A BBC Radio personality made a remark that ignited a Twitter firestorm after releasing some research on the death rates during the Sweating Sickness of 1528 and tying the fact with contemporary British class consciousness and the current global pandemic.
Historian Dr Louise Raw, in her tweet, wrote: “When I was researching the Sweating Sickness of 1528, I found a line that just illuminated the virulent class prejudice still rife in Britain.
“The Sickness seemed to affect the very rich & very poor.”
“One commentator described victims as ‘Men of wealth & ease, OR IDLE FELLOWS.’”
