On this day in Tudor history, 2nd April 1552, King Edward VI recorded in his diary “I fell sick of the measles and the smallpox”.
What do we know about his illness and subsequent recovery? What was smallpox like and how was it treated? Did this bout of illness have any bearing on his future health?
Find out, in today’s “on this day” video.
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On this day in history, fourteen-year-old King Edward VI fell ill. His journal entry for 2nd April 1552 reads “I fell sike of the mesels [measles] and the small pokkes [smallpox]”, but he doesn’t mention it again in the entries for that month and he was still able to write entries.
In a letter to his friend Barnaby Fitzpatrick written on 3 May 1552, Edward mentions his recent illness:
“We have a little been troubled with the smallpox, which hath letted us to write hitherto; but now we have shaken that quite away.”
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