The Death of Kings: A Medical History of the Kings and Queens of England

by Clifford Brewer

Many Kings and Queens of England suffered extraordinary deaths. Handsome and virile in his youth, a rare medical condition turned Henry VIII into a bloated and grotesque old man. The Dashing and glamourous Henry V probably died of cancer of the rectum, a fate that also befell Edward I. Charles I was beheaded. Henry VI was the victim of a grisly murder. Edward II, attacked with a red hot poker died in agony from traumatic perforation of the rectum. George II died in ignominy enthroned on the lavatory.

This book will enthrall and appall.

Distinguished surgeon Clifford Brewer T.D F.R.C.S. has made the death of kings the study of a life time, examining every act of violence and each unpleasant disease with a razor sharp eye for detail.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Royalty, Medical, Medicine, Science, British Literature

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a quick note maybe more to myself i dont know
I've finally gotten to a part of the book where I need to question the author if some facts were just left out or exaggerated or ignored because otherwise this book would be much longer or if it's really his take on these ( I think he's an actual historian and such too). But for example the reason the Duke of Clarence was executed was just a smidge more criminal to his royal family members. Truly that's happened a few times now but this one is obviously incorrect and any royalty nonfiction readers out there will swivel their scooby doo ears at not only this but a few other things minor elements, but just a tad away from the whole story. It's just that I now am reading vignettes about each ruler when rather a quick fact check would have explained all of the violence and destruction that is important to know at times to understand the drama that was.
Found another error believe me I just spent about 20 minutes proving to myself that I was correct.

As usual ignore typos I'm supposed to be asleep

[Deborah Pickstone · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aaaarrrrggghhhh!

This would have been a good idea if the writer actually knew anything about history. IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO BE A SURGEON, OK? And surgeons know diddly squat about medicine and CERTAINLY should keep their ill informed thoughts about psychiatry (which hadn't been invented yet for most of this history) to themselves. Period.

Purveyor of historical gossip, presented as 'fact' and diagnoses are made from this clutter of misinformation. So, basically the book is utterly pointless - I mean, if you tell me that Richard I died on the battlefield when a) it was a siege; battles were pretty rare in the Middle Ages and b) he died of gangrene after being hit by a crossbow bolt 2+ weeks earlier...it looks quite a bit different. So, the Plantagenets were 'well-known' as manic depressives (a term no longer used at the time of his writing the book; he was still using it though, the DOCTOR). Some bod at some point posited that they were suffering from same - can't see it myself but what would I know? - and suddenly everyone was saying it as if that made it a FACT!

TUT!

[Tweedledum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating way to review our British history from Edward the Confessor to Victoria.

Brewer, a retired consultant steeped in diagnostic jargonese, does not confine himself to analysing symtomology of the last few weeks or days of the monarch's lives but casts a diagnostic eye over their whole life wherever he can. Consorts, mistresses and children are occasionally taken into account especially where their medical histories appeal, thus Queen Caroline markedly upstages her husband George II in this peculiar and sometimes stomach churning history.

However Brewer's rather clipped prose and occasional dogmatic pronouncements, which are unintentionally reminiscent in places of 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, make for an interesting reading experience. I read this book alternately pulling a " yeuch too much information " face while inwardly squirming or raising my eyebrows and lips in wry amusement at Brewer's unusual descriptive manner. His diagnoses often extend way beyond the symtomology.

Here is one of my favourites: (the author is reflecting on William IVs early life and is waxing unusually prosaic in style.)

"Sending him away to sea seemed to be a very good way of making sure that William avoided the dissolute ways of his brother and accordingly the young man was sent to sea as a midshipman. It is likely that the young man was not particularly intelligent; at any rate he took to the life with great gusto."

I am still chuckling over this one days after reading it.


In conclusion I echo The Guardian's review comment :

" We found this book irresistible."

Yes. I took to it with great gusto. .............

Not sure if that reflects on my own intelligence....

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's more like it! This is my second "Death of Kings"-themed book and, as the title states, it dealt with the medical histories and causes of death of Great Britain's kings and queens from the Norman Conquest (1066) to the death of Queen Victoria (1901). Obviously much of it is speculative, as medical science was in its infancy for much of the period covered and the doctors didn't have a clue what they were really dealing with, but the author was himself a surgeon and he made sound, educated guesses based on his knowledge and the historical records available. Each chapter dealt with a specific king or queen and gave a brief overview of the political and social climate of the reign under discussion, which was nice for brushing up on my history without going into exhaustive detail. In most cases he described the brutal and often fatal treatments prescribed by the physicians of the times, which basically can be summed up as bleeding and purging, with a few really bizarre twists such as the shaving of the sufferer's head (why??) and/or the burning of the soles of the feet with hot irons. King Charles II, especially, suffered at the hands of his doctors, with very good grace, I might add. Inadvertant poisoning with mercury or arsenic seems also to have been a favorite "cure" for the French pox (syphillis)in those long-ago days.

The editing could have been better but overall this was a fascinating, well-researched, and informative book with just enough gruesome detail to satisfy a gore crow like myself.

[Mirona · Rating 4 out of 5]

*re-read*
Very interesting to see the cause of death explained in such detail for each royal, even though many times it is only a well researched hypothesis. To read about the trials of Queen Anne is heartbreaking, having to suffer through so many pregnancies would be traumatic enough without the mental component and the medical ignorance about the underlying causes at this point in time, making it likely she would blame herself and adding even more weight to her unhappiness.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the deaths of English monarchs from Edward the Confessor to Victoria.

Both deeply interesting and deeply disturbing in equal measure. I was a little surprised at some of the causes of death arrived at. A couple of English kings apparently died of "cancer of the rectum". Ouch!

Not for the squeamish.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of biographical sketches of the kings and queens of England, beginning with Edward the Confessor, with a focus on trying to figure out what caused their deaths. In many cases it's quite easy (Richard I was hacked to pieces on the battlefield. Pretty obvious cause of death there!) but in many cases there is a lot of mystery and speculation, as medicine was so primitive back in the days of Merrie Olde Englande and doctors didn't know what to look for or how to treat what they did see.

The author is himself a doctor, so with the medical side of the book I presume he knows what he's on about. He does carefully weigh the variables instead of immediately trying to pin on one illness or another. However, he is not a historian, and I saw some errors. Most of them were minor, but some were not. There were some parts that weren't inaccurate so much as incredibly dense -- like where the author makes note, with apparent wonder, of Elizabeth I's "distorted and very morbid approach to marriage and all that follows" but fails to even begin to connect this to her father Henry VIII's matrimonial history.

I would recommend this book, with reservations, to English history buffs.

[Joanna]

It's an enjoyable and fascinating read about the (often grisly) deaths of England's rulers from Edward the Confessor to Queen Victoria, surprisingly written by a surgeon rather than a historian. I really have a problem, though, with the author's attempts to diagnose the various ailments that brought these rulers to their deathbeds. From a historian's perspective, it really doesn't make sense to apply modern diagnoses and labels to historical ailments, particularly when the types of sources he draws from - so far (I'm on Richard I), primarily chronicles - really aren't meant to be medical in nature. To say that the Plantagenets were manic-depressive, for instance, is really missing the point. This is a modern label that has no connection to medieval experience. If we are to really understand medieval life and death, we have to focus on how medieval people perceived and diagnosed their own medical conditions; manic depression would mean absolutely nothing to them. Still, I'll keep reading; it is rather interesting to see how each ruler met his or her end when presented in the words of their contemporaries - not a modern surgeon.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like English Monarch history & science then this book is for you!

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 1 out of 5]

It has taken me ages to get round to reviewing this book. I do so more out of annoyance than anything else. For anyone who picks it up as an historical reference book would be making a big mistake!

Clifford Brewer was an eminent surgeon but he certainly did not research his historical content for this book very well. I am not a qualified historian but the constant errors just kept leaping out at me. If Brewer had even taken the time to read some of the works of our most talented writers of historical non fiction and even fiction he would have been far more accurate. Writers like Elizabeth Chadwick, Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir, to mention just a few. These authors must spend so many hours researching their characters before writing a book.

I knew the causes of death of most of these monarchs, as described by physicians of the time and Brewer really did not have much to add. It was all rather speculative, things like he was overweight and died with chest pains, heart attack.Sudden severe stomach pain with fever, appendicitis. Most of the Plantagenets were 'well known' manic depressives! Psychiatry was unheard of at the time. Admittedly the Plantagenets were know for their violent tempers and fickle behaviour but who is to say at this time that they were manic depressives. I found it annoying that so many of the diagnoses were then followed by the comment that it could also have been syphilis, so many in fact that it becomes a little tiresome, how did they have healthy children?
As for the historical errors, the are too numerous to list entirely. The author states that if Henry VI had been canonised, which proved too expensive, we would actually have had an English King who was a saint. What about Edward the Confessor canonised approximately 1161, or Edward the Martyr died 978.
The biggest error in my opinion was with the children of Henry VII! The author states that the king and his wife Elizabeth of York had three sons and two daughters, four of whom died, this includes Arthur who died at the age of 16. Henry and Elizabeth actually had eight children, Arthur, Henry, Margaret, Mary, Edmund, Katherine, Elizabeth, and Edward.
The most astonishing thing is that neither Margaret or Mary are given a mention! Margaret married James IV and was mother to the future king James V.
Mary Rose married Louis XII and became queen of France, after his death she married Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk best friend of Henry her brother. Henry VIII named his famous ship the Mary Rose after her.
The author then goes on in the chapter about Henry VIII to mention Charles Brandon, as Henry's brother in law!!!!! Who did he think Brandon married?
I would not recommend this book to anyone for any reason.

[Midgetbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a medical history of the Kings and Queens of England this is fascinating. However the history involved is problematic. Each monarch is given a few pages of backstory before a cause of death is given and there are quite a lot of mistakes: Henry VII is said to have been alive in 1523 when he'd actually been dead for over a decade, his daughter Mary is married off to Thomas Brandon rather then Charles and so on.

Such mistakes are slightly understandable considering the author is a doctor rather than a historian. However they really should have been picked up by the editor or whoever checks these things. It's unfortunate as these relatively minor mistakes do cast doubt on the rest of the rest of the information given. Overall it is an interesting read, but at the same time a slightly frustrating one due to the historical errors.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

An excellent, interesting subject - an attempt to determine the cause of death of the kings and queens of England from Edward the Confessor to Queen Victoria. I was drawn to the book like a moth to flame the moment I saw it in the bookstore, and snatched it up.

It's a fascinating subject, and fairly well-written. The problem in the book, however, lies with the errors that riddle it. The author isn't a historian, of course, but the editors should have caught these errors before the book was printed. Intimating that young Henry Fitzroy was younger than his half-sister Elizabeth, saying that the youngest daughter of Henry VII married Thomas Brandon rather than Charles, and so on draws on my skepticism and makes me wonder about the veracity of the rest of the book.

[Madeline McCrae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at Westminster Abbey after reading the back cover, which gave a gripping explanation of how a few famous monarchs met untimely ends. I ended up really enjoying this book and considering Brewer’s explanations for each monarchs death from William the Conqueror to Queen Victoria. My qualms come from Brewer being a surgeon and not a historian, and I noticed some misinformation (such as Burke and Hare operating in London when they really were committing murder in Edinburgh) but nothing too extreme. I mainly took his descriptions with a grain of salt. There was some inconsistency with how much of a monarchs life he described before he got to their death but I still enjoyed the descriptions. Overall, a really interesting read and I do recommend!

[Emilija · Rating 1 out of 5]

2022 52 Book Challenge - 19) A book that has an alternative title

I finished this book months ago, but honestly forgot that I needed to review it because all I could think about it at the time I finished reading was that it was like reading Wikipedia pages for each monarch. That was the level of detail involved in this book, and honestly, it felt like a bit of a waste of money.

[Laura Hodo · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite professor in college put this book on my desk and said he knew I enjoyed the weirdness of history.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book advertises itself as "A Medical History of the Kings and Queens of England", and it is on that basis that I purchased it. The author has impressive medical credentials, so I wasn't wrong in making that assumption. However what this book really is, is a short biography of each monarch from Edward the Confessor to Victoria, with a sentence or two about their death. Not at all what it is advertised to be, and extremely disappointing.

There are some factual errors here too. Modern thought about the death of Edward II is not taken into account. What is listed is the rumor that he died by insertion of a red hot poker. Modern historians are not totally convinced and there are other theories. That should have been noted.

There are three appendices at the back. Appendix I is a list of monarchs from The Conqueror to Victoria with a few, as in one to five words, on the cause of death. Appendix II is a list of burial places with the glaring error of Richard III! This imprint is 2017. Richard's body was discovered under the parking lot in 2013, and decently reintured with honor in 2015 - plenty of time to fix the error but they didn't! Appendix III is a selected bibliography of books that most likely go into deeper depth.

This book isn't bad, it's just not at all what it is advertised to be. If you are looking for a short biography of the British monarchs, this isn't too bad. If you have a fair knowledge of the British monarchs or are looking for a deeper look at what killed them, not so much.

[David Allen Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very readable, very interesting little book that tells about the death of every English king (and queen!) from Edward the Confessor in 1066 to Victoria in 1901. A succinct background is given on each monarch, followed by all the information that is available on the monarch's lifetime health and circumstances of death. Obviously, the available information varies, and until the advent of modern medicine with the last few kings and queens, some of it is speculative or inferred. Information is also provided on the burial sites.

This is a British book so in some areas the wording may not be familiar to Americans-- the use of "stone" for example for weight. There is no information on the uncrowned and presumably murdered King Edward V. The information on the death and burial of Richard III predates the recent discovery of his grave and autopsy that proved much of the legend was true.

The writer seems a bit focused on speculation about the disease syphillis which he often speculates on in monarch after monarch; the other medical evidence presented is more straightforward.

Overall, this is an informative and interesting book that anyone who enjoys British royal history will find a great read. The only real shortfall is the book ends abrubtly with the death of Queen Victoria and covers none of the monarch deaths in the 20th century.

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd seen this on display in the bookshop at Hampton Court and thought it sounded interesting, if a little grisly! Chapters tackle every monarch since Edward the Confessor although I did chuckle at the inclusion of chapters for Jane Grey and Charles I (beheading being fairly straightforward!).

The book was written in the 1980s so obviously some of the conclusions/assumptions are slightly out of date. He also seems to connect many of the symptoms to syphilis and I would be interested to know if it was really this widespread until recently or whether he just liked to connect it. Most significantly, the author's writing style is a little dry and I did struggle to finish it at times. He also uses medical terminology without a huge amount of concession for the lay person so I did have to look several things up. However it was an interesting and revealing (if obviously speculative) look at the illnesses or injuries; many of which are treated without a thought nowadays.

[Maddison Douglas-Coonrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're like me and have insatiable streak of morbid curiosity, you will enjoy this highly educational read. I remember seeing this book for sale in a gift store when I was studying abroad in London. I made the decision to buy a meal over buying this book-- the striking cover and premise haunted me since. Several years later it was on sale at a local bookstore and I was finally able to get the one that got away!
Brewer writes a very neat, concise summaries of the medical histories of the King AND Queens of England. It's very dry, full of facts, and was exactly what I wanted. Brewer analyzes symptoms that he acknowledges were recorded not only for the benefit of the Sovereign's medical attendants, but also for clear political purposes. Through this wavy and cracked window into history, Brewer makes well-educated guesses into what royalty might REALLY have died from.

[Janice Pedder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I bought on a whim and it has served me well. In 2008 my partner developed a brain tumour and before and after his op he was unable to see properly. This book had chapters just the right length to read to him. He could concentrate on each chapter and I could easily read it out loud.
I still take this book to various appointments and I learn something new each time (Sometimes it's not new, it's something I've forgotten.)
I feel for poor Charles II, his death was awful. Last time I was at the dentist I read about James II and before that I read about Edward I. It's a dipping in book.
My partner made a complete recovery and was he grateful he didn't live before the NHS and modern medicine.

[Chris Millington · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of potted medical histories of all the Kings and Queens of England from Edward the Confessor to Queen Victoria. Kept me engaged, although I would have preferred a bit more medical and a little less general history.

I was fascinated by the descriptions of what happened to the bodies of the monarchs after death. After all the pomp and ceremony for when they were alive, there seems to have been a cavalier attitude once they were gone, so 17 of Queen Anne’s children are buried with Mary Queen of Scots, James I is buried with Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York, while one of the bones of Charles I was ‘borrowed’ and used as a salt cellar for many years.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting , if somewhat macabre, read. Each monarch, from Edward the Confessor to Victoria, is given a brief biography, and then an analysis of their health and cause of death. There is, by necessity, a lot of guesswork for the earlier rulers.

I can't vouch for the accuracy of the history or the medical details, as I have no training in either field.The book is, nevertheless , quite readable, except for a few passages too technical for the layperson.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read for those interested in the impact of royal medical maladies on the turbulent political landscape of the British Isles. Though quite a few terms warrant a google search, it’s still easy to follow for someone without an education in medicine. However the editors did miss a few historical inconsistencies that detract from the overall quality of the book.

[Helen Mears · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting diversion - better for the medical rather than the historical side. The author uses what information is available to try and establish the cause of death for monarchs from Edward the Confessor to Queen Victoria.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Problematic, because it ignores certain historical facts in lieu of modern medical diagnosis... but otherwise enjoyable.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

The conceit of this book is so freaking delightful, I wish the finished product had lived up to it more. The Death of Kings touches briefly on the probable cause of death for every English monarch from Edward the Confessor to Victoria, and obviously the interest and length of each section kind of depends on how interestingly the person in particular died. So some of it worked more than the rest; I almost wish the book had just focused on the more controversial cases? It was very short and glancing as it was, and I wish Brewer had gone into further detail. For instance, with the more modern kings and queens, where we have really very detailed postmortem accounts of the condition of their bodies, I wish he'd explained what everything meant instead of just giving the quote verbatim and concluding they died of 'x'. If that makes sense. And I would have loved further exploration of the medical history of each individual rather than the focus on the ends of their lives, because when he did touch on that material, I was really intrigued. I know [trust me] there's a paucity of evidence especially for the medieval monarchs, but I wanted more science and forensics, dammit!

I say this especially because some of his history was... sloppy. I'll give a couple of instances that caught my eye.

1) He has Mary Tudor marrying 'Thomas' Brandon, and, like, sorry, Suffolk is one of my historical pets [blame Cavill], how DARE you.
2) He indulges in some tired old discredited theories in places. He simultaneously brings up the speculation that Elizabeth had an intersex condition or some kind of physical defect that made her too embarrassed to marry anyone or produce a child AND floats the idea that she had a secret love child with Dudley. I am having trouble reconciling your views here, Brewer. [Also: seriously?]
3) He touches on some generally really interesting character details with the early Plantagenets and their infamous tempers, a la Henry II's rolling on the floor gnawing at the rushes and the similar fits of anger that John inherited, but doesn't draw any conclusions--and then later he mentions offhandedly that Henry was probably manic-depressive, as were most of the Plantagenets. And I could probably agree with him, but he really does not walk through the evidence properly! I mean, I think you could write a whole book just on the characters and personalities of the Angevins alone, but his connection-drawing was incredibly superficial and I just wanted to stand behind him holding up a [CITATION NEEDED] placard.

Basically, I think he wasn't enough of a historian OR enough of a doctor in this book to really drive the concept home sufficiently. I adore this kind of interdisciplinary writing, in theory, and it's been done and done WELL before in books like Purple Secret. With a writing partner, Brewer could really have had something here. But it didn't quite work. Unfortunately.

[Jillianne Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of The Death of Kings: A Medical History of the Kings and Queens of England by Clifford Brewer last year while visiting Westminster Abbey in London. (Appropriate, I know.)

This book features 41 chapters, each one focusing on an English monarch, beginning with Edward the Confessor (1019-1066) and ending with Queen Victoria (1819-1901).

I wish the book continued on to include the medical histories of Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI. Thankfully their causes of death aren’t hard to find. (Also, I realize how creepy that sounds. Jeez.)

Each chapter gives a vague outline of the monarch’s health history, the biology of their various illnesses, treatments they received, first person accounts and descriptions of their illnesses as recorded by royal physicians and final cause of death-what the physicians of the time ruled the death as and what the author, surgeon Clifford Brewer, believes it to be based on symptoms. Also includes intimate descriptions of final moments from the handful of monarchs not killed by natural causes.

If I learned anything from this book, it’s that bloodletting was used for every illness imaginable. This method was used during the Middle Ages, all the way up to the later chapters in the 1800s. Seriously, did bloodletting ever work? What made physicians keep doing that? Someone, at some point, must have felt better after having been cut open by a physician and for hundreds of years, that continued to be their go-to treatment.

I don’t get it. But anyway.

The book also includes a list of where each monarch is buried, a chapter on the pattern of diseases and an introductory chapter on the process of announcing a monarch’s death and switching to their heir. Very interesting stuff.

This book was great. A bit dry, but I’ve always been a sucker for gory details. If you’re interested in health, biology, history and don’t mind a bit of bloodshed, I highly recommend picking up this.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A doctor looks at the deaths of the kings and queens of England's past and examines what may have killed them, using modern medical knowledge.

Great subject matter, and an interesting read. It was sometimes hard to keep track of things, as sometimes a chapter would start with their birth while others would talk about their death first. Additionally, the British medical terms confused me a bit, but since the author is british, I can't fault him on that one. I do wonder why he chose to stop the book after Queen Victoria; it would have been interesting to hear about more of the 20th century monarchs, but I suppose that modern medicine has cleared up all mystery there.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read a lot of royalty books, especially ones on Great Britain. I was annoyed that the author used a lot of hearsay and opinion instead of historical fact. He was also very repetitive in that the same adjectives were used over and over again to describe a king or queen. He also made easy mistakes with dates in that one sentence would contradict the last sentence regarding a date of death, marriage, etc. Also one section had the pages in reverse so I don't know if that was a mistake of the publisher or what, but this book was poorly edited.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, very matter of fact and unskewed by historical societal reports and opinions of what illnesses the monarchs had. At times gruesome, but provided medical explanations for some of the biggest mysteries for historians.

But now I wish he would do the same for the partners of these monarchs, as some of them had some illnesses that were very puzzling to people at the time, and thus often attributed these to religious reasons.

Highly recommended for those who are interested in the history of how illnesses were considered and treated.