeply judged and treated condescendingly by her husband’s intellectual friends.

Rome’s most deranged emperor found his match in a ruthless noblewoman who is said to have pushed him to turn against his own mother in order to consolidate his position. Their relationship was marked by extreme extravagance and volatile tempers that kept the entire imperial court on the edge of their seats. Although Nero apparently adored her, her explosive fits of rage eventually led to a horrific tragedy during a violent marital argument.

Annabella mistakenly believed she could set England’s most scandalous and libertine poet on the right path, but she realized her mistake just a few days after exchanging vows. Byron treated his young wife with unspeakable cruelty, openly flaunting his numerous affairs and racking up insurmountable debts while indulging in excessive drinking. The marriage lasted barely a year before she took their newborn daughter and fled the house, terrified.

King Louis VII of France, a man of wit, was uneasy when he married the socialite Eleanor of Aquitaine. He understood why the very next day after the wedding, when Eleanor complained that she had “married a philosopher, not a king.” Louis and Eleanor hated each other so much that they divorced after King Louis took part in the Second Crusade.

While the Civil War raged across the United States, a far more discreet conflict was constantly simmering within the walls of the White House. Mary suffered from violent mood swings and a shopping addiction. Lincoln loved his wife deeply, but his demanding political obligations often forced him to endure her bouts of intense jealousy in public.

Two incredibly naive teenagers were brought together to forge a political alliance, but they lacked the emotional maturity needed to lead a deeply divided nation. Louis was glaringly inept and shirked his marital duties for years, forcing Marie—feeling lonely—to take refuge in extravagant fashion and gambling. Their total lack of communication made them appear completely out of touch with the starving French people.

At first, Sand devotedly cared for the brilliant composer as his tuberculosis gradually worsened in their secluded villa. However, her hypersensitivity and constant jealousy eventually turned her devotion into deep resentment. This toxic relationship ultimately fell apart following family disputes involving Sand’s children.

This royal marriage was a complete disaster from the very first moment, as George found his wife physically repulsive and Caroline considered him incredibly arrogant. He spent their wedding night completely drunk, slumped on the bedroom floor. When he ascended the throne, he went so far as to lock the palace doors on the day of his coronation to prevent her from being crowned queen.

When Charles Dickens fell in love with Catherine Hogarth and married her, the couple was on cloud nine. They had ten children together, and everything was going swimmingly. But when another woman caught Dickens’s eye, he left Catherine, had her committed to an asylum, and declared loud and clear that she was a wife unworthy of the name.

Scott often incorporated passages from Zelda’s diaries into his own novels, which dealt a terrible blow to her artistic ambitions. As her mental health rapidly deteriorated and she suffered a series of serious breakdowns, Scott attributed his financial ruin to her medical expenses.

Franz Joseph adored his lovely wife, but he was far too weak to defend her against his domineering mother, who had taken control of their children. Sisi developed severe eating disorders and spent decades traveling the world, with the sole aim of getting as far away from Vienna as possible. Her tragic flight from her imperial duties came to an end only when an anarchist assassinated her on a pier in Switzerland.

Sophia worked tirelessly to transcribe her voluminous novels by hand, while Léo became increasingly obsessed with the idea of giving away all their money to live like a poor peasant. They argued constantly over the royalties from her books. At the age of eighty-two, Léo finally reached his limit and fled into the freezing winter night, just to end it all.

The Frenchman Napoleon Bonaparte fell madly in love with his wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, at first sight. Napoleon wrote dozens of love letters to Joséphine during his travels, but her repeated infidelities eventually wore him down. Ultimately, Joséphine’s inability to bear him an heir led Napoleon to cast her out of his life.

The famous architect shocked high society by abandoning his wife and children to run off with the wife of one of his wealthy clients. They built themselves a magnificent dream home, named Taliesin, in the hills of Wisconsin, to escape the intense public scandal. However, their unconventional love story came to a tragic end when a deranged servant suddenly set the house on fire.

The poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath brought out the worst in each other. Hughes had an affair, and Plath sank deeper into madness. Hughes never remarried and was constantly haunted by the ghosts of Plath’s admirers.

England’s worst monarch sparked a serious international crisis by abducting a French noblewoman who was already engaged to a powerful rival. Their marriage was subsequently marked by mutual distrust. John was in the habit of locking his young queen away in the castle’s icy towers whenever he suspected her of disloyalty.

This legendary artistic duo often described their relationship as that of an elephant and a dove, and their marriage turned out to be just as awkward. Both spouses had numerous high-profile affairs. But Diego crossed a line that should never have been crossed when he made advances toward Frida’s own younger sister.