The Great Pox: The History of Syphilis - Professor Sir Richard J. Evans FBA

The sexually transmitted disease syphilis is generally thought to have been imported into Europe from the Americas in the late fifteenth century as part of the 'Columban exchange', in which other diseases, notably smallpox, travelled in the other direction, with terrible consequences for Native American society. It spread rapidly through Europe, spread above all by armies moving across the continent in the many wars of the time. Painters from Dürer to Rembrandt represented the ravage it wrought, while the threat it posed gave rise to numerous treatments in literature and drama (notably Ibsen' Ghosts) and strongly affected attitudes to sexuality and prostitution, both explored in this lecture. It remained common well into the twentieth century and still kills millions worldwide every year; reasonably effective treatment only became possible just before the First World War, and the search for a complete cure led to dangerous medical experiments on involuntary human subjects later in the twentieth century, raising major issues of medical ethics.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: gresham.ac.uk/support/

[@ellethekitten]

I enjoy these lectures. Thanks for uploading them.

[@glutinousmaximus]

A fascinating lecture. Thank you so much for posting this!

[@elexia33]

Thank you for the great lecture. I hope I get to watch more soon!

[@cacambo589]

Love Gresham and Richard Evans one of the best lecturers... HOWEVER I don't believe sugar originated in the Americas as stated. Even the mighty stumble!!

[@facetiousbadger]

cacambo The current consensus is that syphilis originated in both the Americas and Europe. Syphilis had been present in the Americas for a long time that spread via sexual and non-sexual contact, but it was a much milder illness like when people get cold sores. When it was brought to Europe the transmission was much more difficult because the society and climate meant people wore clothes that prevented it from spreading like it did with Native Americans. So the disease developed into something that was much more virulent and severe.

[@chrismaupin]

It's chilling to think about how many people have suffered and died needlessly because of our superstitious squeamishness around sex. Even today, in 2020, there are millions of my fellow Americans who want to ban sexual education in schools or introduce all manner of quackery and nonsense into such education to confuse the subject - all in service to some outdated moral code. Sadly, it is often their children who suffer the most as a result.

[@wiredworx1786]

Excellent

[@wiredworx1786]

Good one

[@placidheart8277]

Really good

[@binaryoptionsguru4068]

Very good

[@eerstehulpseo8370]

amazing

[@wiredworx1786]

Awesome

[@hugirked4912]

Remarkable...!!

[@clairvoyantzone7988]

Interesting...!!

[@pheromoneauthority7373]

Good...!!

[@minderwinter1888]

Thats brilliant

[@saddlebowl4570]

great

[@wiredworx1786]

Nice

[@poppywellmade8512]

tremendous

[@detailedstuck8231]

this is my favourate

[@puffyplonk8859]

Good

[@pcaloanz2618]

I like this

[@morticianpale8552]

good....

[@earthdamp1609]

nice..

[@grassbobbin1082]

Its nice

[@pairrower5252]

wow i love it

[@wiredworx1786]

Its great :)

[@psychicshookup2921]

Thats superior

[@placidheart8277]

Thats ideal...

[@puckrunning2547]

niice

[@MrKmanthie]

There does seem to be something...well, "odd" about all these monosyllabic comments. "Nice", "good", or even, to stretch it a bit, "interesting" and so on...what about the usual long-winded rants one usually sees by all kinds of kooks? Well, one hopes that the kooks haven't got to this yet, that's the one positive outlook I could answer my own query with.

[@camphound2002]

Its sensational looking :)

[@wiredworx1786]

Interesting

[@mirzamay]

apologies don't count where prison is appropriate.

[@wilde4445]

"Medical Ethics" in the USA any doierent NOW? I do not think so!

[@wallyheiderheider7542]

"Abstinance is the ultimate cure for men."

[@CottonDrifting]

Fake you tube comments? Is Gresham College trying to bump up their numbers?

[@GreshamCollege]

Nope.

[@CottonDrifting]

GreshamCollege Sorry, I didn't mean to accuse, I do enjoy your videos very much and think they're content is enough to merit the views they get. But there are a lot of clearly fake comments with the same photo's and one word comments that aren't specific to this video, do you know why?

[@rahulbhaskar6790]

Max White Because its Greshamcollege using different id's for commenting...

[@kathryncrowleybryan5844]

I am just a regular citizen enjoying a lecture that has not been dumbed down for KZbin

[@geoffhummerstone]

pompous

[@liesharras4614]

Really good