Show Notes
To love is to risk heartbreak.
And while for some, breakups result in renewal, maybe some therapy (or a few months’ spent wallowing), for the historical figures of this episode… a relationship’s end has broken many more things than hearts.
In this episode, Dan and Elizabeth discover the lessons of history’s epic failed romances through three world-changing unions: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn; Mark Antony and Cleopatra; and Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.
Each couple burned bright and fast, and with their downfall came the end to the worlds from which they came: Catholic England, the Roman Republic, and (in the case of Edward) a grand near-miss.
So what can epic historical breakups teach us about our world today? And why are we compelled to come back to grand romantic epics?
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As always, Dan’s royal favourites can chime in anytime on the royal court on Patreon at patreon.com/thisishistory. And don’t forget to listen to this season’s accompanying bonus episodes for this miniseries, where Dan and Producer Al are dissecting the biggest historical failures as submitted by the royal favourites. In this episode, they discuss the failures of royals over various centuries to deliver the one thing they need - heirs.
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Presented by Dan Jones and Elizabeth Day
Producer - Alan Weedon
Senior Producer - Dominic Tyerman
Researcher - Phoebe Joyce
Executive Producer - Simon Poole
Executive Producer - Dan Jones
Executive Producer for Daylight Productions - Elizabeth Day
Production Manager - Jen Mistri
Production coordinator - Eric Ryan
Head of content - Chris Skinner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More from History’s Greatest Fails
Elizabeth Day grew up in Belfast and would as a child walk past the most bombed hotel in Europe. Dan Jones recalls a Croatian widow whose husband went out for bread and never returned.
If you’re an artist, when would you like recognition to strike? Do you want it to be in your lifetime, only to be forgotten decades after your death? Or do you want to remain undiscovered, with your story potentially echoing for centuries after you’ve been discovered posthumously?
If you judge him by his own elaborate metrics, Leonardo da Vinci was a failure.
What would you do if your life was omitted, reduced to an overlooked footnote, or filed away as an anomaly?
He died at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. And we haven’t been able to stop talking about him since.