So much for demure: in the 18th century, one in five Londoners had syphilis

prostitution
So much for demure: in the 18th century, one in five Londoners had syphilis

Brothel scene from William Hogarth’s “The Care of a Libertine”.

©Wiki/Commons

In the 18th century, London turned into a huge brothel. Young people streamed into the city from everywhere. They had to sell themselves in order not to starve. Men like James Boswell take full advantage of the misery – he was infected 19 times.

A fifth of all Londoners suffered from syphilis in the 18th century. Given this rate of prevalence, sex was a risky endeavor, albeit ubiquitous. Because the city was considered “spoilt” and apparently rightly so. The special role of the capital is also noticeable. The ‘den of sin’ of London achieved an infection rate 25 times higher than rural areas of the time. That’s according to a study by historians Professor Simon Szreter of the University of Cambridge and Professor Kevin Siena of Canada’s Trent University, published in the journal Economic History Review.

Conservative estimate

The study was able to calculate infection rates in men and women under the age of 35. The researchers are certain that their estimate of one-fifth is conservative and only represents a minimum value. In addition, far more people are suffering from gonorrhea or chlamydia than from syphilis, according to the study. Ultimately, the vast majority of the capital at that time suffered from a sexually transmitted disease.

This is not really surprising, James Boswell, famous for his biography of Samuel Johnson, mentions his sexually transmitted diseases in connection with escapades in London brothels in 19 episodes in his no less famous diary. Boswell helped “transform our understanding of the population structure, sexual habits, and broader culture of the capital that became the world’s largest metropolis,” according to the researchers.

age of libertinism

Boswell, happily married, constantly preyed on women and despite using a condom – the “armor” – he fell ill 19 times. For a famous and wealthy man like him, fast sex was always possible, he writes. “At the foot of the Haymarket I picked up a strong, cheerful young girl, took her under my arm, and led her to Westminster Bridge, and then, in full armour, I seated her on that noble edifice. The whim of doing it there, while the I was very amused to see the Thames rolling beneath us.”

But he not only had adventures with young girls, but also with women of his class, such as the actress Anne Lewis. From this turbulent relationship, which he described in detail, he contracted the “plague of Venus”.

A German visitor noted shocked at the time. “Usually there are hordes of female creatures in front of the theaters, including children as young as nine or ten. That is the best evidence of the moral depravity in London.”

“Our results suggest that Boswell’s London fully deserves its historic reputation,” said Szreter. The philanderer Boswell was no exception. “The city at the time had an astonishingly high rate of STDs. It no longer seems unreasonable to assume that the majority of people living in London contracted an STD at some point.”

misery of the immigrants

“It’s not very surprising that the sex culture in London at that time was different from that of rural Britain. But now it’s pretty clear that London was in a very different league than even larger provincial cities like Chester,” says Szreter.

The real motor behind the diseases was misery and prostitution. The researchers assume that a good proportion of the young people who flocked to the city at the time pursued prostitution in order not to starve. Sexually transmitted diseases were particularly widespread among young, impoverished, mostly unmarried women. Either they were prostitutes or they lived in conditions where they were often subjected to sexual assault. Young, poor and immigrant men found themselves in the same situation. And then there was the risk group, to which James Boswell belonged: established gentlemen who could afford the sexual services of the poor.

Healing with mercury

At the first sign of the disease, like a rash or painful urination, most people hoped they just had the “gonorrhea” (gonorrhea) and not the “smallpox” (syphilis), the researchers said. Gonorrhea has been treated with various pills and potions. Syphilis could only be combated with a mercury-based tincture. A regimen that hoped the poison would kill the disease before the patient died from the drug. She required at least five weeks of hospitalization. This was offered free of charge by hospitals in London. At the time, they housed 20 to 30 percent of their patients in “unclean” syphilis wards.

Source: Economic History Review

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Christine Keeler – the most beautiful woman in London, who ended up as the “whore of the nation”.

She became a prostitute because she was fed up with Tinder guys

Drink, party and affairs – crew members about their wild life on cruise ships

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