What illnesses did Henry have?
Henry suffered an attack of smallpox in February 1514 and an attack of malaria in 1521 and occasionally thereafter, especially in 1541. He was prone to headaches, sore throats and catarrh. He hurt his left foot playing tennis in 1527 and again in 1529. His greatest accident was in January 1536 when he fell from his horse whilst jousting. He was unconscious for two hours, and Anne Boleyn blamed her subsequent miscarriage of a male child on the shock at Henry’s fall. Henry had a chronic leg ulcer, first mentioned in 1528 but possibly aggravated by his fall in 1536. The ulcer often became inflamed and Henry did not rest long enough for it to heal. Towards the end of his life he had enormously swollen, dropsical legs, due to chronic heart failure and his obesity. There is no evidence that Henry VIII was syphilitic. It is possible though that he suffered from some form of depression in the second half of his life, with a particular bout in 1541. For more on Henry’s medical health, see, Milo
