Love is in the (Historic) Air
By Mahira Ahmed
Caption: Follow this story as I talk about three influential relationships throughout history…
As a history nerd, I love to look back at the relationships throughout history that have endured in what I like to believe was “true love”. Of course, these relationships are not exactly of the modern standard, because not everyone was royalty and gender roles and social norms heavily influenced the time. In honor of Valentine’s Day, let me take you on a tour to meet three influential relationships throughout history.
- Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
I know everyone loves Bridgerton for the regency charm, witty social commentary, and, most of all, the romance, but I think Queen Victoria of England and Prince Albert started the trend first! After her father’s death in 1837, Victoria became Queen at the age of 18. The Queen was associated with Britain’s great age of industrial expansion and economic progress– talk about a woman in power! Unlike many royal marriages, the Queen ended up with someone who she actually liked. She wrote on her wedding night, “My dearest dearest dear Albert… and his excessive love and affection gave me feelings of heavenly love and happiness, I never could have hoped to have felt before.” Talk about love at first sight… even if he was her first cousin. Although she viewed Albert as an intellectual superior, their dynamic did represent a power struggle in which her husband wanted to supervise the kingdom alongside her. Victoria had a strong sense of her title as queen and resented having to hand over her powers while restricted by her childbearing duties. Even so, Prince Albert died in 1861 and Victoria entered into a state of permanent mourning – she famously only wore black from that point until her death. The perils of being in love!
- Emperor Justinian I and Theodora
Allow me to take you back to 522 CE, in the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Justinian I and his wife Theodora, I would like to argue, are the ancient power couple. After the burning of Constantinople in 532 CE, Justinian I rebuilt the city, and Theodora was right at his side. Their meeting was unlikely. Theodora was an actress, a profession that was considered scandalous and synonymous with being a prostitute, but then converted to Christianity at the age of 16. Theodora met Justinian I in 522 CE, who was at that time heir to the throne. Justinian wanted to wed immediately, but as heir, he was forbidden under the law to marry an actress, so Justinian had the law repealed. Ladies, never settle, because you deserve a man who would abolish an entire law to be with you. These two were truly intellectual equals. In her high position, Theodora had laws passed to prohibit forced prostitution and closed brothels, expanded the rights of women in divorce and property ownership, and instituted the death penalty for rape. Although the two came from two different worlds, their destiny to meet and rule the Byzantine Empire was truly fate.
- The Lovings
Loving V. Virginia (1967) may be one of my favorite U.S. Supreme Court case. Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a Black woman, grew up as neighbors in Virginia, raised in a relatively mixed community that saw themselves as a family, regardless of race. Due to the state’s ban on interracial marriage, they married in the District of Columbia and then returned to live in Virignia on June 2, 1958. A police officer stepped into their house at 2 a.m. on July 11, 1958, asking “What are you doing in bed with this woman?” Sheriff R Garnett Brooks asked as he shone his flashlight on a couple in bed. They had been married for five weeks. “I’m his wife,” Mildred responded.” The two were under arrest as their marriage in D.C. violated the Virginia state law. After their arrests, the two secretly lived in Virginia until their landmark case in 1965. The Supreme Court concluded that the Virginia law was unconstitutional, as Chief Justice Earl Warren said, “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State.” Against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, the Lovings’ relationship stood the test of time and established one of the most important civil rights cases that protects the rights of couples across America to this day. My favorite parallel is how the idea of love was tested against discrimination, as their last name represented the case itself- the right to love.
Of course, romanticizing any relationship would not be the best move, as people and circumstances change over time and we can never know the reality of what occurs behind closed doors. However, I find these stories fascinating as these individuals served important roles throughout history. You don’t have to be in a history textbook to find love. The right person will find you, never settle for less!