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In 1507 there was an outbreak of sweating sickness in England - one of the five outbreaks that would occur during the Tudor period. The first, quite severe, epidemic was in 1485, coinciding almost exactly with Henry VII arriving in England from exile and the Battle of Bosworth. It was the third outbreak in 1517, which was possibly the most severe of the five. However, with other key events occurring during 1485 and 1517, 1507 is a good year to consider this strange illness.
So what was the sweating sickness? The symptoms are described by a contemporary writer, John Caius, writing around the time of the final epidemic in 1551. He described the symptoms beginning with a severe sense of apprehension, followed by feeling cold and shivering, then dizziness, aching limbs and pain around the neck and shoulders. So far, it sounds very flu-like.
After the initial period of feeling cold, which could last two to three hours, Caius described the feeling of intense heat and sweating which would follow, and an irresistible urge to sleep. Caius suggested that sleep should not be allowed, lest it prove fatal.
There was a lot of fear generally around sleep at this time, so it isn’t surprising this would be seen as both a cause and symptom. It would likely be the sweating, however, which would lead to death due to severe dehydration.
While anyone was susceptible to catching sweating sickness, it had been linked on occasion with the wealthy, and as such, had been given some sarcastic names by the poor, such as ‘Stop neighbour and know thy master’, and ‘Stop Gallant.’
Caius however, suggested that it attacked everyone, he wrote:
[It could attack] either men of wealth or of the poor, assault such as what idle persons, good ale drinkers,and tavern haunters.’ This may have been an attack on idleness - so often seen as a sin. In other words, keep busy or the sweating sickness will get you!
Perhaps the most interesting aspect to the sweating sickness, is that we still don’t know what it was. Only that there were five outbreaks, the last being 1551, and it had a mortality rate of 30-50%.
Perhaps everyone just became less idle from 1553, once women were ruling the country.
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