HEALTH AND DISEASE 305 



occurred post mortem through the action of insects and fungus growths. 

 Many of the early references to venereal disease, as in the Bible or other 

 ancient writings, have been bejieved by some observers to indicate syphilis, 

 but they were more probably gonorrhea. There is no question about the 

 antiquity of gonorrhea in Europe and Asia. 



If syphilis was brought into Europe by the sailors of Columbus, cer- 

 tainly conditions were ideal for its reception. In 1493 Charles VIII of 

 France claimed the kingdom of Naples as his by hereditary right on the 

 death of Charles, Count of Main. His claim was disputed by the Neapoli- 

 tans, and Charles VIII gathered an army of mercenaries to take the king- 

 dom by force. In August of 1494 he led his army into Italy and entered 

 Naples in the following February. Toward the end of May King Ferdinand 

 broke a treaty he had made some years before with Charles VIII and sent 

 an army into Naples. In this army there were a number of men who had 

 been to the West Indies the previous year and who were still infected with 

 the disease they had contracted there. 



In 1496 the army of Charles VIII fell into factions and was expelled from 

 Naples. Those that remained of the mercenaries ultimately scattered to 

 their own countries. Their various routes were marked by the spread of 

 syphilis. It appeared in France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Greece 

 in 1496, in Scotland in 1497 and in Hungary and Russia in 1499. Vasco da 

 Gama carried it on his ships to India in 1498, Europeans brought it to 

 China in 1505, and by 1569 it had been smuggled into Japan. It has been 

 truly said that civilization and syphihzation have advanced together. 



The age in which syphilis made its appearance in Europe was one of ex- 

 treme laxity in matters of sexual behavior. The new disease at first involved 

 nothing derogatory to a gentlemen's reputation. It was said at one time that 

 a man who had not had the disease at least once was to be reg-arded "as 

 boorish and no gentleman." The mother of Francis I of France said that 

 her son was punished where he sinned. According to the story, Francis 

 was infected by the wife of a Parisian tradesman. Francis solicited her 

 favors, but was repulsed. After consulting with the court lawyers he de- 

 cided to exercise his royal prerogative and notified the lady to that effect. 

 With her husband's assistance she acquired a syphilitic infection and re- 

 venged herself on the king. He is said to have died of the disease. 



The appearance of syphilis in Europe gave rise to a series of speculations 

 as to the cause of the disease. As the part played by bacteria and other or- 

 ganisms in infectious diseases was not established until the middle of the 

 nineteenth century these early speculations were somewhat far fetched. 

 Both a divine and a cosmic origin were given to syphilis. The conjunction 

 of Saturn and Mars and the rainy weather in Italy were both blamed for the 

 disease. The disease was also attributed to the radical innovation of wearing 

 linen shirts which were coming in at that time to replace woolen or leather 



