[The English Sweating Sickness' of 1529 in Augsburg: a challenge to body and soul and the printer].

In 1529, Sudor anglicus, the 'English Sweating Sickness', spread from England to Germany reaching the city of Augsburg. Its exact nature is unclear: the symptoms were profuse sweating, uncontrollable thirst, and headaches, with death occurring within hours of infection. Those who survived the first twenty-four hours returned to health. According to one source the fever arrived in Autumn 1529 and in September there were 800 deaths; another source gives November as the onset with 600 deaths. While these death rates were in fact relatively low compared with the plague, for instance, people were particularly frightened by the sudden appearance of an unknown fever and the speed of death. Augsburg was aware that the 'English Sweating Sickness' was spreading in Germany. What is remarkable was the quick reaction of the printing trade. Two related types of handbooks so on appeared; whichwill serve as the subject of this paper. Firstly, handbooks dealing with the fever as a medical issue, and secondly, those dealing with the fever as an issue of theology. An illustrative example of each handbook is discussed here. Authored at speed and quickly published, they reflect the urgent response to the outbreak. What is demonstrated is the need to attend both to body and soul, that the 'English Sweating Sickness' was a challenge not just to physicians but also to theologians. The printing trade seized the opportunity to meet both needs.