The Sweating Sickness in England

A sudden, feverish wave crashed over England in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, claiming the lives of robust men, nobles and peasants alike within a single day. Known to contemporaries as the “new acquaintance” or the “English Sweating Sickness,” the illness arrived without warning, drenched its victims in fetid sweat, and often returned before the afflicted could recover. Set against a period of religious reform, expanding literacy, and the aftermath of the Wars of the Roses, the disease left an indelible mark on the national psyche, echoing in sermons and pamphlets long after the last outbreak in 1551.

Drawing on the meticulous research of a nineteenth‑century German scholar and his English translator, the text offers a compact yet vivid portrait of the epidemic’s birth in a marching army, its rapid spread through towns and castle halls, and the desperate attempts of early physicians to understand it. Listeners will gain a clear picture of how this mysterious scourge shaped public health thought and why it remains a fascinating puzzle for historians of medicine.