Ague and the Chevalier: Another Royal Affliction. (April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Roberts, Alasdair
• Is Part Of: Scottish historical review. Volume 97:Part 1=Number 244(2018)
• Page Start: 38
• Page End: 56
• Publication Date: 2018-04
• Subjects: Scotland -- James Francis Edward Stuart -- Jacobite -- fever -- medical history -- Louis XIV -- France -- eighteenth century; Scotland -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Scotland -- History -- Periodicals; 941.1
• DOI: 10.3366/shr.2018.0352
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0036-9241

Abstract

Abstract : James Francis Edward the son of James II and VII has been overshadowed as a Jacobite claimant to the British crown by his son Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Chevalier. As the Old Chevalier of the 1715 Rising, James was unable to provide leadership which might have saved the campaign. This has been attributed to fever or ague. In fact he was suffering from a long-term anal fistula which was successfully operated upon at Avignon, the papal enclave where James and his followers gathered. Parallels are drawn with the much better known Grand opération for the same condition undergone by James's patron Louis XIV. This helped to maintain the French king's position at home and abroad and raised the professional status of surgeons. Lack of attention to the Chevalier's condition and cure since it came to notice through Scottish writers at the start of last century is discussed.