The sweating sickness and Anne Boleyn might not be the first pairing that comes to mind when thinking about Tudor history, but in the summer of 1528, their paths crossed in a way that changed everything. The sweating sickness was a mysterious and deadly epidemic that swept through 16th-century England with terrifying speed—and when Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s great love and future queen, fell ill, it sent shockwaves through the royal court.
In this episode, we explore how the sweating sickness shaped Anne’s fate, Henry’s emotional response, and the future of the Tudor dynasty.
Transcript of That time Anne Boleyn Got the Sweat: The Illness That Shook Henry VIII
Today, we’re going to talk about that time Anne Boleyn got the sweating sickness. The sweating sickness was a terrifying disease in England. A lot of times it gets confused with the plague—it wasn’t the plague. It was similar in some ways, but it wasn’t the same. It was brand new—something that had never appeared in England before, at least not until the time of Henry VII.
It absolutely terrorized people—it was petrifying. And we’re going to talk about when Anne got it, and also how that affected her relationship with Henry. At that point, their relationship was still fairly new, and this illness actually led to an increase in intensity, you could say.
Let’s start by talking about the sweating sickness. Imagine a disease that came out of nowhere, made you break out in an uncontrollable sweat, and then killed you within hours. Sounds fun, right? That was the reality of this very mysterious and terrifying illness known as the sweat. It was an epidemic that swept through England multiple times in the 16th century.
In the summer of 1528, Anne Boleyn got it. She was young, she was in love, and she was already at the center of one of the most dangerous romances in history. But that summer, everything came to a halt—because the woman Henry VIII wanted to make his queen was suddenly fighting for her life.
The sweating sickness wasn’t like the plague or other known illnesses at the time. It came on very suddenly. There was a headache, shivering, fever, followed by intense sweating, chest pain, and delirium. People could be dead within a single day. There was no clear cause, no known cure, and no explanation. It seemed to strike the young and fit most often—particularly men, especially courtiers.
The first major outbreak came in 1485, just as Henry Tudor arrived in England to fight at Bosworth. That timing gave the disease an almost apocalyptic edge, and it reappeared sporadically throughout the early 16th century.
Doctors were baffled. The only known treatment was to get into bed, stay very still, and hope—and pray. It was so feared that even the king—who rarely let fear show—would abandon his palaces and flee at the first sign of it. Of course, Henry was notoriously hypochondriacal, and he was petrified of the sweat as well.
Let’s talk about that 1528 outbreak. It was especially devastating. It hit London and the royal court during a time of intense political upheaval. Henry was in the middle of his long, messy break with Katherine of Aragon. Anne was firmly established as his romantic obsession. The king had already begun lobbying the Pope for an annulment, but when the sweat returned, everything else just stopped.
Henry, who had always been obsessive about his health, bolted from court and began moving from palace to palace to stay ahead of the infection. Some members of his council were ordered to stay behind to handle affairs—but they didn’t all survive. The diplomat William Compton died, for example. So did Anne’s brother-in-law, William Carey—Mary Boleyn’s husband.
Fear gripped the court. Letters stopped. Meetings were canceled. And Anne, already removed from court for her safety, suddenly fell ill herself. This pulled Henry into one of the most emotionally vulnerable moments of his entire reign.
It’s June 1528. Anne is staying at Hever Castle, removed from the court to avoid the growing outbreak—and the disease finds her anyway. Word traveled quickly to Henry, who was staying safely away. His reaction was immediate and unusually emotional.
He wrote to her with uncharacteristic vulnerability, admitting that the news had struck him deeply. He sent his own doctor, William Butts—one of the best in England—straight to Hever to care for her.
Henry may have still been married to Katherine of Aragon, but Anne was the one he was thinking about during this national health crisis. That level of care—personal letters, top physicians, daily updates—wasn’t something he offered lightly.
Anne recovered. But like we said, not everyone was so lucky. Her brother-in-law’s death left their two children without a father. For Anne, it was her own brush with death. For Henry, it was likely a wake-up call—proof that he could lose the woman he had risked everything for at any moment.
Anne’s illness became a defining moment in her relationship with Henry. Until that point, the courtship had been filled with flirtation, ambition, and long stretches of political delay. The sweat added a new layer: urgency.
Henry’s emotional reaction—the panic, the personal letters, the dispatch of his physician—showed how deeply attached he was. This wasn’t just lust or political gain. He genuinely feared losing her.
And when Anne recovered, it may have strengthened her position even further. Some historians believe that this episode may have made Henry even more determined to secure her position as queen. If death could come so suddenly, the need for a legitimate male heir—and a new wife to provide one—was even more pressing.
And in fact, for Henry, who was viewing things through his theological lens, thinking of himself as, you know, this great theological thinker, survival itself could look like divine endorsement. So Henry likely saw this as even more proof that God wanted them to be together—that God was supportive of this union. Henry might have seen that survival as fate clearing the path for her.
By early July, Henry was writing to Anne, mentioning that he was overjoyed at her recovery and assuring her that his heart was still hers. But Henry still kept his distance for a while. He was still moving from castle to castle, staying out in the countryside to avoid the sweat. So, he didn’t see her for a while—even after she had recovered.
But he was even more emotionally invested than he had been before. He continued to press on with his plan to marry her and to get rid of Katherine.
By October, she was back at court. Her presence was documented in various letters and diplomatic reports. So that summer was when Henry almost lost her. And like they say—sometimes you have to lose something to realize just how important it is. And Henry almost lost Anne, and realized that he wanted her more than ever.
So there we go—a little bit about the sweating sickness, and when Anne Boleyn caught it at Hever in the summer of 1528.
Related links:
Watching the Tudors Episode 7: Message to the Emperor
The Sweating Sickness in Tudor England
Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 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. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
