Atypical diseases of rulers. Some were embarrassing to say the least

They were known for their hard-handed rule, but they were ailing in their private lives. They took a burden to the throne in the form of an unusual disease, often inherited from their ancestors. Their successes in the international arena was accompanied by pain, and often shame, because some of the rulers’ diseases were at least embarrassing.

In the photo: Queen Victoria

1. Cases of gout, i.e. gout, were diagnosed among Polish kings. She was called the disease of the rich or kings because she was favored by the lavish lifestyle
2. Kidney disease was common in royal families. He suffered from their serious disorder, among others Stefan Batory
3. Queen Victoria of England “sent” the hemophilia gene to Europe – male members of royal families fell ill
4. The representatives of the Habsburg dynasty were known for their inherited malocclusion
5. More interesting stories can be found on the Onet homepage.

Gout – a disease of the rich

It was once called the disease of kings or the rich because it was fostered by a lavish lifestyle that only wealthy members of society could afford. Gout or arthritis (formerly referred to as gout or pedogra) is recurrent acute arthritis. It is caused by the increased concentration of uric acid in the blood, which crystallizes and is deposited in joints and tendons. Inflammation is usually severe redness, tenderness, and a marked swelling around the joint, and usually affects the big toe (actually the base of the toe, where the metatarsophalangeal joint is located). A place easy to hide, but pain – not entirely.

The family members and guests of King Sigismund III Vasa, who suffered real torment because of gout, knew about it. Already in 1615 (the ruler was then almost 50 years old, and he was on the throne for almost three decades), he reportedly complained of hand paresis, so the symptoms of the disease must have appeared much earlier. Single mentions mention such ailments of the king as migraines, joint pains, general fatigue and weakness of the body, which could have been the first sign of inflammation.

It is known for certain that the disease progressed slowly, but definitely – at the end of the 20s, it was not difficult to see a clear paresis of the right arm and leg in Sigismund III Vasa’s disease. The king also stopped hiding with the disease – he spent more time in bed when he had to get up, leaning on a cane and carrying his arm in a sling. Despite the temporary improvement and relief caused by the therapy of the Italian physician Mikołaj Bucelli (the doctor suggested that the ruler burn the wounds with hot iron), one side of the face was paralyzed, followed by shortness of breath and speech loss. The king died at the age of 66, although officially not because of gout, but because of a stroke caused by atherosclerosis.

The coexistence of other diseases is typical for gout, although the development of both diseases of Sigismund III Vasa was probably the result of many factors. Certainly, the lifestyle of the kings of that time was of great importance, as they did not avoid sumptuous feasts and high-alcohol drinks, but were also exposed to chronic stress.. In the case of the Polish ruler, the deterioration of the condition could have been caused by the traumatic experience of the sudden death of his much younger wife, Konstancja of Habsburg. Genetic predisposition was also important – the disease was already present in the family (King Zygmunt Stary, father of Katarzyna Jagiellonka, mother of Zygmunt III Waza, suffered from it) and remained in it for the next generations – acute arthritis was diagnosed, among others, in Władysław IV.

Unfortunate kidneys

The case of this king is much more interesting, because Władysław complained about the ailments that may indicate later problems with the joints as a prince (he was then 26 years old and was in the camp of Polish-Lithuanian troops during the Khotyn expedition). It is not known whether the future king developed yellow fever or malaria at that time, but it is possible that complications from one of these diseases affected the kidneys, whose efficiency was genetically weakened in Władysław. Ultimately, the king died at the age of 53, possibly due to an overdose of drugs, but autopsy revealed that the king’s kidneys were in a deplorable condition – one with numerous stones and the other completely rotten.

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Stefan Batory also suffered from kidney disease. The king suffered from polycystic kidney disease – a disease caused by a mutation of genes, which most often brings visible symptoms only at the stage of kidney failure. These include severe abdominal pain, blood in the urine, high blood pressure, and symptoms of renal colic. Progressive degeneration affects other organs: the liver, spleen, pancreas, lungs, brain, and cardiovascular system. It happens that the direct cause of death of patients with wi Check how your kidneys are working. Perform the Kidney Diagnostics – Blood and Urine Tests package safely and conveniently at Medonet Market. Renal electrocystic kidney disease is a stroke that occurs when an aneurysm formed in the base of the brain ruptures.

In the king, the disease appeared late, and its symptomatic treatment was not helped by the treatments of two royal medics, who waged a war among themselves for the effectiveness of the therapies applied to the ruler.. Iure uxoris, the king of Poland must have been ill for a long time, but poorly treated disease led to a strong attack of pain and the death of Stefan Batory just a few weeks later. In the meantime, Italian doctors (Mikołaj Bucelli and Simon Simmonius) recommended rubbing the body (whole or only the legs), drinking wine or – on the contrary – avoiding it in favor of cinnamon water, and finally hirudotherapy (using leeches). Unfortunately, to no avail. The intense pain was quickly followed by a high fever and, after a violent paroxysm, the king died, most likely from uremia, resulting in cardiovascular and kidney failure.

(Not so) blue blood – hemophilia

When it comes to the circulatory system, there is another disease that has decimated Europe’s royal families over the centuries. We are talking about hemophilia, the “epidemic” of which began – according to the findings of the researchers – in the English court. Haemorrhagic diathesis is caused by deficiency of coagulation factors and in the vast majority of cases affects men (women only carry the gene responsible for the disease). The disease is manifested by internal bleeding – under the skin, joints and muscles, as well as hematuria. Interestingly, despite the fact that it is genetically determined, every third carrier is the first burdened host in the family and this is where the gene mutation begins.

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Queen Victoria of England was such a “patient zero” who “passed on” hemophilia to her children. Although only one of them was male (Leopold suffered from a hemorrhagic diathesis), the ruler’s two daughters – Alice and Beatrice – were carriers of the gene mutation and are “responsible” for “spreading” the disease across Europe. The first married Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and Rhineland – four of the couple’s seven children suffered from hemophilia. The second was married to Henry Battenberg, descended from the princes of Hesse. Their only daughter (and they had three sons) was Victoria Eugenia – the future Queen of Spain, wife of King Alfonso XIII, who “spread” the hemophilia gene throughout the Spanish royal family. Two of her sons died of the disease, and the disease and death of her descendants strongly affected the relationship of the spouses.

Her cousin, and the daughter of the aforementioned Alicja Koburg – Aleksandra Romanowa, wife of Emperor Nicholas II, also struggled with a similar problem. Their beloved son Alexis has suffered from hemophilia. The Empress devoted a lot of attention to him and did everything to ensure that the boy survived – he was the only and long-awaited son of the couple (they had four more daughters), and thus – the rightful heir to the throne.

Despite the efforts, the boy’s condition deteriorated and the disease continued to develop, which was initially hidden even from the court and teachers. The mother, who felt guilty about her son’s suffering, became deeply depressed because of it. The acquaintance with Rasputin, who used modern methods of treatment on Alexius, also unconventional ones, brought hope, but the attacks were repeated anyway and were getting stronger. It is not known how many years a tsarevich with hemophilia would have lived – he died tragically at the age of 14 during the execution of the Romanov family.

The prognathism of the mandible – the bite of kings

The disorder diagnosed in the members of the Habsburg dynasty was not fatal, but also hindered daily functioning. Kings and princes, the men and women of this family suffered from mandibular prognathism. It is a genetic malocclusion that shows a significant protrusion of the lower lip (it is usually larger than the upper lip) or the chin (oversized jaw) and a half-open mouth, resulting in problems with speaking, swallowing and even breathing. This disorder was characteristic of the representatives of this family, hence its interchangeable name: the Habsburgian lip.

As prognathism is a hereditary disorder, it was diagnosed in rulers and their family members wherever the Habsburgs ruled. This was the result of marriages concluded primarily between Austrian and Spanish representatives of the line. Thus, both the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (Maximilian I, Charles V, Ferdinand I, Ferdinand II, Ferdinand III, Joseph I and Charles VI) and the Spanish rulers (Philip I the Beautiful, Philip II, Philip III, Philip IV, Charles II), and even … kings of Poland.

A prominent, overlapping upper lip was diagnosed by Władysław IV Vasa, who inherited the disorder from his mother, Anna Habsburg. Interestingly, his first wife, Cecylia Renata, also née Habsburg, also had prognathism. King Jan Kazimierz, son of Zygmunt III Waza and Konstancja Habsburżanka, was also burdened. Historians have found symptoms of mandibular prognathism in many other members of European royal families, which suggests that many marriages were concluded between close and distant cousins ​​…

Gout, kidney failure, hemophilia and prognathism are just some of the many diseases that plagued European kings and queens. The years of ruling countries entangled in regular and numerous conflicts, a lavish lifestyle, resulting in obesity, among other things, and chronic stress certainly did not contribute to the health of the rulers – neither physical nor mental, although the latter in most cases will forever remain a mystery.

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