Showing posts with label morbid things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label morbid things. Show all posts

Monday, January 28, 2013

Today in Queen Bess's Life

In 1547, Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, died.  And that is when the proverbial shit started hitting the fan, so to speak.  Even though Henry had a male heir that was also a protestant, he was just a child -- and sickly.  Right behind him was her older sister, Mary, who was Roman Catholic and wanted to bring the country back to her mother's religion -- and then there was Elizabeth.

Dude had a lot of things wrong with him when he died -- morbid obesity, pussing ulcerated sores, paranoia ... Definitely not cute.  There was a rumor that he had syphilis, but more modern theories suggest untreated Type 2 Diabetes.  With his lifestyle, it probably could have been either -- or both.

I'll have to admit that part of my motivation for including Henry's death in this series is my morbid fascination with his burial.  Four years earlier, a Franciscan Friar (Peto), condemned the king from the pulpit and compared him to King Ahab in the Bible.  Peto said that dogs would lick up his blood at his death.