Can anyone give me ideas for famous women in history whose lives were ruined by an affair? The time period and place don't really matter
Wasn't it adultery as well?Nope. Annie got a bad rap. (She was actually executed for treason, IIRC, and even that was a suspect charge.)
Well, I'm writing a time travel story anyway, so I don't mind invoking a little historical revisionism.
Emma Hamilton, with Horatio Nelson.
I found her life impressive to say the least, and would think it's certainly worth a read.
I think Henry considered adultery against the king treason in of itself. But yes, her charges included high treason, adultery and incest.I was thinking he got jealous and tacked the adultery charge on to say that she'd been sharing secrets in bed or stealing secrets from her "lover" in bed. He couldn't charge her with one without charging her with the other, so he used both. Treason just so happened to be something he could kill her for, which "solved" his problems.
True, but that is the best known version of the story and I took it that the OP wanted an example that a lot of people would be familiar withThe problem I have with Guinevere is that the whole Lancelot thing was added on by French poets to make the stories appeal to their patrons. That wasn't in the original stories at all. Guinevere was pretty much a non-entity. French poets knew that sex sold, after all.
It occurs to me, however, that you're missing an obvious candidate--Helen of Troy.
True, but that is the best known version of the story and I took it that the OP wanted an example that a lot of people would be familiar with