compiled by Susan Flantzer
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes. A red, flat rash usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body about three to five days after the start of symptoms. Complications include diarrhea, middle ear infection, pneumonia, seizures, blindness, and inflammation of the brain. Deaths from measles are due to complications. Most of those who die from measles are less than five years old. Today, it is recommended that children be immunized against measles at 12 months of age.
Of course, without modern medical diagnostic tools, it was impossible to accurately diagnose illnesses and so this does not purport to be a complete list. Until the development of antibiotics and other drugs, it was impossible to successfully treat many infectious diseases. Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist, physician, microbiologist, and pharmacologist, developed Penicillin, the world’s first antibiotic in 1928. Antibiotics are only effective against diseases caused by bacteria. They are not effective against diseases caused by viruses.
All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.
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Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France
- Born: October 11, 1492 at the Château de Plessis-lez-Tours in La Riche, France
- Parents: King Charles VIII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany
- Died: December 16, 1495, aged 3, at the Château d’Amboise in Amboise, France
- Buried: Cathedral of Saint-Martin in Tours, France
- Wikipedia: Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France
Charles Orlando was the eldest son and heir of King Charles VIII of France and bore the title Dauphin of France as the heir apparent to the French throne. In the fall of 1495, an epidemic of measles struck Touraine, France and Charles VIII, who was in Lyon with his wife, ordered Charles Orlando to be isolated in Amboise, about 30 miles from Torraine. Despite this, Charles Orlando developed measles and died.
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Princess Charlotte of France
- Born: Château d’Amboise in Amboise, France
- Parents: King François I of France and Claude of France
- Died: September 18, 1524, aged 7, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
- Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
- Wikipedia: Princess Charlotte of France
Charlotte had always been a delicate, frail child. At age seven, she died of measles, the same disease which had killed her half-uncle, Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France, thirty-two years earlier. During her illness, Charlotte’s aunt, Margaret of Angoulême took care of her because her mother had died two months earlier and her father was off at war. Charlotte had been engaged to marry King Charles I of Spain, the future Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
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Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, Dauphine of France, Duchess of Burgundy
- Born: December 6, 1685 at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy
- Parents: Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy and Anne Marie d’Orléans
- Married: Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy in 1697
- Died: February 12, 1712, aged 26, at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
- Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
- Wikipedia: Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, Dauphine of France, Duchess of Burgundy
Marie Adélaïde caught a fever that developed into measles. She was bled and given emetics, which induce vomiting, neither of which would actually help her condition. She was the first of her family to die from measles.
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Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy
- Born: August 16, 1682 at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
- Parents: Louis, Dauphin of France (son of King Louis XIV of France) and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria
- Married: Marie Adélaïde of Savoy in 1697
- Died: February 18, 1712, aged 29, at the Château de Marly in Marly-le-Roi, France
- Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
- Unofficial Royalty: Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy
On February 12, 1712, Louis’ 26-year-old wife Marie Adélaïde died from measles. Louis dearly loved his wife and had stayed by her side throughout her illness. He caught the disease and died six days after her death.
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Louis, Duke of Brittany
- Born: January 8, 1707 at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
- Parents: Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy and Marie Adélaïde of Savoy
- Died: March 8, 1712, aged 5, at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
- Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
- Wikipedia: Louis, Duke of Brittany
Louis, Duke of Brittany was the second of the three sons of Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy and Marie Adélaïde of Savoy. The elder son had died on convulsions at the age of one. Louis, Duke of Brittany’s parents had both died of measles in February 1712 and so he became Dauphin of France but he also developed measles. He died three weeks later on March 8, 1712, apparently from being bled to death by the doctors. The youngest son, the future King Louis XV, also developed measles but he survived because of his governess Charlotte de La Motte Houdancourt, Duchess of Ventadour. Deciding that she would not allow her younger charge to be bled by the doctors, Madame de Ventadour locked herself up with three nursery maids and refused to allow the doctors near the boy. The two-year-old survived and became King of France upon the death of his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV, three years later.
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Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna of Russia
- Born: August 31, 1718 in St. Petersburg, Russia
- Parents: Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia and Martha Skavronskaya, later Catherine I, Empress of All Russia
- Died: March 15, 1725, aged 6, in St. Petersburg, Russia
- Buried: Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
- Wikipedia: Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna of Russia
Natalia Petrovna died from measles a month after her father’s death.
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