Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Tudor England

  • The sweating sickness in Tudor England: A plague of the Renaissance

    Philip R. LiebsonChicago, Illinois, United States Introduction In the recent semi-fictional work by Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, which takes place in the early 16th century, the protagonist Thomas Cromwell, counsel and henchman of Henry VIII, awakens in the morning to find his wife sleeping, but the sheets are damp.1 “She is warm and flushed.” He…