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His father, Władysław Jagiełło, was one of the healthiest and longest-lived Polish rulers. Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk took over his passion for hygiene. However, his end was not very hygienic – he probably died from severe diarrhea. He lived to be 65 years old.
- Casimir IV the Jagiellonian lived in the years 1427 – 1492, he was the king of Poland from 1447
- He was a physically fit and hygienic man, avoiding alcohol
- His death was caused by bloody diarrhea which was not dealt with by the medics
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Casimir IV the Jagiellonian – he was exhausted by diarrhea
Kazimierz IV Jagiellon, a child of Władysław Jagiełło and 50 years younger Zofia Holszańska, followed his father’s example “drank water and never tasted wine, honey, beer and medicines”. Similarly to Jagiełło, he liked movement and exercise. He often used the baths, reportedly usually accompanied by at least one beautiful lady. Despite this, he failed to break his father’s “record” and lived only 65 years. By the standards of the XNUMXth century, it’s still a pretty good result.
In addition to a congenital speech defect, he suffered from rheumatic disease and degeneration of the spine. Towards the end of his life, he began to experience swelling in his legs. This could be due to a cardiovascular disorder or lymphedema.
The end of his life came during a trip to Lithuania that took place after Easter in 1492. He had diarrhea, possibly dysentery, caused by a bacterium. As the chronicler Maciej Stryjkowski wrote in Grodno, “he suffered from red sickness, from which he was fainter, and when the Doctors could not heal him, the Bernardines treated him with thick bread and baked pears, for which he began to swell and asked his doctor Jacob Zaleski, if Yet there was still hope of health, and when he answered him that he could not be alive, immediately, as a fearless warrior, he said: “Then die,” “.
The king died in early June.
They had 13 children
The king’s wife, Elżbieta Rakuszanka, was certainly not an example of her health. Thanks to the exhumation that took place in the 70s, we know that the queen, to put it mildly, was not one of the most beautiful.
It was characterized by a slightly deformed pear-shaped skull (the effect of difficult childbirth), as well as a specific structure of the jaw, in which the lower one was retracted almost 3,5 cm in relation to the upper one. As a result of her lips not closing properly, she constantly “aired” her teeth (while drooling heavily). On top of everything, due to the serious tuberculosis of the bones and the resulting curvature of the spine – she had to wear dresses with a thick board sewn on one side to compensate for the level of the shoulders. That she was limping and squinting slightly are details.
Nevertheless, the royal marriage turned out to be very long and fruitful, bringing into the world 13 children, of whom – what was phenomenal at that time – all of them survived to adulthood, and a large part later on European thrones.
However, the male descendants (he had six sons) of Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk were not in good health. Three of them suffered from syphilis: the later kings Jan Olbracht and Aleksander Jagiellończyk and Cardinal Fryderyk Jagiellończyk (he lived to be 35). On the fourth, Kazimierz suffered from tuberculosis at the age of 26.
Curse of the Jagiellonian
In 1973, for the first time in almost 500 years, the tomb of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk and Elżbieta Rakuszanka was opened. Over the next 10 years, a dozen or so people associated with the examination of the grave, mostly healthy and middle-aged, died. There was talk of the Jagiellonian’s curse. However, science found an explanation. At the king’s resting place, a dangerous mold of the species Aspergillus flavus, or yellow sprout, developed.
Mold that has survived five centuries produces the toxins that cause aspergillosis. The disease can lead to allergic reactions, inflammation of the skin, ears, paranasal sinuses and even the lungs. In rare cases, the disease results in metastasis in the heart, kidneys and brain.
How did it come about? The Jagiellonian died on June 7, 1492 in Grodno. The funeral took place over a month later at Wawel. The long journey in the summer had partially decomposed the bodies. Over the next 500 years, the contents of a wooden coffin (naked corpse covered with quicklime and expensive fabric, plus wooden dummy royal insignia) turned into a biological bomb, the victims of which were Polish scientists.
The matter was thoroughly investigated by the Krakow journalist and writer Zbigniew Święch, he described in the book “Curses, microbes and scholars”.