Love stories are easy to find in movies and literature. Romeo and Juliet are the most famous among all the stories of romance and lovers. The love between them is considered to be the purest and the most impactful.
Most of the love stories considered famous have a tragic end, and almost all the lovers had to fight for their love.
Despite the rough situation, the lovers stay together and fight for their togetherness until the end, which shows that true love is more potent than everything else in the world.
Other love stories like Shah Jahan-Mumtaz Mahal, Cleopatra-Mark Anthony, and John – Abigail Adams are well-known for inspiring people then and now.
Here is the list of 10 most famous love stories in history with details.
10. Cleopatra and Mark Anthony
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Cleopatra was an ambitious, energetic, spiritual, intelligent last queen of the dynasty Egypt. It was founded after the death of Alexander the Great. Mark Anthony was courageous and a blunt soldier who had received the government of the East and West parts of the Roman world.
After the death of Julius Caesar, Mark – cousin of Caesar, suspected Cleopatra of the foul play in Caesar’s murder and asked her to come forward and explain the whole incident.
When she came to explain, instead of punishing her for her ill deed, he fell for her immediately, and that’s when their love story began, and they got married.
At the beginning of their intriguing, memorable, and moving love story, Egypt came in a dominant position, outraging the Romans, who were against the powerful state of Egypt.
The love story between these two is considered one of the most famous due to its tragic end. When the war was on, Mark got false news of Cleopatra’s death, and he committed suicide by stabbing himself.
Later, when Cleopatra heard about Mark’s death, she killed herself by using the poison of a snake. Their dead bodies are buried together in an unknown location.
9. Paris and Helen
Paris, son of King and Queen of Troy – Priam and Hecuba, is also known as Alexander and Helen of Sparta and is considerably the most beautiful woman in the world.
The love story between the two started with Paris choosing Aphrodite as the fairest amongst the three Greek goddesses, Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman – Helen, who was then married to King Menelaus. Paris immediately fell in love with Helen because of her beauty.
After a few years, Paris went to Sparta, abducted Helen, and brought her to Troy, which led to a massive war – The Trojan War, when Menelaus assembled a vast Greek Army that attacked and destroyed Troy.
The love story of Paris and Helen is also one of the most famous due to its tragic end. With the destruction of Troy, Helen returns to Sparta with King Menelaus and lives there for the rest of her life.
8. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal
Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor, was the intellectual emperor with an impactful physique, and Mumtaz, originally named aa Arjumand Banu, was the daughter of a wealthy Persian nobleman.
The love story between the two began when they got married and went on smoothly until and after the death of Mumtaz. Mumtaz married Shah Jahan when she was 15 years old.
Though she was not the only wife of Shah Jahan, she was able to impress him and become the favorite of all wives. They had a total of 14 children.
With the demise of Shah’s favorite wife, Mumtaz, he decided to build a monument for their love. The monument was named the Taj Mahal, which became the most famous architectural masterpiece in history.
After a few years, Shah Jahan was ill and overthrown by his eldest son. He then was kept under house arrest, where he spent his time staring at the monument to his beloved wife until his death. His body was buried beside Mumtaz’s in the Taj Mahal.
7. Lancelot and Guinevere
Lancelot was one of the Knights of the Round Table, and the most excellent companion of King Arthur, and Guinevere was a beautiful and noble queen.
The love story between these two is considered one of the best-known stories of Arthurian Legend. The story began when Lancelot fell in love with the wife of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere.
Despite their most memorable love affair, Guinevere tried to keep Lancelot away from her, but not for long.
One night, when they were in their chamber together, King Arthur’s nephews – Agravain and Modred, along with 12 knights, burned down the chamber and the lovers.
Lancelot somehow managed to escape the fire, but unfortunately, Queen Guinevere was not so lucky, so she was stuck there. But after a few days, he returned to rescue her and weakened King Arthur’s kingdom by dividing the Knights of the Round Table into two halves – Lancelot team and the Arthur team.
Though he saved her from the evil plan, she turned into a nun and stayed at Amesbury till her death, and he was left to spend his remaining days as a lowly hermit until his death.
6. Napoleon and Josephine
Napoleon was a French military leader and an emperor, whereas Josephine was born in Martinique to a minor aristocrat. Her original name was Marie Josephe Rose Tasher de la Pagerie.
The love story between the two began when Napoleon saw Marie Josephe Rose at a party and fell in love with her instantly. He then asked her to change her name to Josephine as he did not like her original name.
When Napoleon proposed to Josephine, she did not accept at first, but once she heard that he was after someone else, she accepted his proposal and married him.
Though they were married, Josephine kept on having extramarital affairs. Napoleon was out in Italy on a military mission, and he wrote many letters asking her to visit him but always found excuses not to visit him.
She once told him she was pregnant, but when they finally met, she lied about having a miscarriage.
After a few years, Napoleon found out about Josephine’s lies, and one lie that hurt him the most was when he found out that she could not bear a child.
He then told her they would remain as a married couple, but his love for her was no more. After hearing that, Josephine decided to be a loyal wife, but still, he divorced her and married Marie Louise.
5. Anarkali and Salim
Anarkali was originally from Iran but later migrated to Lahore, Punjab. She was a legendary slave girl. Salim was a spoilt and rude crown Prince.
The love story between the two began when Salim saw Anarkali performing Mujra for the emperor Akbar. He fell in love with her grace and beauty immediately.
Despite her fame in Lahore, Anarkali was still a maid and a dancer. She was not considered of noble blood, so their relationship was an illicit one. After knowing about their relationship, Akbar decided to arrest Anarkali and keep her in one of the dungeons in Lahore.
When Salim learned about Akbar’s plan, he declared war against his father but could not defeat him due to his vast army.
With the defeat, Salim was sentenced to death. When Anarkali knows about it, she tries to intervene and save Salim, but she is also entombed alive in a massive brick wall in front of his eyes.
4. St. Valentine
St. Valentine was a Christian priest of the 3rd Century. While the Roman Emperor, Claudius II Gothicus, was against love and marriage in the army as he thought the only reason troops did not want to come back to work was the love towards their family.
Valentine was the one who supported love and got the armies married secretly before they went to war. When Claudius discovered Valentine’s deeds, he imprisoned him and ordered his death.
While Valentine was in prison, he fell in love with a blind girl – the daughter of a jailer. One day before his execution, he wrote a letter to his romance with the ink squeezed from violets. The blind girl could see again by reading his message as his letter had deep words.
St. Valentine is considered an influential figure for all lovers and those supporting love and affection. He gave up his life for those young couples whose feelings were buried by the Roman Emperor.
February 14 is celebrated as Valentine’s Day to honor St.VAlentine and his deeds.
3. John and Abigail Adams
John Adams ( 1735 – 1826 ), born in Braintree, was an American statesman, writer, attorney, and diplomat, and Abigail (1744 – 1818 ) was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts as Abigail Smith. She became Abigail Adams after marrying John Adams.
Though they had known each other from their childhood, their love story started only when they were in adulthood.
The story began when Abigail was 17 and John was 26 years old. After being in a relationship for about 2 years, they were married by Abigail’s father, who was the local pastor.
Abigail was interested in gaining knowledge, so she learned writing, reading, and knew about political issues, but she never got a chance to go to school. She always spoke her mind openly about equality issues.
Both the couple were deeply in love and supported each other in every way possible. Even though they had to live apart during the revolution period, they never stopped being in love.
They wrote letters to each other, which are famous today. There are almost 1200 letters written over their lifetimes.
They stayed together only after Abigail Adams became the president. They remained on their old farm until Adams’s death. John died 8 years after Abigail’s death. They two are considered to be best friends.
2. Tristan and Iseult
Tristan was a Cornish Knight, and Isuelt was the Irish Princess.
Their love story is considered to be an influential romance with a tragic end. Adulterous lovers began their love affair when Tristan’s uncle, King Mark of Cornwall sends him to escort Iseult back to Cornwall to marry him.
Tristan falls in love at the very first sight, and the same happens with Isuelt. Despite their love, she marries his uncle, King Mark but continues an extramarital affair with Tristan.
When King Mark finds out about the two, he bans his nephew, Tristan from Cornwall but spares Isuelt. After some time, Tristan falls sick and sends out a message to Israel.
As Isuelt does not come to cure him despite his message, Tristan dies of despair. Later, when Isuelt finds out about his death, she too dies of grief.
1. Romeo and Juliet
Romeo Montague is the male protagonist of the tragedy by William Shakespeare, and Juliet Capulet is the only daughter of the House of Capulet’s patriarch.
The relationship between Romeo and Juliet is considered to be the most famous one in history, which ends with a tragic turn. The love affair between the two starts when the two see each other for the first time.
Despite being from two feuding families, they fell in love and got married, which led to massive bloodshed with the death of Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt. After Tybalt’s death, Romeo gets banished, and then Juliet fakes her death.
Somehow Romeo gets false news about Juliet’s death, and he kills himself in her tomb. Unfortunately, Juliet wakes up later and hears about the real incident which breaks her down, and goes beside Romeo’s corpse and kills herself.
With the death of the lovers, both the families decide on ending the feud.
Conclusion:
Most of the stories mentioned above are immortal which were able to set some examples for those who were in support of love and emotions.
Some of the other significant love stories with impactful romance include the love stories of Eloise and Abelard, Orpheus and Eurydice, Layla and Majnun, Alexander I and Draga Masm, and Odysseus and Penelope.
All their stories made us realize, have faith, and respect love. Though most of the stories had a tragic end, they never fail to impress and influence the upcoming lovers with actual feelings.
