In the 16th century, a wave of the disease epidemic swept across Europe, dubbed the “English sweating fever”, or “English sweat. “It was accompanied by a high mortality rate. The epidemic flashed several times between the years 1485 and 1551.
A photo from open sources
The first outbreak was recorded in England. When the living in Brittany, Henry Tudor, the future king of England, landed on the shore Wales, he brought English sweat with him. Most of his troops, consisting mainly of Breton and French mercenaries, was infected. By the time of landing, the disease was just began to appear.
After Henry Tudor was crowned and established himself in London, English sweat spread to the local population, and for a month from her several thousand people died. Then the epidemic subsided in a few years to appear in Ireland.
In 1507 and in 1517, the disease flared up again and again in different areas of the country – the cities of Oxford and Cambridge lost half population. In 1528, the attack returned to London, from where spread throughout the country. King Henry VIII was forced leave the capital and move from place to place, so as not to get infected.
A photo from open sources
After some time, English sweat penetrated the continent, first striking Hamburg, then Switzerland, then passing the Holy Roman empire. Later, foci of the disease erupted in Poland, the Great the Principality of Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Norway and Sweden. For some reason, France and Italy became infected to avoid.
In each region, a strange disease waned over two weeks. It proceeded rather painfully: in a patient severe chills began, dizzy and sore head, and then aches appeared in the neck, shoulders and limbs. After three hours there was a great thirst, fever, and throughout the body acted smelly sweat. The pulse quickened, the heart ached, and the patient began to rave.
A photo from open sources
A characteristic sign of the disease was severe drowsiness – it was believed that if a person falls asleep, he will never wake up. It is surprising that, unlike, for example, the bubonic plague, in patients there were no rashes or ulcers on the skin. Once having been ill English sweating fever, a person did not develop immunity and could catch her again.
The reasons for the “English sweat” remain mysterious. Contemporaries (in including Thomas More) and the immediate descendants associated it with dirt and some harmful substances in nature. Sometimes it is identified with relapsing fever, which is transmitted by ticks and lice, but the sources are not mention characteristic traces of insect bites and arising from this annoyance.
Other authors bring the disease closer to hantavirus, which causes hemorrhagic fevers and pulmonary syndrome close to “English sweat”, however it is rarely transmitted from person to person, and such identification is also not universally recognized.
Epidemics
