Any thoughts on Caroline’s death and burial? Let me know below and remember you also find me at: BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): www.historycallingofficial.com/ Patreon: www.patreon.com/historycalling Amazon storefront: www.amazon.com/shop/historycalling Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling/
giventhe constipation comment and the fact she kept throwing everything up. It sounds like she had a bowel obstruction likely caused by the hernia pinching her bowels from where it came came thru the abdominal wall.
She was incredibly brave to face her brutal and tragic end, and even though I disapprove of George II's affairs and the fact that he was rather bothersome during the near two weeks leading to Queen Caroline's death, I am glad that they had a decent marriage for their time, certainly better than the marriage of George's father, that's for sure. And the burial was indeed romantic and sweet. 💖 I can't help but feel sorry for the poor man who had to carry out the late George II's will though. 😅
I have to to say what they put that lady through day after day was horrendous,she was a remarkable woman and still found time to laugh at the Dr who caught his wig on fire, thank you as always HC 👍
I know. You wouldn't treat a dog the way they treated her and yet she was supposedly getting the best medical assistance available. Just shows why it was no joke to be ill or injured prior to the 20th century.
Brilliant presentation of the poor dear, Queen Caroline’s, care and death. My great great grandfathers were childhood friends with King George II and they remained friends up until death. We have a family library filled with accounts of daily life from the 1600’s to now. From what I read, Caroline had a wicked sense of humour and was a very good person.
Oh please share some of those stories! Are you able to read the old english? I have a copy of an Herbal book written in the late 1680's I think and I can't make any sense of it!
It’s terrifying that something as simple as a bowel hernia wasn’t recognizable 200 years after Renaissance scientists like Leonardo thought to study anatomy. Modern medicine, with all of its flaws, is a miracle of the combined brilliance of generations.
I cannot imagine the pain and suffering this poor woman endured, let alone such a surgery without benefit of anything to dull the pain, much less anesthesia. Talk about a strong woman! I am in awe of her fortitude and endurance. Rest well, Sweet Caroline. You were regal up to the end.
"Mortify" may have changed its meaning since the 18th century, but it is not even slightly less appropriate now than it was then to describe this situation. The worst part of this for me is that the doctors seem to have done exactly the right amount of damage to give her a painful, prolonged, and humiliating death. Had they done less, maybe she would have lived. Had they done more, she might have at least had a quicker and more merciful end. I feel awful for this poor woman.
THANK YOU ZUGABDU FOR YOU GENEROUS DONATION to the channel. Yes, I agree. They'd have been better off doing nothing, or else killing her more cleanly than this. They really tortured her over those two weeks. No wonder she didn't want to tell them what the matter was.
👏👏 That must have been a deeply disturbing dream George had that drove him to Caroline's tomb in the dark of night. A rather eerie detail of a sad tale. Great job as always, HC!
Even when the story is terribly sad and the details gruesomely repellant, you do an excellent job of narrating it in well-researched detail. Thank you! It offers a vivid close up of 18th century thinking and behavior. So bizarre to us today. We have to admire the Queen's stupendous courage and wry sense of humor, and wish we could know more about what she was like when she was in better health.
@@HistoryCallingI agree and may I ask what accent you have? It's gorgeous and I'm an American who loves learning about different languages and accents. Your voice is very soothing. 😌
Poor, poor woman. Such dignity, I’d be screaming the palace down I’m sure. Thank you, I enjoy ( if thats an appropriate word here) all your videos. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏👵🇦🇺
Me too. I'd be hoarse from the screaming. I'm really glad you're still enjoying the content, as I know you're one of my followers who's been with me for a good while now :-)
Wow this is brutal! the fact she even lived through the surgery is amazing to me. excellent coverage, i’m sure looking at all that info for a period of time while gathering it all must have been intense!
I know. It's wild that she didn't die on the table/bed, even just from the pain of it. This one wasn't too bad for research actually, as I was focusing on just a couple of weeks of history. The worst videos are generally the biography ones and historical mysteries. They take AGES to research.
Thank you. That's one of my favourites too. I created that before I actually launched the channel though, so I was able to give it all the time it needed.
This was pretty gruesome. Poor Caroline! Botched surgery on a massive scale, day after day and she even wanted to laugh.And then her coffin was interfered with on George's instructions. Dear me, what a carry on. I hope she is at perfect rest now and will be forever. 🌠
Yes, hopefully she is. At least (to the best of my knowledge) she hasn't been disturbed since George was buried. That's a lot more postmortem respect than many royals get.
I admire her fortitude and her sense of humor. She endured such pain and yet she told her surgeon for a minute so she can laugh because his wig caught fire. She lived longer than expected with the medicine of that time in my opinion. Thank you for the history lesson. Have a good day.
I was shocked to see how my sister- and brother-in-law pestered our dying patriarch, but later recognized it was their way of dealing with their grief and feelings of uselessness in the face of a days-long passing. I imagine those feelings would be magnified for George, as I'm sure his kingship meant he didn't often experience a situation outside of his control and he may have had a bit of a guilty conscience for the cheating. I feel so sorry for Caroline, George, and everyone who had to witness her suffering.
As a nurse who has had the priviledge to care for some people in their last days, I agree completely with your assessment! I remember a son, who reportedly had a very bad relationship with his father in life, who stayed by his bedside day and night for two weeks and tried to force him to eat relentlessly...In the face of not being able to make amends, this may be the desperate attempt to prove that you love and care for them. Curiously the father passed, after two weeks of suffering, in a brief half an hour period when his son left to get some rest. Rest in peace Karl-Heinz ❤
I doubt he was feeling guilty taking a mistress at that time was very normal for high profile men and Caroline was more than likely very much aware. A reason he would have told her he’ll not marry again simply have mistresses was him saying he loved only her, mistresses were for carnal pleasure only.
@@charlottemurray9978 it’s not unlikely that he experienced guilt, the customs of the time regardless, human nature does not change. It is cruel to enjoy the embraces of others when you’ve pledged yourself to someone else already, and much worse to continuously do so with her full knowledge. There are countless stories of high status women suffering the insecurities, jealousy, and grief of knowing their husbands were so blatantly unfaithful. He undoubtedly caused her at least some small amount of pain, and if he did care at all about her, it would’ve spurred some guilt whether he ever admitted it to himself or not.
@@charlottemurray9978 George's mistresses were Caroline's Ladies in Waiting and Women of the Bedchamber. She was well aware of that and encouraged the arrangement. Mistresses are not solely for "carnal pleasure". Anyone who believes that has never had one, known one or been one.
I had Peritonitis in the 90s and even with modern medicine it was a bit rough and ready for several days. Excruciating doesn’t begin to describe the pain. God bless the Queen’s soul.
Yes, one of my family members had that in the 70s and thanks to a very delayed diagnosis (like two weeks) it really could have killed them. Had the appendix actually been burst, rather than perforated I think it might have. It's a terrible illness. It took them months to recover fully.
Considering the awful death she endured after the surgery, I have to agree with you that she likely made the decision to hide her condition for court doctors! Women’s medicine and health is still today under valued and misunderstood. I can’t imagine how much worse it was back then…but hearing this video we all can imagine now! Great job as always and I throughly enjoyed this video!! Thank you!
Yes, I completely agree. If she'd told them the problem they might have killed her years earlier. You're also so right about women's problems not being taken seriously, even today. I used to know a girl who suffered from endometriosis and she was literally told it was all in her head and to see a psychiatrist! It took her about 10 years to get a diagnosis I believe, by which point a lot of her internal organs had been damaged. It's ruined her health for life, poor thing.
You have to be JOKING. Women live on average 5 YEARS longer than men…but go off about how women’s medicine is so “undervalued and misunderstood”, I can only assume your alluding to the loss of a right that wasn’t lost but just given to the states. The fact that women live longer than men by 5 years proves your statements wrong, unless you think it’s luck?
Before the advent of anesthetics in the 1840s, surgical operations were conducted with little or no pain relief and were attended with great suffering and emotional distress. So Caroline might have been suffered terribly in that time. As for George that ordered it Caroline's coffin to be removed, I remembered Wuthering Heights, when Hearthcliff removed from earth Catherine's coffin and opened it. Thanks for another brilliant video!
There was a good Ted-Ed talk about that very recently actually. I haven't read Wuthering Heights I'm afraid. Got 1 chapter in and just couldn't take it any more. Sorry Bronte lovers. I like Jane Eyre if that helps :-)
@@HistoryCalling Emily is probably more of an acquired taste. It's easier for most people to enter Jane Eyre's world. The primitive world of Heathcliff can be unsettling.
Thank you for such a good telling of this tragedy. Thank the Lord that medicine has come a long way since then. How many must have suffered similar tortures as doctors learned how to help people.
I know. You really wouldn't look at historical medicine until the late 19th century at the absolute earliest. Up until then it was mostly just useless at best and torture at worst.
This poor woman bore numerous children as it was her duty. It lead to her demise. She then bore the consequences with superhuman decorum. It is remarkable how she could express her agency at her most vulnerable. Truly admirable!
Yes, just one less child and she would have been ok it seems, as it was the final daughter that caused the initial problem. I'm sure she wouldn't have wished Princess Louise out of existence though, even if it would have saved her life.
This is a strangulated hernia. No way she was going to survive this no matter what they did back then. They just made a bad situation worse. Poor lady.
What she had wasn’t just surgery but abdominal surgery, which I’m pretty sure is the worst type. Abdominal surgery performed by people who, by our standards, were completely unqualified and didn’t even have the right equipment including any decent knock out drugs. Really not much different than falling into the hands of the cartel and having them go to town on you with the contents of the garage. I’d say poor Caroline had the worst possible outcome, not only did the surgeons botch whatever they were hoping for, they didn’t even botch it sufficiently to kill her outright, which would have been preferable. At least she can rest in peace with her husband.
An early recipe for "True Daffy" from 1700 lists the following ingredients: aniseed, brandy, cochineal, elecampane, fennel seed, jalap, manna, parsley seed, raisin, rhubarb, saffron, senna and spanish liquorice. it was really just a laxative. I read somewhere that when the King said "no, I will not remarry , I will take mistresses"....she retorted "that shouldn't stop you." referring to his many affairs during their marriage. poor woman, sure sounds like a bowel obsruction with gangrene. I can't imagine the agony she went through.
The practice of important men "taking mistresses" was far more acceptable in the 17th and 18th century than to modern ears. Remember they would have rarely shared a bed to actually sleep and would have spent large amounts of their time apart.
I had the same condition after a botched gall bladder surgery. Twenty minutes after eating I'd get the worst pain ever. (I'd given birth twice without meds and that was fine.) One bite of food would cause the pain again and I'd double over. I went to the surgeon's office and he was alarmed. He told me not to move as he "made arrangements." An hour passed, so my spouse went to ask. The surgeon had gone home! Luckily, my body healed itself over time. This happened in New York state. It is a *lie* that we have "the best healthcare in the world". Only for the wealthy.
@@HistoryCalling My surgeon was 90 years old and legally blind, so a med student did the operation under his guidance. The student told me that I was the first *living* person he'd ever touched! Thank you for caring. ❤
@rottnk9527 She didn’t say healthcare system, she said healthcare. People come to the US from around the world to get procedures or just timely care that they can’t get in their own countries.
I had a similar experience. Waited 3 hours, only to hear the surgeon saying goodbye to his staff. And this was a partially out-of-pocket surgeon bc he was supposed to be the best. Also in nyc. The system is deeply flawed, and not centered in patient care, just expedient processing and drug pushing. Dogs have an easier time getting access to surgery than humans do here.
My brother had his gall bladder removed but in the doing, his bowel was nicked. That resulted his very near death, only avoided by massive amounts of antibiotics, O2 on speed dial, an induced coma and intubation, extended stay in ICU. Followed by extensive physical and occupational therapies. He was left as weak as a newborn for many months. The queen had no chance of survival.
Same as my husband. In the hospital for weeks and weeks. Was never the same. Every incision kept herniating because the infection weakened his tissues to much.
Sweet Jesus! Just listening to this seemingly unending travesty was too much for me! This woman’s strength, determination, and even anger were relentless! I can’t imagine being at death’s door and refusing to forgive your son.
There is a church on Long Island NY that is named in her honor. Queen Caroline donated vestments and a communion service .which the church still uses for very special occasions. The Caroline Church of Brookhaven recently celebrated it’s 300th anniversary.
I'm from long Island and a fan of British monarchy and I never heard about Queen Caroline's church! That's wonderful! I'm an excommunicated catholic so Middle finger to that lot but what an amazingly strong woman, with wit, determination, and just plain stubbornness! She could have stopped this torture at any point - she fought for her life! Thank you for this!
My sister got an obstructed bowel from a hernia. She was in pain on Saturday and had an operation (under anesthetic) on Monday. Thank heavens for modern medicine!
Poor Queen Caroline. She was incredibly brave to face her brutal and tragic end, and even though I disapprove of George II's affairs and the fact that he was rather bothersome during the near two weeks leading to Queen Caroline's death, I am glad that they had a decent marriage for their time, certainly better than the marriage of George's father, that's for sure. And the burial was indeed romantic and sweet. 💖 I can't help but feel sorry for the poor man who had to carry out the late George II's will though. 😅
Mint water or mint tea will break up painful intestinal gas bubbles and so relieve gas pain, pressure and bloating. It will also help to ease nausea. If very painful gas had been the source of the queen's illness, this would have helped to relieve it and quickly. As that wasn't the problem, mint water wouldn't make things much worse. We use it at home to this day. Mint tea is the first line of defense against tummy aches and often takes care of the problem.
What a strange twist it is to discover that those kings thought they were doing their wives a FAVOR by having mistresses. Although, considering the dangers of childbirth, maybe many wives agreed. But how very odd to promise your Queen to have only mistresses after she dies. Perhaps that was intended to reassure her that there would be no further royal babies to trouble the succession.
Yes, George is a bit of a laugh. I think it was probably the greatest compliment he could think of for her. No one else was good enough to be his Queen. Also I suppose if your husband was very unpleasant to have to sleep with, him having a mistress might take some of the edge off.
Eh, they both loathed their eldest son and heir, so I don’t think the succession was their main concern. IIRC, they wished they could skip him entirely. Luckily for them, I guess, he died before he could become King. Which is also how we ended up with such a famously long reign from his son, George III. Though of course it was tragically and violently disrupted and had a ignoble end. The tradition of the Hanoverian kings resenting, disliking, and distrusting their own precious firstborn sons and heirs lasted so many generations, it’s so strange. Right through Queen Victoria and Edward VII, really. And actually even George V and Edward VIII. It’s probably just a really awkward and delicate situation, having people literally waiting for you to die and gathering around your heir to gain future favors, especially when rival courts develop and become competitive. Anyway, I think mistresses in their era were seen as an almost expected thing, a duty to make the king look virile, fashionable, and powerful, and they were not treated as very serious relationships. To promise nobody else would become his Queen made it clear that she would always be the most honored woman in his life and nobody could take her role. It’s the opposite attitude that his own father had to his mother, which surely impacted him at a young age. His primary mistress Henrietta Howard really saw it as a duty too, and it also helped her financially. It was like they were going through the motions. Caroline at least had a close friendship with Walpole, and also ended up being sort of the true power behind the throne a lot of the time. She was a very well-educated, tough, sensible, admirable woman. It’s just too bad they had such a bad relationship with Frederick. They’d had *terrible* animosity with George I. Sad their family was torn by such drama.
Wow. Having Crohn's Disease and having had a couple resection surgeries myself, I feel for her on a deep level. It may have been the hernia that was causing issues, but it would have to be really kinked. She may have had a blockage elsewhere. I wish I could time travel, because I have lots of diagnostic questions to ask her. She sounds very much like my grandma - laughing at the doctor catching his wig on fire during surgery, and having already accepted her fate, just letting them chop her up some more, because why not? Like, I'm already dying in agony, maybe you'll speed things up the next time you cut into me. That poor woman.
It is unbelievable actually that the pain didn't make her have a heart attack. What they did to her (cutting her open while she was still alive and awake) was used as a torture and execution technique in earlier centuries.
"The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there." I think we're a bit too harsh on our forebears. We can't castigate them for things they didn't know. After all, how would we feel if, in 300 years' time, all our mod-cons and technology were seen as not only quaint and outmoded but also ridiculously dangerous? And frankly, I've read enough modern medical horror stories to not put doctors today on too high a pedestal. However, there's no taking away from Queen Caroline, she suffered horribly but with great forbearance - and humour too. Thank you so much for this fascinating little doco. As for the cognitive dissonance of a man who dearly loved his wife but still had mistresses, we need to remember that contraception was extraordinarily hit-and-miss. Every single pregnancy for any woman was dangerous and, in fact, was the leading cause of death in women until the early 20th century.
I've always loved that quote. Yes, you're quite right that we can't judge history by our modern standards, though I do think it took shockingly long for people to accept that things like bleeding and blistering were terrible ideas. Some people did notice of course, but they were in the minority. I certainly don't doubt that the motives of Caroline's doctors were sound.
@@HistoryCalling Bit late, but modern bleeding happens when you get told by a doctor you have thick blood and to make you feel better to go donate blood. Not as a disease, which does exist, but because your cells are just juicy and plump. I've been told that but due to my blood type I can't because it's so rare, but I have a friend that does on the 56th day like clockwork and occasionally is able to do it within 6 weeks (depending on how thick his blood is and how needed it is). I always feel better after I have cut myself pretty badly (not on purpose) or when I give blood, so I can see why blood letting was a thing.
Super great video! Yes the ignorance of the doctors was just horrible. Not that they had schooling that told them how to treat a hernia. And her suffering was horrible. They could have even just sewn the intestine to the skin and put a bag there to collect the stool. But instead left both loops inside and let them drain there. But her fortitude was immeasurable. She kept letting them just to try and live.
Sounds like she had small bowel obstruction. I had emergency surgery for the very same thing in 2021 and Lisa Marie Presley died after having surgery for this too. I couldn’t eat anything for 9 days until after the surgery. What this poor woman suffered must have been unbelievably awful, ending in manslaughter.
Hi! This isn't connected to this video but I was wondering if you'd done a video on Anne Seymour? I scrolled through but couldn't see it but I thought I'd ask. 🙂 I saw a quick video on another channel about her but it was disappointingly brief & she sounds like a fascinating person - I'd love to hear you bring her to life, as you do that so well!
An early recipe for "True Daffy" from 1700 lists the following ingredients: aniseed, brandy, cochineal, elecampane, fennel seed, jalap, manna, parsley seed, raisin, rhubarb, saffron, senna and spanish liquorice. Chemical analysis has shown this to be a laxative made mostly from alcohol. [citation needed] Other recipes include Guiuacum wood chips, caraway, Salt of Tartar, and scammony.
What an amazing, stoic woman to have had the physical and mental strength to endure the treatment from those doctors! Astounding. In those times, very often, the cure was worse than the disease. And how typically male to believe that he is complimenting his wife by telling her he won't remarry but will instead sleep with whomever crosses his path. LOL. However, he did plan a very romantic eternity for the 2 of them. Thank you for bringing these details to us in such a wonderful way. Kind Regards, Cherie
A Royal Mistress was not a common tart. My goodness, if you believe that mistresses, especially Royal mistresses were just for sex, you could not be more mistaken.
I like her so much!! Ngl when I saw “Caroline” I thought it was Caroline of Brunswick, and of all, that was not romantic! The fact that it is that of Ansbach makes more sense :) Have a nice Friday and thank you!!
Even into the 1900's they were still doing fully awake surgery. My great uncle had part of his lung removed while leaning over a table and the doctor was on the phone from a surgeon in Sydney.
What a sad tale. People sometimes suffered so much at the hands of medicos at that time, but she retained the humour and spirit to laugh at the doctors wig catching fire; whilst undergoing surgery without anaesthetic. Quite a woman!
When I say I feel this poor woman's pain, I mean it. It's a hell like no other! I'm lucky to have survived. I had a J-tube (feeding tube inserted into the jejunum) mishap that ripped my intestine. For 2 weeks, E. Coli, bile, waste, and more filled my abdomen. Only once I was septic did doctors listen and look at what happened. By then, the area was so inflamed and infected, anesthetic didn't work. I felt every bit of them trying to aspirate it. I was told that had they known how bad it was, I would have been put under. I still ended up needing emergency surgery.
@@HistoryCalling Thank you. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sue. It was a different facility in our area that chose to ignore me. Karma got them, though, as the entire hospital shut down last year. I have severe PTSD from it all, but it taught my whole family that we HAVE to be our own advocates.
It sounds like she had a severe case of ulcerative colitis. I know because I had those exact symptoms and had to rush to the hospital. Poor woman! They didn't know about bowel diseases then. May she rest with the sweetest peace.❤
"He had many mistresses but he loved his wife dearly" "After you die, my love, I will not remarry as you suggest, instead I will only take a mistress" ....... It's good to be king!
@@nansi113 His father wished him to marry, as far as possible given the limitations of his class, for love. He went incognito to her court and fell in love with her. What her feelings were for him, I don't know. But he did love her, and even nursed her through smallpox, which he caught from her.
"cheated on" is a VERY strong word in this context... High society marriages weren't love affairs, they were pacts. Pacts for power, for position, for peace... It very, very rarely involved love, ESPECIALLY among royalty. Having a husband/wife was no different than signing a treaty and hiring a surrogate all in one. King George saying he'd never take another wife was a true sign of devotion to Caroline. It was honouring her, and showing her how much he valued her as his queen. He valued her more than he valued a new alliance, or more power, or more wealth. It meant a lot back then to say something like that.
Except George and Caroline’s marriage WAS a love match as well as a political alliance. George specifically chose her as a bride himself because he fell in love with her, and he absolutely was cheating on her. Their marriage was primarily a love match, George was given a list of acceptable brides and told to visit them and pick the one he wanted
Queens or Royal spouses were simply brood mares selected for political reasons . Their main purpose was to act as living semen receptacles..! Yes, it's harsh but true.. Sorry..!
Charles II is another monarch who could be said to have been tortured to death by his doctors. His ordeal lasted about five days and he had the ironic wit to "apologize" to his doctors for being "an unconscionable time dying." There's a fascinating video from History Xtra still up on UA-cam with Alice Roberts conducting an "autopsy" on Charles II. There's also another one on Elizabeth I.
This is late so it may not be answered, but I was very interested in the videos mentioned regarding Charles II and Elizabeth I on History Xtra and for the life of me can't find them on that channel? I tried just looking up Alice Roberts w/ Charles II and can't find anything. Would you happen to remember the title of either one of those videos? :)
Perhaps George's dream was that she was not actually dead? That would make him rush to observe the coffin a good while, making sure he heard no noises to indicate life?
People at that time wouldn't be freaked out by seeing bodies, you would come across bodies just on the streets of cities, and most people died at home not at a hospital. People would witness all sorts of gruesome illnesses, worse than a years-dead body which would be worse than the horror of recent putrefaction. It's viewing history from a modern perspective instead of putting yourself in their shoes. They didn't have modern sensibilities.
She obviously suffered a bowel obstruction (the medicines were to relax the bowel wall muscles to relieve the painful colicks caused by the absolute obstruction), which required surgery in order to save her life (iv fluids and feeding were not possible in those days). The fever indicates that she had suffered a bowel rupture BEFORE the surgery, so the abdomen was filled with faeces before surgery commenced, and the only way to clean this out would be through the surgical wound. Modern medicine is now able to do this with sterile peritoneal lavage, whilst we are also able to give more effective anaesthetics than the oral alcohol and morphia available at that time. Any delay in replacing the protrusion/ reducing the hernia and relieving the bowel obstruction could have been fatal. It is highly unlikely - although there are reports of survival - that a bowel rupture could be recovered from without surgery. Putrefactive degeneration of the tummy skin is the most likely outcome if patient lives long enough, although occasionally in women the vaginal wall breaks down first, creating an outlet, which I suspect the Queen would not like, if still conscious.
'She obviously suffered a bowel obstruction..' 😄 Oh, for Pete's sake. What we know for sure - from this story at least - is that days after her initial symptoms of nausea, weakness and fever (no bowel irregularities yet).. her husband disclosed a "hard to locate" umbilical hernia. Unrelated charge. 😏 18th century doctoring had already done it's duty in weakening her with bloodletting and vomit inducing tonics, so straight to work cutting the intestine open! Royal diets in that day were rich and low in fiber. To put it bluntly, a person can hang on to a lot of 💩. Zero sanitation, filthy hands, bacteria covered instruments.. it was a race to see what would kill her first. Oh, to be a microbe in those days.. Point being, there's no real evidence as to what began this bungled chain of events. I can tell you're not a scientist in profession, but conjecture is fun for everyone. ☺️
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Didn't she say something like "My God, that doesn't prevent it" when her husband said he'd only take mistresses?
Do a special _Memoirs of the Secret Services of John Macky, Esq_ , collection. That would be of great interest and garner many many hits.
giventhe constipation comment and the fact she kept throwing everything up. It sounds like she had a bowel obstruction likely caused by the hernia pinching her bowels from where it came came thru the abdominal wall.
She was incredibly brave to face her brutal and tragic end, and even though I disapprove of George II's affairs and the fact that he was rather bothersome during the near two weeks leading to Queen Caroline's death, I am glad that they had a decent marriage for their time, certainly better than the marriage of George's father, that's for sure. And the burial was indeed romantic and sweet. 💖 I can't help but feel sorry for the poor man who had to carry out the late George II's will though. 😅
@@gidge9846 I don't know. I think she said "Oh, Mon Dieu." I could be wrong though.
I have to to say what they put that lady through day after day was horrendous,she was a remarkable woman and still found time to laugh at the Dr who caught his wig on fire, thank you as always HC 👍
I know. You wouldn't treat a dog the way they treated her and yet she was supposedly getting the best medical assistance available. Just shows why it was no joke to be ill or injured prior to the 20th century.
@@HistoryCalling totaly agree HC not a good thing to be ill In those times.
@@HistoryCallingI’m afraid, with no Claire Fraser to stir up the deal, Caroline was doomed :(
@@HistoryCalling2:20
@@HistoryCallingI know it's a year later but wanted to comment that George Washington had a painful death because of his Drs.
I…have insane respect for her.
Laughing mid surgery at a guy setting his wig in fire? That’s pretty boss actually!
Yes, she was awesome. I couldn't quite believe that either.
I could never - but I want that badassery for myself
I’ll say
Sounds like something you would see in a movie by Mel Brooks..
It is beyond horrific that she suffered so much.
Brilliant presentation of the poor dear, Queen Caroline’s, care and death. My great great grandfathers were childhood friends with King George II and they remained friends up until death. We have a family library filled with accounts of daily life from the 1600’s to now. From what I read, Caroline had a wicked sense of humour and was a very good person.
I would love to hear your families stories!!
That's Amazing!
Oh please share some of those stories! Are you able to read the old english? I have a copy of an Herbal book written in the late 1680's I think and I can't make any sense of it!
Please share the stories!
It’s terrifying that something as simple as a bowel hernia wasn’t recognizable 200 years after Renaissance scientists like Leonardo thought to study anatomy. Modern medicine, with all of its flaws, is a miracle of the combined brilliance of generations.
Welcome to religious misogynistic ignorant run industry.
100%
I have had an appendectomy
And 20 yrs later a bowel adhesion surgery, both were amazing & the dilaudid was also wonderful
Less "a miracle of the combined brilliance of generations" and more generations of doctors burying their mistakes.
So true.
Umbilical hernia is no fun. I had surgery, and have fully recovered.
I cannot imagine the pain and suffering this poor woman endured, let alone such a surgery without benefit of anything to dull the pain, much less anesthesia. Talk about a strong woman! I am in awe of her fortitude and endurance. Rest well, Sweet Caroline. You were regal up to the end.
She was indeed :-)
"Mortify" may have changed its meaning since the 18th century, but it is not even slightly less appropriate now than it was then to describe this situation.
The worst part of this for me is that the doctors seem to have done exactly the right amount of damage to give her a painful, prolonged, and humiliating death. Had they done less, maybe she would have lived. Had they done more, she might have at least had a quicker and more merciful end. I feel awful for this poor woman.
THANK YOU ZUGABDU FOR YOU GENEROUS DONATION to the channel. Yes, I agree. They'd have been better off doing nothing, or else killing her more cleanly than this. They really tortured her over those two weeks. No wonder she didn't want to tell them what the matter was.
👏👏 That must have been a deeply disturbing dream George had that drove him to Caroline's tomb in the dark of night. A rather eerie detail of a sad tale. Great job as always, HC!
THANK YOU STEPHEN FOR YOUR SUPERTHANKS DONATION. :-) Yeah, I'd love to know what he dreamt as well. It must have been a rough night!
@@chrisbanks6659 🤣 Indeed! Lena and I need to firm up plans to travel! Wish we had access to Star Trek transporters.
That Queen Caroline had the fortitude and good humor to laugh during a surgery without anesthetic after her doctors bleeding her for days is amazing.
Even when the story is terribly sad and the details gruesomely repellant, you do an excellent job of narrating it in well-researched detail. Thank you! It offers a vivid close up of 18th century thinking and behavior. So bizarre to us today. We have to admire the Queen's stupendous courage and wry sense of humor, and wish we could know more about what she was like when she was in better health.
Thank you. Yes, it was a whole other mindset when it came to medicine and dying.
@@HistoryCallingI agree and may I ask what accent you have? It's gorgeous and I'm an American who loves learning about different languages and accents. Your voice is very soothing. 😌
Poor Caroline. What agony she must have endured. Thanks for a compelling story. Please have an amazing week.
Thanks David. You too :-)
Poor, poor woman. Such dignity, I’d be screaming the palace down I’m sure. Thank you, I enjoy ( if thats an appropriate word here) all your videos. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏👵🇦🇺
Me too. I'd be hoarse from the screaming. I'm really glad you're still enjoying the content, as I know you're one of my followers who's been with me for a good while now :-)
Wow this is brutal! the fact she even lived through the surgery is amazing to me. excellent coverage, i’m sure looking at all that info for a period of time while gathering it all must have been intense!
I know. It's wild that she didn't die on the table/bed, even just from the pain of it. This one wasn't too bad for research actually, as I was focusing on just a couple of weeks of history. The worst videos are generally the biography ones and historical mysteries. They take AGES to research.
@@HistoryCalling that’s true, those have to be draining to an extent! an incredibly strong soul she must have been. 👑
@@HistoryCalling Yes, but the results are so impressive! The Benjamin Bathurst video was awesome.
Thank you. That's one of my favourites too. I created that before I actually launched the channel though, so I was able to give it all the time it needed.
This was pretty gruesome. Poor Caroline! Botched surgery on a massive scale, day after day and she even wanted to laugh.And then her coffin was interfered with on George's instructions. Dear me, what a carry on. I hope she is at perfect rest now and will be forever. 🌠
Yes, hopefully she is. At least (to the best of my knowledge) she hasn't been disturbed since George was buried. That's a lot more postmortem respect than many royals get.
She had all those children without painkillers. She was tough.
I admire her fortitude and her sense of humor. She endured such pain and yet she told her surgeon for a minute so she can laugh because his wig caught fire. She lived longer than expected with the medicine of that time in my opinion.
Thank you for the history lesson. Have a good day.
Yes, she was one tough nut, that's for sure. 😄
I was shocked to see how my sister- and brother-in-law pestered our dying patriarch, but later recognized it was their way of dealing with their grief and feelings of uselessness in the face of a days-long passing. I imagine those feelings would be magnified for George, as I'm sure his kingship meant he didn't often experience a situation outside of his control and he may have had a bit of a guilty conscience for the cheating. I feel so sorry for Caroline, George, and everyone who had to witness her suffering.
Yes, it does seem to have been a stress response in George's case to the imminent loss of someone he clearly loved very much, despite his cheating.
As a nurse who has had the priviledge to care for some people in their last days, I agree completely with your assessment! I remember a son, who reportedly had a very bad relationship with his father in life, who stayed by his bedside day and night for two weeks and tried to force him to eat relentlessly...In the face of not being able to make amends, this may be the desperate attempt to prove that you love and care for them. Curiously the father passed, after two weeks of suffering, in a brief half an hour period when his son left to get some rest. Rest in peace Karl-Heinz ❤
I doubt he was feeling guilty taking a mistress at that time was very normal for high profile men and Caroline was more than likely very much aware. A reason he would have told her he’ll not marry again simply have mistresses was him saying he loved only her, mistresses were for carnal pleasure only.
@@charlottemurray9978 it’s not unlikely that he experienced guilt, the customs of the time regardless, human nature does not change. It is cruel to enjoy the embraces of others when you’ve pledged yourself to someone else already, and much worse to continuously do so with her full knowledge. There are countless stories of high status women suffering the insecurities, jealousy, and grief of knowing their husbands were so blatantly unfaithful. He undoubtedly caused her at least some small amount of pain, and if he did care at all about her, it would’ve spurred some guilt whether he ever admitted it to himself or not.
@@charlottemurray9978
George's mistresses were Caroline's Ladies in Waiting and Women of the Bedchamber. She was well aware of that and encouraged the arrangement.
Mistresses are not solely for "carnal pleasure". Anyone who believes that has never had one, known one or been one.
I had Peritonitis in the 90s and even with modern medicine it was a bit rough and ready for several days. Excruciating doesn’t begin to describe the pain. God bless the Queen’s soul.
Yes, one of my family members had that in the 70s and thanks to a very delayed diagnosis (like two weeks) it really could have killed them. Had the appendix actually been burst, rather than perforated I think it might have. It's a terrible illness. It took them months to recover fully.
Considering the awful death she endured after the surgery, I have to agree with you that she likely made the decision to hide her condition for court doctors! Women’s medicine and health is still today under valued and misunderstood. I can’t imagine how much worse it was back then…but hearing this video we all can imagine now! Great job as always and I throughly enjoyed this video!! Thank you!
Yes, I completely agree. If she'd told them the problem they might have killed her years earlier. You're also so right about women's problems not being taken seriously, even today. I used to know a girl who suffered from endometriosis and she was literally told it was all in her head and to see a psychiatrist! It took her about 10 years to get a diagnosis I believe, by which point a lot of her internal organs had been damaged. It's ruined her health for life, poor thing.
More often than not, folks assume that when a woman has physical and/or mental health issues it must be PMS or related to PMS. 😒
I wonder if 25 years from now we’ll look back at just how neglected women’s healthcare is.
You have to be JOKING.
Women live on average 5 YEARS longer than men…but go off about how women’s medicine is so “undervalued and misunderstood”, I can only assume your alluding to the loss of a right that wasn’t lost but just given to the states. The fact that women live longer than men by 5 years proves your statements wrong, unless you think it’s luck?
Poor woman. She must have been in agony. Having wealth and power was a two edged sword in this case. A compelling story, beautifully presented .
Thanks Terry. Yes, ironically if she'd been poor and unable to access 18th century 'medicine', she'd probably have been better off.
My goodness, this is so sad. What a horrible death, but what a tough lady she was.
I know. It would have been better obviously if she could have just gone quietly in her sleep.
Before the advent of anesthetics in the 1840s, surgical operations were conducted with little or no pain relief and were attended with great suffering and emotional distress. So Caroline might have been suffered terribly in that time. As for George that ordered it Caroline's coffin to be removed, I remembered Wuthering Heights, when Hearthcliff removed from earth Catherine's coffin and opened it. Thanks for another brilliant video!
There was a good Ted-Ed talk about that very recently actually. I haven't read Wuthering Heights I'm afraid. Got 1 chapter in and just couldn't take it any more. Sorry Bronte lovers. I like Jane Eyre if that helps :-)
@@HistoryCalling Emily is probably more of an acquired taste. It's easier for most people to enter Jane Eyre's world. The primitive world of Heathcliff can be unsettling.
She sounds like a really cool, witty lady.
I think she was, yes.
Thank you for such a good telling of this tragedy. Thank the Lord that medicine has come a long way since then. How many must have suffered similar tortures as doctors learned how to help people.
I know. You really wouldn't look at historical medicine until the late 19th century at the absolute earliest. Up until then it was mostly just useless at best and torture at worst.
I think its beautiful how unafraid of death they were back then.
How awful the pain must have been terrible,Rest in peace poor lady
Very well done. Love your videos. She sounded like an amazing woman with good humor.
Omg..poor Caroline!! I'm amazed she lived through the initial surgery!!
This poor woman bore numerous children as it was her duty. It lead to her demise. She then bore the consequences with superhuman decorum. It is remarkable how she could express her agency at her most vulnerable. Truly admirable!
Yes, just one less child and she would have been ok it seems, as it was the final daughter that caused the initial problem. I'm sure she wouldn't have wished Princess Louise out of existence though, even if it would have saved her life.
This is a strangulated hernia. No way she was going to survive this no matter what they did back then. They just made a bad situation worse. Poor lady.
This poor woman had to have been in extreme pain. I can't imagine what she went through. 😢
Me neither. Thank goodness for modern painkillers, anaesthesia and surgery.
What she had wasn’t just surgery but abdominal surgery, which I’m pretty sure is the worst type. Abdominal surgery performed by people who, by our standards, were completely unqualified and didn’t even have the right equipment including any decent knock out drugs. Really not much different than falling into the hands of the cartel and having them go to town on you with the contents of the garage.
I’d say poor Caroline had the worst possible outcome, not only did the surgeons botch whatever they were hoping for, they didn’t even botch it sufficiently to kill her outright, which would have been preferable. At least she can rest in peace with her husband.
Yes, I think she did get the worst of both worlds. Even a kidney-selling crime ring would probably knock you out before they operated.
Thank you for the Lucy Worsley link. I love her work.
Thank you for another great video.
Caroline was a brave woman. This was a very interesting story, I’ll have to look up more info on her. Thank you🇨🇦
She was. I'm just so sorry for her that her death had to be so long drawn out and awful.
An early recipe for "True Daffy" from 1700 lists the following ingredients: aniseed, brandy, cochineal, elecampane, fennel seed, jalap, manna, parsley seed, raisin, rhubarb, saffron, senna and spanish liquorice. it was really just a laxative. I read somewhere that when the King said "no, I will not remarry , I will take mistresses"....she retorted "that shouldn't stop you." referring to his many affairs during their marriage. poor woman, sure sounds like a bowel obsruction with gangrene. I can't imagine the agony she went through.
Yikes, I haven't even heard of some of those ingredients!
The practice of important men "taking mistresses" was far more acceptable in the 17th and 18th century than to modern ears. Remember they would have rarely shared a bed to actually sleep and would have spent large amounts of their time apart.
I had the same condition after a botched gall bladder surgery. Twenty minutes after eating I'd get the worst pain ever. (I'd given birth twice without meds and that was fine.) One bite of food would cause the pain again and I'd double over. I went to the surgeon's office and he was alarmed. He told me not to move as he "made arrangements." An hour passed, so my spouse went to ask. The surgeon had gone home! Luckily, my body healed itself over time. This happened in New York state. It is a *lie* that we have "the best healthcare in the world". Only for the wealthy.
Your surgeon went home! Oh my word. Surely that's some sort of malpractice? I'm glad to hear you got better though (no thanks to him).
@@HistoryCalling My surgeon was 90 years old and legally blind, so a med student did the operation under his guidance. The student told me that I was the first *living* person he'd ever touched! Thank you for caring. ❤
"we have 'the best healthcare system in the world'"... said no one ever about the US
@rottnk9527
She didn’t say healthcare system, she said healthcare. People come to the US from around the world to get procedures or just timely care that they can’t get in their own countries.
I had a similar experience. Waited 3 hours, only to hear the surgeon saying goodbye to his staff. And this was a partially out-of-pocket surgeon bc he was supposed to be the best. Also in nyc. The system is deeply flawed, and not centered in patient care, just expedient processing and drug pushing. Dogs have an easier time getting access to surgery than humans do here.
Really nice work. Great voice and writing.
Thanks!
THANK YOU CONNIE for so kindly donating to the channel. I hope you found Caroline's story interesting.
Just love your hard work. So enjoyed watching this.
Thank you so much :-)
My brother had his gall bladder removed but in the doing, his bowel was nicked.
That resulted his very near death, only avoided by massive amounts of antibiotics, O2 on speed dial, an induced coma and intubation, extended stay in ICU. Followed by extensive physical and occupational therapies. He was left as weak as a newborn for many months.
The queen had no chance of survival.
I had a similar experience, 9 days in icu for me. Glad we're both here anyway😂❤🎉
Very familiar to me. It was bad enough with pain killers. Poor soul.
They nicked an artery when they took mine. I nearly bled out.
Same as my husband. In the hospital for weeks and weeks. Was never the same. Every incision kept herniating because the infection weakened his tissues to much.
Sweet Jesus! Just listening to this seemingly unending travesty was too much for me! This woman’s strength, determination, and even anger were relentless! I can’t imagine being at death’s door and refusing to forgive your son.
I know. It just shows how much some of the Hanoverians REALLY hated each other. No deathbed reunions for them.
@@HistoryCalling Yep…Germans can be tough!
Much respect to her. God bless.
There is a church on Long Island NY that is named in her honor. Queen Caroline donated vestments and a communion service .which the church still uses for very special occasions. The Caroline Church of Brookhaven recently celebrated it’s 300th anniversary.
I'm from long Island and a fan of British monarchy and I never heard about Queen Caroline's church! That's wonderful! I'm an excommunicated catholic so Middle finger to that lot but what an amazingly strong woman, with wit, determination, and just plain stubbornness! She could have stopped this torture at any point - she fought for her life! Thank you for this!
I adore your channel!!! Absolutely THE BEST!!!❤❤
Thanks Holly :-)
Very interesting
Thank you
My sister got an obstructed bowel from a hernia. She was in pain on Saturday and had an operation (under anesthetic) on Monday.
Thank heavens for modern medicine!
It’s easy to see why being selfish is not a good thing. That poor woman had so much patience. As always a wonderful job done with your videos. ❤
Thank you. Yes, it's a wonder she didn't tell them all where to go, especially when they were poking around her abdomen.
Poor Queen Caroline. She was incredibly brave to face her brutal and tragic end, and even though I disapprove of George II's affairs and the fact that he was rather bothersome during the near two weeks leading to Queen Caroline's death, I am glad that they had a decent marriage for their time, certainly better than the marriage of George's father, that's for sure. And the burial was indeed romantic and sweet. 💖 I can't help but feel sorry for the poor man who had to carry out the late George II's will though. 😅
Yes I did enjoy your video history calling from
Yes, she was quite a woman indeed.
Thanks you history calling from Bea
thank you for your time and effort. this is great !
You're very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you.
Mint water or mint tea will break up painful intestinal gas bubbles and so relieve gas pain, pressure and bloating. It will also help to ease nausea. If very painful gas had been the source of the queen's illness, this would have helped to relieve it and quickly. As that wasn't the problem, mint water wouldn't make things much worse. We use it at home to this day. Mint tea is the first line of defense against tummy aches and often takes care of the problem.
What a strange twist it is to discover that those kings thought they were doing their wives a FAVOR by having mistresses. Although, considering the dangers of childbirth, maybe many wives agreed. But how very odd to promise your Queen to have only mistresses after she dies. Perhaps that was intended to reassure her that there would be no further royal babies to trouble the succession.
Yes, George is a bit of a laugh. I think it was probably the greatest compliment he could think of for her. No one else was good enough to be his Queen. Also I suppose if your husband was very unpleasant to have to sleep with, him having a mistress might take some of the edge off.
Eh, they both loathed their eldest son and heir, so I don’t think the succession was their main concern. IIRC, they wished they could skip him entirely. Luckily for them, I guess, he died before he could become King. Which is also how we ended up with such a famously long reign from his son, George III. Though of course it was tragically and violently disrupted and had a ignoble end. The tradition of the Hanoverian kings resenting, disliking, and distrusting their own precious firstborn sons and heirs lasted so many generations, it’s so strange. Right through Queen Victoria and Edward VII, really. And actually even George V and Edward VIII. It’s probably just a really awkward and delicate situation, having people literally waiting for you to die and gathering around your heir to gain future favors, especially when rival courts develop and become competitive.
Anyway, I think mistresses in their era were seen as an almost expected thing, a duty to make the king look virile, fashionable, and powerful, and they were not treated as very serious relationships. To promise nobody else would become his Queen made it clear that she would always be the most honored woman in his life and nobody could take her role. It’s the opposite attitude that his own father had to his mother, which surely impacted him at a young age. His primary mistress Henrietta Howard really saw it as a duty too, and it also helped her financially. It was like they were going through the motions.
Caroline at least had a close friendship with Walpole, and also ended up being sort of the true power behind the throne a lot of the time. She was a very well-educated, tough, sensible, admirable woman. It’s just too bad they had such a bad relationship with Frederick. They’d had *terrible* animosity with George I. Sad their family was torn by such drama.
Wow. Having Crohn's Disease and having had a couple resection surgeries myself, I feel for her on a deep level. It may have been the hernia that was causing issues, but it would have to be really kinked. She may have had a blockage elsewhere. I wish I could time travel, because I have lots of diagnostic questions to ask her. She sounds very much like my grandma - laughing at the doctor catching his wig on fire during surgery, and having already accepted her fate, just letting them chop her up some more, because why not? Like, I'm already dying in agony, maybe you'll speed things up the next time you cut into me. That poor woman.
It really does sound like her bowel may have had a collapse from the symptoms.
Thank you! Very good!
Thanks Nathan. :-)
Very interesting. Thank you.
Thanks Jo :-)
What a painful demise. May she rest in peace.
OMG, what a horrific death! What a brave woman worked on by a crowd of quacks!! Regards, John.
All of the House of Hanover doctors were quacks.
There is no profession I despise more than
Doctors.....for reasons too convoluted to
go into..!
Such a sad story. Thanks.
Thanks for listening and commenting :-)
Very Interesting Video. TY
Thanks Judith. Glad you enjoyed it :-)
The poor woman! I can't imagine the agony she went through.
It is unbelievable actually that the pain didn't make her have a heart attack. What they did to her (cutting her open while she was still alive and awake) was used as a torture and execution technique in earlier centuries.
@@HistoryCalling Or that shock didn't set in and kill her quickly. She needed Claire Fraser. 😘
It's so funny you say that. I'm literally rewatching Outlander at the moment. I'm just getting to the end of season 2.
@@HistoryCalling You know that S. 7 just started airing a week ago? Episode 2 is tonight. Well, here in the US.
I don't have Starz and so haven't even seen season 6 :-( I'm re-watching my DVDs.
"The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there."
I think we're a bit too harsh on our forebears. We can't castigate them for things they didn't know. After all, how would we feel if, in 300 years' time, all our mod-cons and technology were seen as not only quaint and outmoded but also ridiculously dangerous? And frankly, I've read enough modern medical horror stories to not put doctors today on too high a pedestal.
However, there's no taking away from Queen Caroline, she suffered horribly but with great forbearance - and humour too. Thank you so much for this fascinating little doco.
As for the cognitive dissonance of a man who dearly loved his wife but still had mistresses, we need to remember that contraception was extraordinarily hit-and-miss. Every single pregnancy for any woman was dangerous and, in fact, was the leading cause of death in women until the early 20th century.
I've always loved that quote. Yes, you're quite right that we can't judge history by our modern standards, though I do think it took shockingly long for people to accept that things like bleeding and blistering were terrible ideas. Some people did notice of course, but they were in the minority. I certainly don't doubt that the motives of Caroline's doctors were sound.
@@HistoryCalling Cupping is apparently back now, though. I'm not sure why.
@@HistoryCalling Bit late, but modern bleeding happens when you get told by a doctor you have thick blood and to make you feel better to go donate blood. Not as a disease, which does exist, but because your cells are just juicy and plump.
I've been told that but due to my blood type I can't because it's so rare, but I have a friend that does on the 56th day like clockwork and occasionally is able to do it within 6 weeks (depending on how thick his blood is and how needed it is). I always feel better after I have cut myself pretty badly (not on purpose) or when I give blood, so I can see why blood letting was a thing.
@edithengel2284
It is done differently now. No burning or cutting.
Where are u from? Love your accent!
Thank you. I'm from Northern Ireland :-)
Super great video! Yes the ignorance of the doctors was just horrible. Not that they had schooling that told them how to treat a hernia. And her suffering was horrible. They could have even just sewn the intestine to the skin and put a bag there to collect the stool. But instead left both loops inside and let them drain there. But her fortitude was immeasurable. She kept letting them just to try and live.
Thanks Mindy. Yes, it wasn't a great era to get sick in :-(
Sounds like she had small bowel obstruction. I had emergency surgery for the very same thing in 2021 and Lisa Marie Presley died after having surgery for this too. I couldn’t eat anything for 9 days until after the surgery. What this poor woman suffered must have been unbelievably awful, ending in manslaughter.
Where did you get the information about Lisa Marie?
Queen Caroline's bust is one of the more nicer ones I've seen.
Hi! This isn't connected to this video but I was wondering if you'd done a video on Anne Seymour? I scrolled through but couldn't see it but I thought I'd ask. 🙂
I saw a quick video on another channel about her but it was disappointingly brief & she sounds like a fascinating person - I'd love to hear you bring her to life, as you do that so well!
I haven't but perhaps I will in the future. Thanks for the idea :-)
@@HistoryCalling Thank you!
Hi. Awesome live history video I enjoyed it. How are you? I'm doing well. See you next video greetings from Canada 😊
Thanks Michelle. I'm good thanks. Glad to hear things are going well on the other side of the pond too.
Any kind of obstructed bowel is a horrendous thing and people don't always live through it even today. 😥
So so true!!!
An early recipe for "True Daffy" from 1700 lists the following ingredients: aniseed, brandy, cochineal, elecampane, fennel seed, jalap, manna, parsley seed, raisin, rhubarb, saffron, senna and spanish liquorice. Chemical analysis has shown this to be a laxative made mostly from alcohol. [citation needed] Other recipes include Guiuacum wood chips, caraway, Salt of Tartar, and scammony.
What an amazing, stoic woman to have had the physical and mental strength to endure the treatment from those doctors! Astounding. In those times, very often, the cure was worse than the disease. And how typically male to believe that he is complimenting his wife by telling her he won't remarry but will instead sleep with whomever crosses his path. LOL. However, he did plan a very romantic eternity for the 2 of them. Thank you for bringing these details to us in such a wonderful way. Kind Regards, Cherie
A Royal Mistress was not a common tart. My goodness, if you believe that mistresses, especially Royal mistresses were just for sex, you could not be more mistaken.
I like her so much!! Ngl when I saw “Caroline” I thought it was Caroline of Brunswick, and of all, that was not romantic! The fact that it is that of Ansbach makes more sense :) Have a nice Friday and thank you!!
Yes, she's a great historical figure and yeah, no romance with Caroline of Brunswick. Talk about a bad marriage!
@@HistoryCallingPoor woman :( George IV was a beast innit?
He wasn't great, but to be honest (having read a little bit about her whilst researching her mother-in-law), she was no picnic either.
@@HistoryCallingooh! Please, do let me know!!
Will you please do a video on Margaret Pole’s life? They did a number on that poor girl.
Even into the 1900's they were still doing fully awake surgery. My great uncle had part of his lung removed while leaning over a table and the doctor was on the phone from a surgeon in Sydney.
What a sad tale. People sometimes suffered so much at the hands of medicos at that time, but she retained the humour and spirit to laugh at the doctors wig catching fire; whilst undergoing surgery without anaesthetic. Quite a woman!
Yes, I think she secured her place in history as a badass for her laughter about the fire. :-)
Poor woman. Dear God 😳😟
My mother had a hernia. Was back and forth to the ER a few times before they diagnosed it. Vomiting and constipation
What a strong woman to have to endure that torture and still finding humor when the doctor's wig caught fire.
I know. She was no snowflake, that's for sure. She must have had steel in her.
That poor lady 😔
When I say I feel this poor woman's pain, I mean it. It's a hell like no other! I'm lucky to have survived.
I had a J-tube (feeding tube inserted into the jejunum) mishap that ripped my intestine. For 2 weeks, E. Coli, bile, waste, and more filled my abdomen. Only once I was septic did doctors listen and look at what happened. By then, the area was so inflamed and infected, anesthetic didn't work. I felt every bit of them trying to aspirate it. I was told that had they known how bad it was, I would have been put under. I still ended up needing emergency surgery.
Oh mercy! I'm so sorry that happened to you and glad to read that you survived. I hope you sued.
@@HistoryCalling Thank you. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sue. It was a different facility in our area that chose to ignore me. Karma got them, though, as the entire hospital shut down last year. I have severe PTSD from it all, but it taught my whole family that we HAVE to be our own advocates.
It sounds like she had a severe case of ulcerative colitis. I know because I had those exact symptoms and had to rush to the hospital. Poor woman! They didn't know about bowel diseases then. May she rest with the sweetest peace.❤
"He had many mistresses but he loved his wife dearly" "After you die, my love, I will not remarry as you suggest, instead I will only take a mistress" ....... It's good to be king!
Yup, I don't think many other people could get away with that kind of behaviour. Caroline really had to be patient with him.
She was probably grateful that he was distracted and gave her a moments peace. 😂 It’s not like they married for love, it was arranged.
He may have spared her several more pregnancies by spreading himself around
It was common of the times AND sex was not pleasant for women and most wives hated it. Mistresses were a welcome blessing of the time.
@@nansi113 His father wished him to marry, as far as possible given the limitations of his class, for love. He went incognito to her court and fell in love with her. What her feelings were for him, I don't know. But he did love her, and even nursed her through smallpox, which he caught from her.
Poor dear, what she went through.
"cheated on" is a VERY strong word in this context... High society marriages weren't love affairs, they were pacts. Pacts for power, for position, for peace... It very, very rarely involved love, ESPECIALLY among royalty. Having a husband/wife was no different than signing a treaty and hiring a surrogate all in one.
King George saying he'd never take another wife was a true sign of devotion to Caroline. It was honouring her, and showing her how much he valued her as his queen. He valued her more than he valued a new alliance, or more power, or more wealth. It meant a lot back then to say something like that.
Except George and Caroline’s marriage WAS a love match as well as a political alliance. George specifically chose her as a bride himself because he fell in love with her, and he absolutely was cheating on her. Their marriage was primarily a love match, George was given a list of acceptable brides and told to visit them and pick the one he wanted
Queens or Royal spouses were simply
brood mares selected for political reasons .
Their main purpose was to act as living
semen receptacles..! Yes, it's harsh but true.. Sorry..!
OP comment is WILD
@@YeshuaKingMessiah if you know literally anything about historical context, no it isn't.
@@LilyGrace95
Historical behavior doesn’t excuse grossly wrong behavior. Truth & decency doesn’t change.
What a sad story
Death heads must be drooling over this video. :) Another very good video from the best history teller. :)
Thank you. I certainly hope so. I think a little drool from the 'death heads' would be very good for my viewing figures :-)
Glad they all stayed together.
Isn't "usquebaugh" whiskey? No wonder the poor thing immediately vomited. That had to feel hellish on a sick stomach.
Charles II is another monarch who could be said to have been tortured to death by his doctors. His ordeal lasted about five days and he had the ironic wit to "apologize" to his doctors for being "an unconscionable time dying." There's a fascinating video from History Xtra still up on UA-cam with Alice Roberts conducting an "autopsy" on Charles II. There's also another one on Elizabeth I.
Yes, I've seen the Elizabeth one. Poor Charles :-(
This is late so it may not be answered, but I was very interested in the videos mentioned regarding Charles II and Elizabeth I on History Xtra and for the life of me can't find them on that channel? I tried just looking up Alice Roberts w/ Charles II and can't find anything. Would you happen to remember the title of either one of those videos? :)
I subbed love history
Especially English
Thank you and welcome :-)
Perhaps George's dream was that she was not actually dead? That would make him rush to observe the coffin a good while, making sure he heard no noises to indicate life?
People at that time wouldn't be freaked out by seeing bodies, you would come across bodies just on the streets of cities, and most people died at home not at a hospital. People would witness all sorts of gruesome illnesses, worse than a years-dead body which would be worse than the horror of recent putrefaction. It's viewing history from a modern perspective instead of putting yourself in their shoes. They didn't have modern sensibilities.
It sounds like she had bowel entrapped in an abdominal hernia. What a terrible way to go.
Ohh, that poor woman. 😔
Agonizing 😢.
I do learn a few things from you!
Thank you. That's the idea - teaching my viewers one ghastly way to die in early modern Britain at a time 😂
That poor woman.
Dr Shipton I wonder how many viewers thought OMG.
Poor, poor Caroline. 😊😢🏴
She obviously suffered a bowel obstruction (the medicines were to relax the bowel wall muscles to relieve the painful colicks caused by the absolute obstruction), which required surgery in order to save her life (iv fluids and feeding were not possible in those days). The fever indicates that she had suffered a bowel rupture BEFORE the surgery, so the abdomen was filled with faeces before surgery commenced, and the only way to clean this out would be through the surgical wound. Modern medicine is now able to do this with sterile peritoneal lavage, whilst we are also able to give more effective anaesthetics than the oral alcohol and morphia available at that time. Any delay in replacing the protrusion/ reducing the hernia and relieving the bowel obstruction could have been fatal. It is highly unlikely - although there are reports of survival - that a bowel rupture could be recovered from without surgery. Putrefactive degeneration of the tummy skin is the most likely outcome if patient lives long enough, although occasionally in women the vaginal wall breaks down first, creating an outlet, which I suspect the Queen would not like, if still conscious.
Thank you! I was looking for an explanation using more modern terms. Appreciate it.
'She obviously suffered a bowel obstruction..' 😄
Oh, for Pete's sake.
What we know for sure - from this story at least - is that days after her initial symptoms of nausea, weakness and fever (no bowel irregularities yet).. her husband disclosed a "hard to locate" umbilical hernia. Unrelated charge. 😏
18th century doctoring had already done it's duty in weakening her with bloodletting and vomit inducing tonics, so straight to work cutting the intestine open!
Royal diets in that day were rich and low in fiber. To put it bluntly, a person can hang on to a lot of 💩.
Zero sanitation, filthy hands, bacteria covered instruments.. it was a race to see what would kill her first.
Oh, to be a microbe in those days..
Point being, there's no real evidence as to what began this bungled chain of events.
I can tell you're not a scientist in profession, but conjecture is fun for everyone. ☺️