Kyra Kramer is touring the blogosphere this week with some excellent articles on Henry VIII’s health to celebrate the release of her latest book Henry VIII’s Health in a Nutshell.
Henry’s health, and the various myths and questions that surround it, is a fascinating subject so do make sure you join her on this tour. There is a giveaway at each stop too.
Here’s the schedule:
- 14 December – Syphilis vs. Osteomyelitis at OnTheTudorTrail.com
- 15 December – Surely you joust? at QueentoHistory.com
- 16 December – Blood type and pregnancies at Medievalists.net/EarlyModernEngland
- 17 December – The Mental Aberrations of Henry VIII at ThroughTheEyesofAnneBoleyn.wordpress.com/
- 18 December – Henry VIII: Fit, Fat, Fiction at The Tudor Society.
I can believe that Henry had osteomyelitis as the reports of his ulcerous legs, match all the symptoms. I myself had this at the age of three. I remember vividly, lying in my mother’s arms as we waited for an ambulance. I had screamed myself into an exhausted state. The early sixties remedy was to put the affected limb into a plaster cast and administer several injections of antibiotics a day. I was lucky to live in an age where there was a cure. The pain Henry must have been in would have been enough to make him more than a little cranky! No excuses for his behaviour but it would explain a lot on top of his possible brain injury received in his jousting accident in 1536. This is a very interesting article by Kyra Kramer – can’t wait for the others – thank you.