medicalstate:

Syphilis: The Blame Game.

At the turn of the fifteenth century, syphilis had begun to permeate every society in Europe. The first reports emerged in 1494 among soldiers involved in a war between France and Naples. It was distinguished for its unpleasantness and its status as a new disease that was unknown to all medical experts at the time. 

Nations became quick to blame others for the emergence of this new disease. Through the nineteenth century, it was known under various names - among the Spanish, it was known as the French disease; the French, as the Neopolitan Disease; by the Germans, as the Dutch disease; the Russians, as the Polish disease. 

It is now generally believed that syphilis was brought back to Europe from the New World by Christopher Columbus after their return in 1492.

5 months ago  /  47 notes  / /Source: ocp.hul.harvard.edu