Which British monarchs would have survived their health issues or wounding if today’s healthcare knowledge experienced existed then? (Reward question: which monarchs would we have experienced but for health problems that are now conveniently preventable?) Jane Shaw
Send new queries to [email protected].
Viewers reply
Richard I died of sepsis and gangrene 11 times immediately after staying shot in the shoulder with a crossbow bolt fashionable antibiotics would practically certainly have saved his everyday living. If he had lived, John would not have occur to the throne and misplaced most of England’s holdings in France, nor would the barons have rebelled and forced John to seal Magna Carta (and subsequent kings to reissue it). The modern environment, not just England, would be a very different spot as a consequence. RichWoods
Richard was 41 when he died, with no legitimate heirs. If he hadn’t died then, there is a large likelihood he’d have received himself killed in some other army misadventure and John would have ended up in charge in any case. Furthermore, a massive component of why John misplaced so significantly French territory was that he could not afford to defend it, in large component simply because of debts Richard had accrued by acquiring captured on the way residence from the Crusades. It’s not seriously very clear no matter if Richard dwelling a few years more time would have designed any change to that. Also, John obtained a papal bull nullifying Magna Carta pretty much immediately. Subsequent kings only reissued it as a usually means of placating rebellious barons – they would presumably have had to have signed a similar treaty with the barons if it had never ever existed.
As to which men and women may possibly have become monarchs if they’d had obtain to fashionable medicine, Edward the Black Prince died from the results of dysentery he contracted on campaign. He was an extremely well-known figure in England and presumably would have produced an productive (if brutal) ruler, and his sickness could be easily remedied nowadays. Prince Arthur Tudor – Henry VIII’s more mature brother – died aged 15 at Ludlow castle soon after contracting some form of respiratory infection, probably tuberculosis or influenza. He’d have a significant probability of survival currently. Prince Henry Stuart – Charles I’s older brother – died of typhoid fever aged 18, so hardly ever received to reign as King Henry IX. He would in all probability have been set appropriate by a solid class of antibiotics. It is fascinating to assume that two of the most pivotal rulers in English historical past only turned king by means of their elder brothers’ misfortune. There are some obvious forks British record could have taken supplied fashionable professional medical intervention. ProjectXRay
John, signing a treaty and promptly striving to nullify it? He wasn’t an ancestor of our present chief, was he? tpnrty
If Arthur experienced not died we’d all nonetheless be talking Latin and divorce would be illegal. In addition, Hilary Mantel could not have gained two Bookers. lisamarie3
Experienced Edward I’s eldest surviving son not died at the age of 10, England would have had a King Alfonso and we would all be significantly superior at soccer. ButtockMcscruttock
Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort, would have just about definitely have survived his tragic early loss of life with modern medicine and cure. If he experienced lived, maybe Victoria would not have been these a distress and perhaps Albert’s diplomatic techniques would have eased some of the tensions in the wider European family of monarchy, which contributed to the to start with entire world war. Cassandraknows2
I’m fewer fascinated in monarchs and much more in composers. Mozart and Mahler virtually surely died of eminently treatable infective health problems that would have been easily survivable now. Think about all that music that we have hardly ever read. Peter Neville, Powys
William the Conqueror ruptured his inside organs on the pommel of his saddle when his horse jumped a wall in Normandy and he subsequently died. Surgical intervention would nearly unquestionably have saved him. But which is only the commencing of the story. By the time he was transported to Caen Cathedral for his funeral he was as ripe as a camembert. Although lying in condition there, the gases trapped in his abdomen escaped with a loud hissing sound and the stench despatched the crowd of assembled mourners fleeing from the cathedral. rumblestrips
Henry V died of dysentery at 35 in the course of the siege of a French castle. Even with all the lionising of him by Shakespeare and the relaxation, he stays a could-have-been of historical past. Had he lived, he would have turn into king of each England and France within just a year. The Wars of the Roses would have been a lot less very likely and the Tudors undoubtedly would not have risen to the throne. It is unlikely an English-French twin monarchy would have endured outside of his loss of life, but it is surely an interesting what-if. Ionic_bond
Alexander, prince of Scotland – son of King Alexander III of Scotland – died of an unspecified fever in 1284 at the age of 20. Despite the fact that I really do not know what form of fever it was, I believe that modern medication could have saved him. He would have succeeded his father as king, the Scottish lords would not have requested Edward I of England to pick out a new king for them, William Wallace would have lived his existence out as a minimal member of the Scottish nobility and Braveheart would by no means have been built. BellaTheCook
Folic acid extra to her diet regime could possibly have prevented Elizabeth of York, spouse of Henry VII, from succumbing to anaemia and dying in childbirth. Which could possibly in transform have extended Henry’s daily life, stopped him from relying on Empson and Dudley, and most likely presented him a clearer, considerably less grief-addled head when it came to stopping Catherine of Aragon from marrying his next son. She could have been despatched back again to Spain, Henry VIII could have created a superior relationship, had a son, and … probably no Reformation. Not that I’m towards the Reformation. Asurea
Supposing Richard III’s spouse and son could have been treated of regardless of what purely natural trigger they died of? Nobody capable to unfold nasty rumours about how he had murdered his spouse in buy to marry his niece a genuine male heir nevertheless all over Henry Tudor might have imagined two times, and we’d have had the King in the North for a bit lengthier than two a long time. SpoilheapSurfer
Edward VI, the male heir that Henry VIII so ideal, died at 15 most almost certainly of TB, which could be simply addressed right now. A longer reign would have averted the subsequent bloody turmoil of his successor, Mary, and probably led to a far more Protestant religious settlement (in comparison with the compromise enacted underneath Elizabeth I) getting founded in England with the survival of its most vocal proponents (Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley, all executed by Mary). Even more critically, if he had wed and sired an heir, the Tudor dynasty could have ongoing for a large amount more time, and the Stuarts would likely have hardly ever come to the throne (and consequently no subsequent private or political union with Scotland, or civil war/Cromwell). deepsubs
The accounts of Queen Caroline’s death are harrowing (spouse to George II). She had experienced an umbilical hernia at the delivery of her remaining little one in 1724 and, in November 1737, it was found that section of her small intestine was poking through the opening. Her health professionals lower off the component that was protruding, hence producing it extremely hard for anything to pass through her physique. She died times later on, in agony. It was definitely a circumstance of “died of the doctors”. Just one of her daughters suffered from the similar ailment. PMWoolley
Princess Charlotte, the daughter of George IV, died in childbirth together with her son. If she had survived, there would have been no Queen Victoria whose a lot of kids married into all the European royal households. Imagine: no Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and no Tsarina Alexandra bringing haemophilia into the Russian royal relatives. Whatduck
Mary II died at age 32 from smallpox her spouse, William III, five years afterwards from pneumonia. If they experienced lived significantly for a longer time it is doable that the home of Hanover may not have ascended the English throne. Floppyears
Fashionable medicine could possibly basically have saved Anne Boleyn. Henry is imagined to have suffered a brain injuries in a tumble, which impacted his temperament. Right before it, he was clever, reasonable and generous. Soon after his fall he abruptly became suspicious and intense. An MRI scan and brain surgical procedure could possibly have succeeded. Anne would not have been executed and may possibly have experienced a healthy son. No Bloody Mary with Catholic persecutions but regrettably no Elizabeth I either. But we could possibly still be dominated by Tudors now in its place of a German relatives. Shân Morgain, Newport
Definitely King Arthur would have been wonderful with fashionable antidepressants and psychotherapy: “No Arthur, there is no (dwelling) girl in the lake, no magic sword and Merlin is a wise male, not a ‘wizard’.” Walter Mennekens
More Stories
Most medical college students get worried abortion rules will ‘hinder their foreseeable future care’
Edinburgh to host supercomputer process that may perhaps advance drugs, AI and strength
Drug-microbiota interactions: an emerging priority for precision medicine