HistoryExtra podcast Sores, sweat and secretions: the pox in early modern London
Mar 23, 2026
Charlotte Vosper, academic and author who studies the history of medicine, gender and sexuality, explores the pox in early modern London. She traces how the disease was defined and blamed, reveals bizarre and secretive cures, and shows how stigma, space and gender shaped diagnosis, treatment and legal uses of venereal disease.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Anonymous Shopping Drove A Market For Ready Cures
- Readymade cures sold through third parties let patients buy treatments anonymously.
- Sellers used chocolatiers, bakers and bookshops to hide medical transactions and reduce shame during purchase.
Alehouse Booth Sold Pox Cures Secretly
- Healers sold cures through a booth-like structure at alehouses to preserve buyer anonymity.
- Patients ordered a specific drink through a sliding window and received the venereal cure without public exposure.
Fasting Spittle And The Virgin Urine Cure
- Strange remedies included fasting spittle and drinking a virgin's urine as cures.
- Fasting spittle was applied to sage; the 'virgin cure' appeared in songs and recipes though evidence for actual practice is scarce.