2. Lord Byron and Lady Caroline Lamb’s break-up may have caused the great poet to flee England – and go to his death in Greece
George Gordon Byron is widely-acclaimed as one of England’s finest-ever poets. But he might have produced an even greater body of work had it not been for his break-up with Lady Caroline Lamb. The pair had enjoyed a torrid affair throughout 1812, even though Lamb was married to William Lamb, the future Prime Minister. She famously described him as “mad, bad and dangerous to know”, and he made no secret of their affair. Neither did Byron keep his decision to break-off their relationship a secret. Lam was heartbroken and humiliated.
Byron didn’t take the break-up well, either. In 1816, he fell into a brief, ill-advised marriage to William Lamb’s cousin. However, by this point, his reputation was in tatters – due in no small part to the malicious rumor his angry former lover had been spreading. Byron saw no option but to leave England, especially when Lamb published a novel based on their affair. He soon ended up in Greece and was killed in 1824 while helping the country fight for freedom from the Ottoman Empire. Byron was just 36 when he died – a remarkable life cut tragically short.