It could be that. I work in a health sciences library. But the first reported cases, known as the "New Acquintance" seems to have sprung up in England, shortly after Henry VII won the battle of Redmore Plain, known later as Bosworth Field. Historians assume that some of the foreign troops on Henry Tudor's side "imported" a new virus or a new strain of virus most Englishmen and women had no resistance to.
It is possible that it was also an especially fast-moving and often lethal influenza virus. If ever DNA testing is possible on the remains of someone who is known to have died of it, it might be possible to id what the sweating sickness was. I know that not too long ago, it was discovered that many people today of European descent actually show biological markers that prove their ancestors were survivors of the Black Death. It would be interesting to find out how many also survived the sweating sickness. It seems that Henry VIII was correct in reassuring Anne Boleyn that few women fell victim to it and more women survived it than men. Were most women exposed to something that men were not, or had antibodies that men didn't? Henry VIII had an extreme fear of illness that is actually understandable in view that for most of his reign, he had no legitimate male heir. Also the precautions Henry VII took to guard his second son from illness, not only speaks of ultraprotection of his sole male heir, but I think, may also have stemmed from the sudden death of Prince Arthur. Historian David Starkey points out in "Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII" that there was no contemporary proof that Prince Arthur was sickly or a weakling prior to his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. All the existing evidence points to Arthur's final illness and death to have been rather sudden and unexpected. Cindy Abel Cindy Abel -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of A. Thurman Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 3:47 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [h-cost] Re: Tudor Sweating sickness I've been watching too and was surprised to find that the sweating sickness outbreak was one of the things they got right! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweating_sickness Also I have access to PubMed through work and several articles there suggest it was a type of hantavirus passed by rodents. Allison T. On Jan 8, 2008 3:18 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:19:48 -0800 (PST) > From: Julie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [h-cost] Comments on The Tudors > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > I rented the disks from Blockbuster this weekend and had a couple of questions/comments. > > There is substantial mention of a "sweating sickness" that killed thousands during Henry VIII's time. What was that? No mention of buboes like for plague or marks like smallpox. Did this really happen or was it just part of their story? It was very contagious and people were told to burn all clothing & bedding. I believe consumption is tuberculosis, right? Any other old disease names with modern equivalents I should know? > > I know the costumes were discussed when the show first came out What I found most jarring was anything from the neck up. The hairstyles were extremely modern. Long hair was down & exposed. Crowns & headgear, at least on the women, looked fantasy or Las Vegas. > > Julie in Ramona _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
