The disease known as the sweating sickness…

The disease known as the sweating sickness recurs in 1528 for the fourth time, and with great severity.

First appearing in London at the end of May, it spreads rapidly throughout England, though not into Scotland or Ireland.

Many people in Henry VIII's court fall ill with the disease.

Henry, who develops a morbid fear of contracting the disease, changes residences every other day in an effort to avoid coming within contact with those of his court who become infected.

He also busies himself with a study of the disease and its purported cures, such as herbs laced with molasses and bleeding from certain points on the body (the arm, between the thumb and forefinger, or between the shoulders).

Du Bellai, the French Ambassador to the English court in 1528, writes,

"...One of the filles de chambre of Mlle Boleyn was attacked on Tuesday by the sweating sickness.

The King left in great haste, and went a dozen miles off...This disease is the easiest in the world to die of.

You have a slight pain in the head and at the heart; all at once you begin to sweat.

There is no need for a physician: for if you uncover yourself the least in the world, or cover yourself a little too much, you are taken off without languishing.

It is true that if you merely put your hand out of bed during the first 24 hours...you become stiff as a poker".

To make matters worse, England in 1528 experiences an epidemic of bubonic plague.