Brewer's: Sweating sickness

appeared in England about a century and a half after the Black Death. (1485.) It broke out amongst the soldiers of Richmond's army, after the battle of Bosworth Field, and lasted five weeks. It was a violent inflammatory fever, without boils or ulcers. Between 1485 and 1529 there were five outbreaks of this pest in England, the first four being confined to England and France; but the fifth spread over Germany, Turkey, and Austria.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content