Royal Deaths from Dysentery

compiled by Susan Flantzer

This does not purport to be a complete list. All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

Dysentery is a bacterial or parasitic infection. The bacteria or parasites reach the large intestine through the mouth after eating contaminated food, drinking contaminated water, or by oral contact with contaminated objects or hands. Dysentery causes intestinal inflammation leading to excessively frequent and uncontrollable diarrhea. Other symptoms include vomiting, fever and abdominal pain.

Also called the bloody flux, dysentery was the scourge of armies for centuries. As late as the nineteenth century, it killed more soldiers than did combat. Dysentery decimated Napoleon’s army when he invaded Russia. More than 80,000 Union soldiers died of dysentery during the American Civil War.

********************

Henry the Young King

  • Born: February 28, 1155 at Bermondsey Abbey in London, England
  • Parents: King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine
  • Married: Marguerite of France in 1160
  • Died: June 11, 1183, aged 28 at the Castle of Martel in Lot, Viscount of Turenne, now in France
  • Buried: Rouen Catherdral now in Rouen, France
  • Unofficial Royalty: Henry the Young King

Henry was the eldest surviving son and heir of King Henry II of England, whose vast empire consisted of an area covering half of France, all of England, and parts of Ireland and Wales. When Henry was 15, his father decided to adopt the French practice of ensuring the succession by declaring his heir the junior king. Henry was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 14, 1170.

In 1182–83, Henry had a falling out with his brother Richard (later Richard II) when Richard refused to pay homage to him on the orders of King Henry II. As he was preparing to fight Richard, Henry became ill with dysentery. It was clear that Henry was dying and he repented his sins by prostrating himself naked on the floor before a crucifix. Henry the Young King died holding a ring his father had sent as a sign of his forgiveness.

********************

King John of England

  • Born: December 24, 1166 at Beaumont Palace in Oxford, England
  • Parents: King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine
  • Married: (1) Isabella, Countess of Gloucester in 1189, annulled 1199 (2) Isabella, Countess of Angoulême in 1200
  • Died: October 19, 1216, aged 49, at Newark Castle in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England
  • Buried: Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: King John of England

In the midst of the First Barons’ War, John became ill with dysentery. He was taken by a litter to Newark Castle where he died. At his request, John was buried in Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England as close to the shrine of St. Wulfstan as possible. A new tomb was built in 1232, during the reign of his son and heir King Henry III.

********************

King Louis VIII of France

  • Born: September 5, 1187 in Paris, France
  • Parents: King Philippe II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut
  • Married: Blanche of Castile in 1200
  • Died: November 8, 1226, aged 39 at the Château de Montpensier in Montpensier, France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: King Louis VIII of France

While returning to Paris after a three-month siege at Avignon during a dispute against Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse and Roger Bernard the Great, Count of Foix, Louis VIII developed dysentery. He was unable to make it all the way to Paris and died at the Château de Montpensier.

********************

Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany, King of Sicily

  • Born: December 26, 1194 in Jesi, Imperial Italy, now in Italy
  • Parents: Heinrich VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Constance, Queen of Sicily
  • Married: (1) Constance of Aragon in 1209 (2) Yolande, Queen of Jerusalem in 1225 (3) Isabella of England in 1235
  • Died: December 13, 1250, aged 55, at Castel Fiorentino near Lucera, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy
  • Buried: Cathedral of Palermo in Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy
  • Wikipedia: Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor

Friedrich developed dysentery during the war between the Holy Roman Empire and the Lombard city of Parma. After a period of illness, he died peacefully wearing the habit of a Cistercian monk.

********************

King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis)

  • Born: April 25, 1214 at Château de Poissy in Poissy, France near Paris
  • Parents: King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile
  • Married: Margaret of Provence in 1234
  • Died: August 25, 1270, aged 56, in Tunis, now in Tunisia in North Africa
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: King Louis IX of France

Louis IX died during a dysentery epidemic while commanding his troops during the Eighth Crusade in North Africa. His remains were subject to Mos Teutonicus, which involved boiling the remains to remove the flesh from the bones so the bones could be hygienically transported back to the deceased’s home country. Louis IX’s bones were carried in a lengthy processional across Sicily, Italy, the Alps, and France, until they were interred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis in May 1271. His father, Louis VIII, had also died from dysentery. (See above.) Louis IX was canonized in 1297 under the name of Saint Louis of France by Pope Boniface VIII. St. Louis, Missouri is named after him.

********************

King Philippe III of France

  • Born: April 30, 1245 at Château de Poissy in Poissy, France near Paris
  • Parents: King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis) and Margaret of Provence
  • Married: (1) Isabella of Aragon in 1262 (2) Maria of Brabant in 1274
  • Died: October 5, 1285, aged 40, in Perpignan, Kingdom of Majorca, now in France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: King Philippe III of France

Like his father Louis IX and his grandfather Louis VIII (see above), Philippe III died of dysentery while commanding his troops. Following a rebellion started by King Pedro III of Aragon against Philippe’s uncle King Charles I of Naples, Philippe led an unsuccessful Aragonese Crusade in support of his uncle. Philippe’s army was affected by an epidemic of dysentery. His remains, like his father’s remains, were subject to Mos Teutonicus and transported back to France for burial.

********************

King Edward I of England

  • Born: June 17, 1239, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England
  • Parents: King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence
  • Married: (1) Eleanor of Castile in 1254 (2) Margaret of France in 1299
  • Died: July 7, 1307, aged 68, in Burgh by Sands, Cumbria, England
  • Buried: Westminster Abbey in London, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Edward I of England

During the reign of Edward I, the Scots refused to tolerate English rule and the result was the Wars of Scottish Independence, a series of military campaigns fought between Scotland and England, first led by William Wallace and after his execution, led by Robert the Bruce who became Robert I, King of Scots in 1306. In the summer of 1307, Edward I was on his way back to the Scottish border when he developed dysentery. His condition deteriorated and on July 6, 1239, Edward’s army encamped at Burgh by Sands, just south of the Scottish border. When his servants went to him the next morning, he died in their arms.

********************

King Philippe V of France

  • Born: circa 1293 in Lyon, France
  • Parents: King Philippe IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre
  • Married: Joan II, Countess of Burgundy in 1307
  • Died: January 3, 1322, aged 29, at the Abbey of Longchamp in Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: King Philippe V of France

Philippe first developed malaria and then dysentery which hastened his death. He died at the Abbey of Longchamp while visiting his daughter Blanche, who had taken her vows as a nun there.

********************

King Henry V of England

  • Born: September 16, 1386 at Monmouth Castle in Monmouth, Wales
  • Parents: King Henry IV of England and Mary de Bohun
  • Married: Catherine of Valois in 1420
  • Died: August 31, 1422, aged 35, at the Château de Vincennes in Vincennes, France
  • Buried: Westminster Abbey in London, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Henry V of England

Henry V was the last great warrior king of the Middle Ages. He had many military successes in the Hundred Years’ War against France, most notably the Battle of Agincourt. The warrior king, determined to conquer France once and for all, succumbed to dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, leaving a nine-month-old son he had never seen to inherit his throne.

********************