It has been suggested that this illness was the mysterious English sweating sickness, tuberculosis ("consumption"), plague or influenza. While Catherine recovered, Arthur died on 2 April 1502 at Ludlow, six months short of his sixteenth birthday. News of Arthur's death reached Henry VII's court late on 4 April.
Despite his good nature, King Arthur was betrayed by his wife Guinevere and his best knight Lancelot. The distraction of Guinevere and Lancelot's relationship led Mordred, King Arthur's son, to take over the kingdom. In the end, King Arthur was killed by his son in a battle over the kingdom.
Henry VII's younger son (the future Henry VIII) was only ten years old when his brother Arthur died. Despite his father's concerns, the Tudor dynasty would continue with Henry - he would even marry his brother's widow Catherine after acceding to the throne.
But in 1528, a terrifying epidemic of 'sweating sickness' brought out his vulnerable side. Tracy Borman explores this strange disease and Henry's surprising reaction to it… In late May 1528, a terrifying epidemic swept across London.
Both Henry and Queen Elizabeth were distraught when they were told that Arthur had died. Both invested their hopes in Catherine being with child, the couple having lived together for five months.
Katherine was first married to Henry's older brother, Arthur, who died soon afterwards. With their prudent father's blessing, Henry chose to marry his brother's widow in 1509 to continue the Spanish alliance (and to hang on to her dowry).
Incidentally, the heart and vital innards of Prince Arthur were not buried with him at Worcester. They were removed as part of embalming procedures at Ludlow Castle. Arthur's heart was buried at Ludlow Parish Church amid much religious ceremony before the body was brought in procession to Worcester.
Though Anne survived the sweating sickness, with little help from Henry's love, she could not survive the intensity of his ultimate hatred for her, and lost her head to the swordsman he had specially brought from France for her execution in 1536.
The course of the disease was much more dramatic than it is today. Even royal houses were not spared. Using the example of Henry VIII of England this article briefly outlines the influence of syphilis both to the house of Tudor and thus on the big political stage.
On his deathbed at Whitehall Palace, Henry uttered his last recorded words: when asked which priest should attend him, the King replied, 'I will first take a little sleep, and then, as I feel myself, I will advise upon the matter. ' The following morning, Henry had lost the power of speech.
Jane's sweet and charming demeanor captured Henry's heart. Married just days after her predecessor's death, she was to become Henry's favorite wife. Jane, unlike any of Henry's other wives, gave Henry the one thing he wanted most -- a son, an act that would lead to her death.
Catherine's second wedding took place on 11 June 1509, seven years after Prince Arthur's death. She married Henry VIII, who had only just acceded to the throne, in a private ceremony in the church of the Observant Friars outside Greenwich Palace. She was 23 years of age.
'I am leaving you now, and I want you to tell the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I will come again one day when my country asks for me,' called King Arthur to Sir Bedivere from the boat. Those were the King's last words.
'" Le Morte d'Arthur features the now-iconic scene where the two meet on foot as Arthur charges Mordred and runs a spear through him. With the last of his strength, Mordred impales himself even further to be within striking distance, and lands a mortal blow with his sword to King Arthur's head.
Kyduan was not the only child of Arthur according to Welsh Arthurian tradition – he is also ascribed sons called Amr (Amhar), Gwydre, Llacheu and Duran. (See the Offspring section for further information about Arthur's children.)
Schubert, Donizetti, Schumann, Smetana, Wolf, Joplin, Delius—all were likely victims of syphilis.
The king may even have suffered from impotence in his final years as a result of injuries suffered during the violent combat. Researchers in the US say that brain damage caused by jousting is the most likely explanation for his anger and erratic behaviour, the Daily Mail reports.
Why did the Tudors get so terribly ill? There were a number of contagious diseases that gripped Tudor England, including the plague, tuberculosis and sweating sickness.
So, we only have real corroborated evidence for three pregnancies: one resulting in a healthy baby girl and two resulting in miscarriages. The 1534 one may even have been a false pregnancy, rather than a miscarriage.
So where did it go? Sweating sickness had disappeared by late Elizabethan times. Its reign of terror barely lasted a century.
Still married. But Catherine soon threw Henry's argument into disarray. She and Arthur, she claimed, had never had full sex. They had slept together only seven times and the results had been disappointing.
In 1191 the monks claimed to have found the grave of Arthur at Glastonbury. An eye-witness account was recorded by Gerald of Wales: “Now the body of King Arthur… was found in our own days at Glastonbury, deep down in the earth and encoffined in a hollow oak between two stone pyramids…
King Arthur's dying request is for Sir Bedivere to throw the Excalibur into the lake, but Bedivere's greed temporarily prevails over his loyalty. He lies twice to Arthur about throwing the sword back. On his third trip to the water, he fulfills Arthur's dying wish.