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The immediate cause of the death of Sigismund III Vasa was most likely a stroke. However, in the last two decades of his life, many diseases accumulated, as well as stressful events that contributed to the shortening of his life. Until “40” the king was in good health. And later?
- Zygmunt III Waza lived for 66 years and became king at the age of 21
- He enjoyed good health for a long time, but over time, the gout, which he was genetically burdened with, began to emerge
- The king also suffered from atherosclerosis, he had problems with the urinary tract, he had flu
- He has had several ischemic attacks behind him. A stroke in 1632 ended his life
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Zygmunt III Waza – a specimen of health to a certain point
According to the chroniclers of those times, Sigismund III Vasa to “40” was an example of health. Then a condition called “kings disease” or gout began to manifest itself. He was genetically burdened, his grandfather Zygmunt I Stary and his uncle Zygmunt August suffered from it. The passion for wine, traditional old Polish cuisine rich in spicy spices and fish species rich in purines additionally influenced the development of this disease.
This disease is now called gout or arthritis. It is characterized by recurrent acute arthritis. In the past, it was treated with bloodletting and burning with hot iron. The king preferred the short-term pain to another, much longer-lasting attack of gout.
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Not only gout
The Polish ruler also had progressive atherosclerosis. On top of that, there were probably problems with the kidneys and bile ducts. This could have manifested as fever, malaise, weakness, vomiting, nausea and chills.
Increasingly, Sigismund III Waza had to deal with severe flu attacks.
He was exhausted by stress and ischemic attacks
In 1620 there was an attempted assassination attempt on the then 54-year-old king. The attacker hurt Zygmunt in the back, shoulder and cheek. The wounds did not turn out to be serious, but the attack certainly contributed to the deterioration of the ruler’s mental condition.
Around “60”, the king’s health began to deteriorate seriously. It was then that he probably suffered his first major ischemic attack. As a result, he struggled with paresis of the arm and leg. But at the age of 62, he rode horses on his own.
The final breakdown of health came in the summer of 1631 with the death of his wife Konstancja Habsburg. The king took it very hard. Since then, he has practically never got out of bed. In the morning of April 1632, the service found him paralyzed, probably as a result of a stroke or cerebral hemorrhage. Zygmunt had speech problems, half of his body was inert. The medics tried to save the ruler by rubbing vodka into the body and administering various potions. It did not bring any improvement and the king died after a few days.
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