Did Aegon IV die of a real-world disease, or are those symptoms just part of the fantasy world?

theelegantbookworm:

nobodysuspectsthebutterfly:

racefortheironthrone:

Aegon IV’s death is heavily inspired by the death of Henry VIII, although Henry VIII also had an ulcerated leg wound on top of everything else. 

There weren’t any kings in our history who were eaten alive by maggots (“fleshworms”), though, were they? I have to think that’s GRRM’s fantasy/horror touch, and a nastily gross one, too.

@nobodysuspectsthebutterfly There’s a legend that eaten alive by maggots was how Herod the Great died I think.

And Henry VIII’s blood was supposedly lapped by dogs as his body laid in state. It’s all out of a standard playbook of “divine punishments of impious tyrants.”