Today in 1562, 29-year-old Elizabeth I got a bad cold. It was actually smallpox. At first she didn’t believe that she could actually get smallpox, which was a highly contagious and very often deadly disease which could cause disfigurement, and still has no cure or treatment. She did not believe that Her Majesty could get an illness like this, and I highly suggest you check out the scene from Elizabeth R which showed how she was so angry at her doctors for implying that she could get such a disease. After that, she became so ill that she couldn’t speak, and there was real concern that she would die, and worry about the succession. For a week she battled a very high fever, and it seemed that she would not live. Â
At the time, her heir was Mary Queen of Scots, who was Catholic, and British Protestants were fearful of what would happen if a Catholic came to the throne after their recent experience with Elizabeth’s sister Mary. Under the terms of Henry VIII’s will, her second cousin Katherine Grey – who was the sister of Lady Jane Grey who had lost her life after the rebellion against Mary – could claim to the throne. But it was a tenuous claim, and Mary Queen of Scots’ was clearly a more direct line.
Fortunately, Elizabeth survived, so there was no need to worry. But those who cared for her did become ill, one of which was Mary Dudley, the sister of Robert Dudley, Elizabeth’s soulmate. She also survived, but her face was left badly marked.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested link:
Seamus O’Calleigh talking Tudor Medicine at the Tudor Summit
From the Shop:
Elizabeth I Thug Life Tshirt
“They said I was illegitimate. I sank their Armada…”
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.