Lonely/unhappy lady liberated by noble/savage foreigner, lived happily ever after

Fenestella

Banned
Story I: Roman Princess Iusta Grata Honoria, who detested her arranged marriage, beseeched and waited for Attila to rescue and marry her which never came to pass.
Story II: according to the Decameron, Bartolomea, a lady trapped in a loveless marriage, was taken by Paganino the pirate with whom she lived happily ever after.

Are you aware of a scenario having the high profile of Story I and the happy ending of Story II?

If not, could you conceive one?
 
One problem is that it's very hard to tell from the historical record if a marriage was a happy one, especially from the wife's perspective (as the viewpoints of women, even noble women, were rarely recorded). When "woman runs off with foreigner to escape marriage" happens, it may be recorded if one is particularly prominent, but few chroniclers will follow up with "oh yeah, and she's still happy all those years later."

Limiting it to "savage foreigners" (however that is defined) makes it even more difficult, as presumably they will be less likely to have surviving chronicles of their own.
 
Are you aware of a scenario having the high profile of Story I and the happy ending of Story II?

Mmm...Scenario I is hugely romanticized, and I'm afraid it's simply not realistic.

Trough her birth, Honoria wanted to access political power and against a brother she considered at best incompetent, to assert it on the Empire.
The whole "marry me, my Barbarian" narrative seems to be the interpretation of Attilla, without real clues which would be the searched goal.

In fact, I'd lean to think that, knowing about uses among Romano-Germanic societies, the ring she gave was about making Attilla one of her political supports : don't forget that the "ring-maker/ring-giver" was an expression attached to Early Medieval Kings (and later used, differently, by Tolkien).
 
I've sometimes wondered if, perhaps, Mary Queen of Scots initial bond with the Earl of Bothwell may have been to have this 'rough and tumble barbarian' rescue her from her miserable union with Lord Darnley- only to have it turn almost immediately to ashes when he proved to be TOO abrasive (and abusive) but she wasn't able to get out of the hasty union until her own forced abdication. One thing's for certain that in the next ten years until Bothwell's death, Mary made ZERO effort to attempt to reunite much less help his situation (of course, him becoming a total outlaw who almost broke down her son's door to try to kidnap the boy likely didn't endear him).
 

Fenestella

Banned
Mmm...Scenario I is hugely romanticized, and I'm afraid it's simply not realistic.
The motif and narrative matter, historicity doesn't.

According to Sinic ‎literature, during the conflict between West Liang and the Tang Dynasty, a female warrior on West Liang side named Fan Lihua loathed her fiancé. A Tang general named Sher Dingshan proposed to her, and she defected to his side. The couple had an on-again-off-again relationship before settling down.
 

Fenestella

Banned
I've sometimes wondered if, perhaps, Mary Queen of Scots initial bond with the Earl of Bothwell may have been to have this 'rough and tumble barbarian' rescue her from her miserable union with Lord Darnley- only to have it turn almost immediately to ashes when he proved to be TOO abrasive (and abusive) but she wasn't able to get out of the hasty union until her own forced abdication. One thing's for certain that in the next ten years until Bothwell's death, Mary made ZERO effort to attempt to reunite much less help his situation (of course, him becoming a total outlaw who almost broke down her son's door to try to kidnap the boy likely didn't endear him).

Are you familiar with the film Sommersby?

The total stranger who pretends to be Mr.Sommersby (Richard Gere) frees Mrs.Sommersby (Jodie Foster) from her abusive de jure husband and her lame de facto fiance Orin (Bill Pullman); he manages to prove in court he isn't an impostor, but has to pay the price for the crime he didn't commit.

Imagine a baronial or comital version of Sommersby who can get away with homicide, and the couple's happiness ahead.
 
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