History has several examples of ménages à trois relationships. Speculation exists that, in 1547 – 48, Queen Catherine Parr, widow of Henry VIII, and her fourth husband Thomas Seymour were involved in a ménage with the future Queen Elizabeth I. Episodes of sexually charged horseplay involving the three were well-attested.

In his youth and thirteen years her junior, the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a protégé of the French noblewoman Françoise-Louise de Warens, who would become his first lover.

He lived with her at her estate on and off since his teenage years, and in 1732, after he reached the age of 20, she initiated a sexual relationship with him while also being open about her sexual participation with the steward of her house.

The German intellectual Dorothea von Rodde-Schlözer, her husband Mattheus Rodde and the French philosopher Charles de Villers also had a ménage à trois from 1794 until her husband died in 1810.

LORD NELSON NEVER MINDED SHARING

Sir William Hamilton (British ambassador to Naples), his wife Emma Hamilton, and her lover, the naval hero Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, were in a ménage à trois from 1799 until Nelson died in 1805.

At the age of 16, in 1813, the future author of Frankenstein, Mary Godwin, eloped with her to-be husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and engaged in a ménage with Claire Clairmont, future lover of Lord Byron, with whom the Shelley’s would later have an extensive relationship.

The Belgian artist/illustrator Félicien Rops (1833-1898) maintained a remarkable ménage à trois with two sisters, Aurélie and Léontine Dulac, who ran a successful fashion house in Paris Maison Dulac They each bore a child with him and they lived together for over 25 years, until his death. 

In 1882 the Russian-born psychoanalyst and author Lou Andreas-Salomé invited German philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Paul Rée to live with her, both of whom were in love with her.

She kept her relationship with the two men celibate. Later she married a third man, Friedrich Carl Andreas, with whom she was also celibate. The author E. Nesbit lived with her husband Hubert Bland and his mistress Alice Hoatson and raised their children as her own.

NOT NECESSARILY BED HOPPERS

Such relationships can and do fall short of bed-hopping. In 1882 the Russian-born psychoanalyst and author Lou Andreas-Salomé invited German philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Paul Rée to live with her, both of whom were in love with her.

She kept her relationship with the two men celibate. Later she married a third man, Friedrich Carl Andreas, with whom she was also celibate. The author E. Nesbit lived with her husband Hubert Bland and his mistress Alice Hoatson, and raised their children as her own.

In 1913, psychoanalyst Carl Jung began a relationship with a young patient, Toni Wolff, which lasted for some decades.  Deirdre Bair, in her biography of Carl Jung, describes his wife Emma Jung as bearing up nobly as her husband insisted that Toni Wolff become part of their household, saying that Wolff was his other wife.

CARL JUNG WAS POLYAMOROUS

Carl Jung the philosopher was AC/DC: In 1913, psychoanalyst Carl Jung began a relationship with a young female patient, Toni Wolff, which lasted for some decades.  Deirdre Bair, in her biography of Carl Jung, describes his wife Emma Jung as bearing up nobly as her husband insisted that Toni Wolff become part of their household, saying that Wolff was his other wife. He described as ‘participation mystique’ their reveries.

The Russian and Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky lived with Lilya Brik, who was considered his muse, and her husband Osip Brik, an avant-garde writer and critic.

WRITER’S SHOCK

As recounted by Arthur Koestler in The Invisible Writing, a conspicuous fixture of the intellectual life of 1930s Budapest was a threesome, a husband, his wife and the wife’s lover. As noted by Koestler, their relationship was so open and had lasted so many years that it was no longer the subject of gossip.

DAD’S ARMY

The writer Aldous Huxley and his first wife Maria engaged in a ménage with Mary Hutchinson, a friend of Clive Bell. From 1939, Erwin Schrödinger, his wife Annemarie Bertel, and his mistress Hilde March had a ménage à trois. In 1963 the actress Hattie Jacques lived with her husband John Le Mesurier and her lover John Schofield.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Something to think about. If a person is having an affair this is de facto a ménages à trois. The fact that the affair is clandestine doesn’t make a difference as it is still a polyamorous relationship. It could be argued that the ménages à trois is morally superior as it is open to themselves and to society so no one is being deceived. PLEASE SHARE OUR STORIES.

THE DOVETAILS HOTEL A charming romantic and risqué comedy that dares to discover the taboo pleasures of a ménage a trois relationship. Michael Walsh award-winning novelist amusingly reveals the amorous love lives of Gareth and his two attractive lady friends who are happy to share more than just friendship with the debonair novelist.   LINK TO BOOK → LULU.COM  AMAZON.CO.UK

THE ENIGMA OF TIFFANY Michael Walsh Award-Winning Writer. The elegant and glamorous Tiffany is a rich widow with a shady and shocking past when she meets Gareth, Leonara and Felicity holidaying on the Spanish Riviera. But who is Tiffany and Pegasus her gay partner? A romantic comedy with an ending that has you reaching for your Kleenex.   A reader writes, ‘I thoroughly enjoyed it.’ There is girl talk, excitement, revelations, dilemmas, compromises, romance, and pathos. LINK TO BOOK → LULU.COM AMAZON.CO.UK