Pustules, Pestilence and Pain: Tudor Treatments and Ailments of Henry VIII

by Seamus O'Caellaigh

Henry VIII lived for 55 years and had many health issues, particularly towards the end of his reign.

In Pustules, Pestilence, and Pain, historian Seamus O'Caellaigh has delved deep into the documents of Henry's reign to select some authentic treatments that Henry's physicians compounded and prescribed to one suffering from those ailments.

Packed with glorious full-colour photos of the illnesses and treatments Henry VIII used, alongside primary source documents, this book is a treat for the eyes and is full of information for those with a love of all things Tudor. Each illness and accident has been given its own section in chronological order, including first-hand accounts, descriptions of the treatments and photographic recreations of the treatment and ingredients.

Author Interview

How did you go about researching the health of Henry?

I investigated the health of Henry VIII by working back from the better-known things about his conditions, then created a more detailed picture by adding letters from his court and the written works of his physicians. We know that his health affected the relationships he had with his six wives. Those relationships are notorious and the Tudors have become a well-known family because of it. Established Tudor history tells us the story of his life and some of the illnesses he had, but I wanted to go back to the people that saw him every day and to what they said about his fitness. From there, I studied the treatments his physicians used, using their written works.

How did you set up and take such stunning photos?

Henry VIII was visually impressive, many of those that visited his court said so in the letters they sent home. It is fitting that, if we are examining his health, the pictures would be equally impressive. My photographer did a wonderful job as they worked with me to capture images of the apothecary, Tudor medicine, and Tudor history. I compiled ingredients, made the treatments, and then spent hours over a series of days working to get everything as visually pleasing as possible. I am overwhelmed with how well my vision became the amazing photos in this book - a new and stunning way to look at Tudor life and the story of Henry VIII.

Was it difficult to find the primary sources on his illnesses?

It's not difficult to read about Henry VIII and the dramatic changes he made to the history of England and Europe. It is, however, more difficult to find primary sources about his illnesses and the treatments used. Physicians of the time did not keep the same sort of medical records that modern ones do. One source I used, in particular, is handwritten and stored in the Royal British Library, only available by requesting copies directly from them. The prescription book of Henry VIII took a while to find too, with many leads ending to dead ends. We are lucky that so many of correspondence to and from his court are recorded but it is a double-edged sword, as that increases the number of letters to look through to find the desired information.

What makes your book different to others on Henry's life?

The health of the monarch was at the forefront of many people's thoughts in the Tudor era. My book does not directly look at the six wives of Henry, the break with the Roman Catholic church, or the rebelling of the northern lords. Instead, it looks at the treatments of the Tudor period, those that Tudor Physicians recommended for a patient suffering from small-pox, fevers, and various injuries.

Genres: Tudor Period, Nonfiction, History

143 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 13, 2017

Reviews

[Adrienne Dillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's just go ahead and admit it - in general, the Tudor age has been done to death...Henry VIII, the second monarch of the period, even more so. It seems as if every nook and cranny of this man's life has been poked and prodded from every angle. What more could there possibly be to discover? Quite a bit, it turns out, when it comes to his health.

In his exciting debut, Seamus O'Caellaigh probes the king's health anew, shining a bright light on the treatments and tinctures popular in the Tudor court. Pustules, Pestilence and Pain is a work unlike anything I have seen before - in a most excellent way. O'Caellaigh not only draws on rarely referenced primary sources, he spotlights them in their original form and then translates the ancient prose into something more easily digested by modern audiences. From there, he expands on the information he imparts with his own analysis and experience as an apothecary in the reenactment world. As if that weren't enough, the book is filled with full-color photos of the author and his tools, bringing it all to life. I never in my life thought I would find apothecary photos interesting, but these are simply amazing. I found myself utterly engrossed.

I highly recommend Pustules, Pestilence and Pain for all readers. It's perfect for the casual historian, but provides fresh insight to those of us well-versed in the period. I found several bits to add to my notes for future novels!

[Beth (biblio.beth) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is obviously well researched, but a lot of it is just rewriting of pieces written in the 1500s and then adding a little comment at the end. I'd hoped for more to be honest.

[Heidi Malagisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The everyday life of those who lived in the past has been an area of fascination for those who study any period in history. We often wonder what it was like to dress like a person in the court of Henry VIII or Elizabeth I, what their diets were like, and how they interacted with one another, either in the royal court or as commoners working everyday to make a living. One of the areas that is always mentioned is the health of a monarch. In the case of the Tudors, when we speak of health, many look to Henry VIII as he had a lot of different medical conditions and accidents that affected his life. What was 16th century medical practices like? How did doctors treat their patients in the time of the Tudors? This has been an area of Tudor life that has not received much attention. That is until now. Seamus O’ Caellaigh gives us an in-depth look at the treatments fit for King Henry VIII from the doctors who actually treated the king in his book, “Pustules, Pestilence and Pain: Tudor Treatments and Ailments of Henry VIII”.

In order to show us what the world of 16th century doctors would have been like, Seamus O’ Caellaigh decided to look at one of the most well-documented rulers of the time, Henry VIII, but it provided its own unique challenges.

The medical staff of Henry VIII of England left gaps in the medical history of the king. While it is possible that the records have just been lost or destroyed, it is very likely that Henry VIII’s physicians did not keep records of what they did to treat Henry, possibly for their own protection. I approached the filling of these gaps by first finding references to his illnesses in letters from his court and from first-hand accounts, recorded in biographies, written by courtiers and staff. Next, I analysed works written by Henry’s physicians to determine what Tudor physicians would have done to treat the various illnesses. Using the works of Henry’s medical staff, I recreated some of the identified treatments, and I examined the ingredients to look at the history of their uses through early medical texts, and at the harmful effects that could have happened because of our knowledge now of modern medicine and science. This book is a case study of a person over a period of time, not only to present possible treatments for an infamous ruler, but to humanize a science and open a window into the world of Tudor medicine. (O’Caellaigh, 1).

Authors and historians have often written about Tudor medical treatments and illnesses in their books, but O’ Caellaigh takes it a few steps further. He looks at the treatments, giving us, the reader, the actual texts that the physicians wrote in its original form. Now for those of us who cannot read the Latin phrases or Tudor English, O’Caellaigh includes a translated version of the texts on the next page. He also includes origins of the different medicinal ingredients and why the physicians used the ingredients in the treatments. It is fascinating to read about the different ingredients like wild lettuce, lead, rose oil and sulfur, since they seem like odd ingredients to use in medicine. Modern readers may have no clue what these ingredients would have looked like, which is exactly why O’Caellaigh included photographs of what each treatment looked like and how it might have been applied.

This book may be small, but it packs tons of information, both written and as pictures, inside its pages. Before I read this book, I knew about the different ailments and illnesses, but I really had no clue about how the physicians would approach the illnesses and ailments in order to treat them. This book is a fantastic introduction into the world of Tudor medical treatments and Tudor physicians. Seamus O’Caellaigh was able to make a complex topic, Tudor medicine, and make it easy to understand and rather fascinating to study. If you are interested in Tudor medical treatments, I highly recommend you read Seamus O’Caellaigh’s book, “Pustules, Pestilence and Pain: Tudor Treatments and Ailments of Henry VIII”.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pustules, Pestilence and Pain focus on the ailments of King Henry VIII and the treatments available during the Tudor period. With a "prescription book" from Henry's own physicians, the author uses letters and accounts to fill in some of the gaps. He chose only a handful of Henry's many ailments to highlight from smallpox to ulcerated legs. He provides the entry from the Tudor text, and then translates it into modern spelling. Then using modern medical and pharmacology, he explains how those treatments might or might not have worked and how the treatment intersected with Tudor methodology and worldview. Not surprisingly, the ingredients were not always what modern medicine would consider effective or even safe. Treating Henry VIII's swelling legs with a plaster containing three types of lead was particularly horrifying, considering what we know about lead poisoning. The edition also includes footnotes, bibliography, and gorgeous color photographs. It's a short read and fairly technical, but recommended if you're interested in Tudor medicine.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look at the life of Henry VIII through the lens of Tudor understanding of illness and medicine. Its not a huge deep dive into his entire life, but O'Caellaigh admits he could have spent a lifetime on just the last three months of Henry VIII's life alone, and he wanted to do just a some examples of a few of the most important illnesses and injuries of his life, and how they were most likely treated.

He digs up some fascinating primary sources about the king's health, as well as bringing a 21st century understanding to what was probably happening in the king's body, and how the medicines used helped (medicinal properties of poppy, for example) or what was actively hurting him (his doctors used so much lead!!)

A fascinating new look at Henry VIII and how something as simple as constipation most likely had a huge effect on world history.

[Madeleine McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opening The Past

These little treatments for Henry th BOO I conditions give the reader something to ponder. Did the heavy metals, like mercury, affect Henry's mind? Probably.
You can learn a bit about Tudor medicine, too.

[Lisa Shardlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very informative!

[Tina Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interesting. A glimpse into the Tudor medical world

[Laurie Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is perfect for research. It gave me the information I was after as well as the medical issues that took down a king.

[Suzann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a good-faith effort to tackle a large subject; but is suffers from poor organization, lack of original research, and questionable authority.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but very informative read on the one area of Henry's life that hasn't been done to death. I would've appreciated more information, truthfully, as the author looked at only a few of Henry's major health issues. I hope the author continues his research and continues to write about this subject.

Full review to come.

++++++++++++++

An oft-heard lament today comes in the form of there being very little left to write about in regards to one of the most infamous dynasties to ever rule. Given the larger-than-life caricature Henry has become, it is easy to believe that there is nothing new to write. Here we are shown that is not quite true after all.

Many of Henry's health issues have been documented, though we do not usually get anything in-depth about the actual treatments. Instead they are typically looked at as an explanation for his behavior, particular in the later years of his life. Here the author sets out to explain said treatments and we are given a wonderful and terrifying glimpse into the world of Henry and his health.

See the rest of my review on my blog: https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.b...

[Hannah Gilbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gives a simple overview of the treatments used in the Tudor dynasty but is mainly just translations of passages and photographs. I think this book could have had a lot of potential but there was not a lot of detail (I have a very high standard of detail though so my view may be biased). The book was written well though

[Janina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick but very informative read about Tudor medical practices and treatments used on Henry VIII in the 16C.