Author: Theophargos (---.227.137)
Date: 03-06-2002 04:55
Some historical exceptions.
1. Nero kicked his wife Octavia to marry the "most beautiful" roman woman, Poppaea Sabina. Her husband Otho were send into the pampas, Lusitanien. Of course, Poppaea was an aristocrat, but Nero gained nothing from it but a beautiful wife and dissentiment - Even the roman princeps shouldn't do this thing was thought by the romans. Well, this wasn't exactly a love marriage, at least not as the anti-Nero sources tell the story.
2. Vespasianus' wife (I forgot her name) ran way with some actor. The wife of an roman princeps and some downtown-boy. Of course, they got caught and decapitated.
(Now my memory fails me more and more, but if you want, I could later - after some research - post the names.)
3. A french king (13th century) had to marry a danish princess. France were in dire problems (war) with England and the relations to the other kingdoms were also strained. The king needed support from every power he could get. When he saw the princess, the king send her back to Danmark. He didn't get any support from her father, nor from the pope by this deed.
4. (and last) Some Aristocrat should be rewarded by the byzantinian emperor. When he saw his reward (the sister of the epmeror), the man first tried to get her daughter as reward, as as this was not makeable, he totally abdonned the idea of getting married with the royal family.
So, I'm not going to say that marriages arranged to gain wealth, status, whatever, were not the norm, but breaking away from the deal wasn't unheard of. Not even if the one breaking had to lose much by it. My examples should support the article.
Valete - Theophagos
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