Top 10 Most Infamous Arranged Marriages in History
10 Infamous Arranged Marriages in History
Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at arranged marriages that are historic for their dysfunction or equally scandalous societal implications.
Prasenajit and Vāsavakhattiyā
It’s difficult to separate fact from myth in the royal marriages of Ancient India. We know that Pasenadi of Kosala married Vāsavakhattiyā to form an alliance with the Shakya tribe some time during the 5th century BCE. This didn’t stop their son Viḍūḍabha from forcefully absorbing his mother’s homeland. According to Pali Buddhist legend, it was revealed that Vāsavakhattiyā was born of a slave and passed off as a full noble to spite Pasenadi’s lower caste. There’s no evidence that this was true, much less motivation for Viḍūḍabha’s brutal annexation. We may never know Padenadi’s true feelings about the marriage that produced Kosala’s next and final king. It has nonetheless been permanently associated with a moral myth about the wages of deception.
Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII
After Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II’s scandalous union, marriage between siblings became customary for the Ptolemaic pharaohs of Egypt. (xref 1) Still, it was particularly tense when Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII married in 51 BC in accordance with their father's will. The Queen violated joint-rule by scrubbing her brother's name from documents and minting coins bearing only her likeness. The Pharaoh responded by driving her out of Egypt. Cleopatra eventually reclaimed her throne in the Battle of the Nile with the support of her lover Julius Caesar of Rome. And with Ptolemy XIV’s demise three years later, allegedly by fratricide, the Ptolemaic dynasty would eventually die with Cleopatra. (xref 2) Sibling rivalries don't get much messier than that.
Tamar of Georgia and Yuri Bogolyubsky
Growing opposition to a female “King” of Georgia placed pressure on Tamar to produce a male heir. The Rus’ prince Yuri Bogolyubsky turned out to not be worth the trouble following the marriage in 1185. He indulged in drinking, adultery and torture, often turning his abuses toward his wife. So in 1187, with no children, she divorced and exiled him to Constantinople. Yuri returned four years later to launch two revolts that were quickly put down. Tamar did bear George IV with her beloved David Soslan, but her first husband ultimately produced evidence of her own capabilities as a military leader. The controversy surrounding the sole Queen of Georgia ended with the title “Tamar the Great.”
Hino Tomiko and Ashikaga Yoshimasa
The Hino clan’s tradition of marrying into the Ashikaga shogunate led to one member taking charge. Tomiko married Ashikaga Yoshimasa in 1455 after being betrothed to his late older brother, but struggles to have children prompted the Shogun to adopt his younger brother Yoshimi as his heir. The birth of Ashikaga Yoshihisa in 1465 thus ignited the Ōnin War. After a decade of bloodshed, Tomiko effectively led the shogunate until her son came of age, then continued to engineer the line of succession after his untimely death. This would earn her the popular moniker of “The Lady Macbeth of Japan.” But whether Tomiko’s characterization is sinister or empowering, Yoshimasa must share in that legacy.
Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves
Every one of Henry VIII’s six marriages is a scandal in England’s history. For him to have had limited say in his fourth, it ended rather civilly. That is, for the bride Anne of Cleves. Chief Minister Thomas Cromwell orchestrated the King’s union with a Cleves-Berg duchess in 1539 to strengthen Protestant forces against the Catholics. Henry chose Anne over her sister Amalia based on a painting, but was disappointed upon meeting her on their wedding day. The unconsummated marriage was annulled six months later. But this especially indicative episode in Old Coppernose’s pettiness didn’t end there. Political opponents exploited the scandal to charge Cromwell with treasonous corruption and heretical plotting, which led to his execution.
Mary I of England and Philip II of Spain
Controversial marriages ran in the Tudor dynasty. Queen Mary was wed to her Spanish cousin Philip in 1554 to secure her Catholic dynasty against England’s Protestant Reformation. The marriage between two thrones ignited xenophobic concerns over Spanish influence. The wedding announcement alone prompted Thomas Wyatt the Younger to raise a failed rebellion that highlighted the opposition. Mary’s increasingly “bloody” anti-Protestant policies and support of Spain’s war with France didn’t do much to win popular support. Moreover, her unrequited love for the mostly absent Philip placed so much added pressure on her mental health that she experienced two “phantom pregnancies.” This ultimately counterproductive marriage ended with Mary’s passing in 1558, and the stage was set for Elizabeth I to complete their father's reformation.
Peter III and Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst
It seemed ideal for a Prussian princess to marry a German-born heir apparent of the Russian Empire in 1745 to strengthen the two kingdoms’ alliance. But Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst found the incompetent and cruel Peter III to be anything but ideal as both a husband and a leader. So six months after his ascension to Emperor in 1762, his own wife masterminded a successful coup d’etat. The arrested Peter died under mysterious circumstances just over a week later. His widow was thus crowned Empress Catherine II of Russia, whose 34-year reformist reign made her more commonly recognized as Catherine the Great. At least some good came out of her 17 years with a less-than-great husband.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
It was the most uncertain of times in France when Prince Louis-Auguste married the Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette in 1770 to solidify a political alliance. The teenagers were initially so apathetic toward the arrangement that it took seven years to consummate it. The then-King and Queen would form a genuine bond while building a family. But the delay in this process undermined their political authority amid rumors of Austrian influence. There was also no shortage of gossip to fuel public disdain for the French aristocracy. Republicans eventually felt emboldened to lead an uprising that saw Louis and Marie executed for high treason in 1793. Whether over their reign or their deaths, the Kingdom of France ended in scandal.
Princess Deokhye of Joseon and Count Sō Takeyuki
Twenty-one years after Japan annexed Korea, Princess Deokyhye of the Joseon Dynasty was married to aristocrat Sō Takeyuki as a symbol of unity. The arrangement was in fact a demotion of the royal family to signal an escalation of assimilation policies. Takeyuki was reportedly a caring husband, but Deokhye’s separation from her family during a cultural crisis intensified her mental illness. The couple divorced 10 years after Imperial Japan ended with World War II. And while Korea was splitting into two opposing nations, Deokhye remained in psychiatric care in Japan. She died in 1989 as a commoner in South Korea, but got to see the survival of a culture that was meant to see her marriage as defeat.
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
Arranged marriages in the British monarchy had only seemingly faded by the 20th century. In 1981, a rigorous matchmaking campaign pressured Charles, Prince of Wales into wedding noble socialite Diana Spencer. The public went years believing that this arrangement was a “fairy tale” romance. The real romance was between Charles and long-time girlfriend Camilla, while Diana’s mental health deteriorated under the pressures of her station. In 1996, an heir apparent to the British throne got a divorce for the first time ever. Diana died during a frantic paparazzi encounter the following year. Now King Charles III and Queen Camilla reign over Great Britain as a symbol of true love’s resilience. His first marriage, however, is a timeless cautionary tale of mismatched union.
What are some other marriages whose collapse took whole societies with them? Speak your peace in the comments.
