Tea at Trianon: The Sweating Sickness

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, March 3, 2022

The Sweating Sickness

From Historic Mysteries:

The English Chronicler Edward Hall provides perhaps the most graphic account of the deadly sweat, which caused men to throw off their bedsheets and discard their clothes. Continued sweating aroused an insatiable thirst in those who were infected. Unfortunately, for those around them, there was no escaping the stench of fetid perspiration. According to Caius, the disease lasted for approximately twenty-four hours. Observers believed that if the patient could be kept awake for the critical first day then the chances of recovery improved significantly. The patient was actively encouraged to sweat and would be wrapped in as many clothes as possible. This was believed to be the most effective way to purge them of the sickness.
The first symptom of the sweating disease would be an attack of trembling upon the person, as with a high fever. There would then be pain all over the body, followed by an overall feeling of exhaustion. Then the sweating, which gave the illness its name, would attack the patient. The person may then experience a headache, lightheadedness, and an insatiable thirst.

Over time the exhaustion would become overwhelming and the person would fall into a sleep from which they would never wake up. Unlike the Plague and other common diseases of the time, there would be no eruptions on the skin or rashes of any kind. Often the time between onset and death would be less than a day, sometimes a matter of a few hours. (Read more.)