10 sensational European weddings that led to real tragedies

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Secret weddings in history are proof that not all marriage proposals end happily. From time immemorial, lovers had to marry either secretly or in a hurry to avoid interference from relatives eager to separate them. But as it turned out, behind one secret, as a rule, lies another. Some marriages ended in happiness, others in tears …

1. Eloise and Abelard

Especially tragic is the medieval story of a doomed romance between the French scientist Pierre Abelard and his brilliant student Eloise. Over time, their intellectual relationship developed into a more intimate one. Eloise even became pregnant, and the couple married in secret at the beginning of the 13th century. The news of the wedding spread, and their story turned into a fatal end: Eloise's uncle hired people who, in the middle of the night, secretly sneaked into Pierre's room, forcibly castrated him.

Humiliated and doomed to loneliness, he went to the monastery, and after them went his dearest wife. Despite the fact that they lived separately, Pierre and Heloise continued to write love letters to each other.

2. Andrew Robinson Stony and Mary Elinora Bowes

Andrew Robinson Stony - the self-styled "Captain Stoney" - was a dashing Irish rake who married one of the richest women in Britain. Mary Elinora Bose, Countess of Strathmore, was a young widow with five children. As a widow, she could control her life on her own and marry whoever she wanted.

After meeting the Countess, Stoney fought a duel to defend her honor. During a fake duel, he claimed to have been mortally wounded. In his last wish, Andrew asked permission to see the Countess. She agreed to a hasty marriage to appease a man she believed to be dying.

But Stoney quickly recovered from the alleged injuries, and the Countess stayed with him in the hope that her love life would improve. He began to spend the countess's money right and left, and also constantly insult her. In addition, Robinson kept her practically under house arrest and even attacked the maids and fathers of illegitimate children.

With the help of sympathetic maids, the Countess managed to escape from her tyrannical husband. But she didn't stop there: in an era when divorce was as rare as it was scandalous, she sued Stony in 1789 - and actually won. Britain was shocked by all that the unfortunate woman who lived with the tyrant had to face.

3. The story of priest James Coyle

Secret marriages and escapes can also be disastrous for family members and associates, not just couples. As evidence, consider the case of James Coyle, an Irish priest who immigrated to Birmingham, Alabama.

In 1921, Coyle's father arranged a secret wedding between Ruth Stevenson, whose father was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and Pedro Gussman, a Puerto Rican. When the news of their wedding became known, Ruth's father, distraught at the news, rushed to Coyle's house and shot the priest on his own porch. He then proceeded to the courthouse and surrendered to the police. He was eventually acquitted of the murder charge, making it appear as if it was self-defense. It is also noteworthy that Father Ruth, being an ardent hater of the Catholic faith, took out his anger on Father Coyle, who was a priest just at the Catholic Church, where a young couple was secretly married. Unfortunately, after such an incident, the family ties Ruth and Pedro broke up within a week.

4. Rita Hayworth and Edward Judson

When eighteen-year-old Rita Cancino was trying to conquer Hollywood, Edward Judson, a clever businessman, became her mentor, manager and lover in one bottle. In 1937, Edward persuaded a young woman to marry, and they fled to Las Vegas. He helped transform Rita Cansino into Rita Hayworth, a brilliant movie star.

Their marriage lasted five years, during which he managed her career in such a way that he took all of her income for himself. When they divorced in 1942, Hayworth was left almost penniless.

5. Murder in the red barn

The so-called murder in the red barn in 1827 was one of the most notorious crimes of the 21st century. In 1826, twenty-four-year-old Maria Martin began an affair with twenty-two-year-old William Corder, and as a result, the couple had a child.

William agreed to run away with Maria and, according to his proposal, they were to meet in the red barn, and then travel to Ipswich to get married. Instead of escaping with her, Will killed Maria and buried her in the barn. When he was finally caught, he was found guilty and hanged on August 11, 1828. This sad episode inspired some poets, singers and artists, who told about what happened in their works.

6. The abduction of Shrigli

Gretna Green, Scotland, was the real Las Vegas of the 17th and 19th centuries. Young couples from England fled there to tie the knot as marriage laws in Scotland were less strict. However, in 1826, the infamous kidnapping of Shrigley took place in Gretna Green.

Thirty-year-old Edward Gibbon Wakefield hatched a plan to marry Ellen Turner, a wealthy young heiress, in order to gain access to her funds and connections. Therefore, on March 7, 1826, he lured fifteen-year-old Turner out of her boarding school and, having lied about the plight of her family, forced her to flee with him to Gretna Green. From there they fled to the continent.

The authorities have finally tracked down the couple in France. Wakefield and his young wife were returned to the UK, where he was tried and imprisoned, and their marriage was annulled.

7. Sir Walter Raleigh and Elizabeth Throckmorton

Sir Walter Raleigh is known to schoolchildren throughout America as one of the early founders of English colonization in the so-called New World. He founded the ill-fated colony in Roanoke, where several cities and towns were named after him. In addition, he was not just a famous researcher, but also a popular figure at the court of Queen Elizabeth I.

Thanks to his exploits in America, Raleigh was the darling of the aging queen. But soon he fell under a hot hand, so to speak, and all because he entered into an intimate relationship with Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's maids of honor. The girl became pregnant and Raleigh secretly married a young woman without first asking Her Majesty's permission. When the Good Queen Bess found out about the secret marriage, she became angry with the spouses, expelled them from the palace and imprisoned Raleigh in the Tower for a while. It took him years to restore the lost royal grace and reunite with his beloved.

8. Camila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez

Camila O'Gorman was a member of an elite family in the mid-19th century in Buenos Aires. When she was nineteen years old, she fell in love with the father of Ladislao Gutierrez, a twenty-three-year-old priest. Love for a priest in a conservative Catholic society was a terrible sin for a young socialite, so the young couple fled the city.

The couple did not actually marry, but for about five months introduced themselves as husband and wife in Goya, Argentina, where they founded the school. During this time, O'Gorman became pregnant. However, despite their good intentions, fate played a cruel joke on them. After the lovers were discovered, they were arrested, tried and executed together in 1848.

9. Maria Stuart and Lord Boswell

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, has had a tragic life. She married, but soon her husband, Lord Darnley, was killed. Everyone suspected Lord Boswell, Earl of Scots, was behind the murder.

And what happened soon came as a shock to everyone. A few months after the death of her husband, Mary took Lord Boswell as her husband, who just recently divorced his first wife.

Such an unexpected wedding raised doubts and suspicions about whether it was voluntary. Behind them, they began to whisper, discussing what had happened, and the once beloved queen began to lose her reputation literally in front of the amazed audience.

A few weeks after the wedding, Mary was forced to abdicate in favor of her young son James. Boswell fled to France, and Stuart surrendered to Queen Elizabeth I of England, who executed her in 1587.

10. Prince of Wales and Mary Fitzherbert

The Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King George III, was a pleasure lover and patron of the arts. Although he had many mistresses and fell into love stories every now and then, in 1784 he gave his heart to Maria Fitzherbert. She was twice a widow and a Catholic.

While it was perfectly reasonable to leave Mrs. Fitzherbert as his mistress, the prince would never marry her. According to the 1772 Royal Marriage Act, members of the royal family were required to obtain permission to marry. Given the religious affiliation of Mrs. Fitzherbert, she could never be accepted as the wife of the future king, since the monarch was also the head of the Protestant Church of England. But these obstacles did not stop the lovers. On December 15, 1785, the couple held a secret, albeit legally invalid, wedding ceremony in London.

Their relationship didn't end well. As the future king, the Prince of Wales was under increasing pressure from his relatives, who demanded legal marriage and the birth of his own heir. So, in 1794, he broke off his relationship with Mrs. Fitzherbert.

Even though they never had a public marriage, she probably remained the love of his life. And according to some sources, the prince was even buried with a miniature portrait of his secret wife.

As you know, you cannot order your heart. However, scandalous stories related to the love affairs of the British royal family - direct proof of this.