In 1633, in South America, Jesuit Father Antonio de Calaucha noted the surprising properties of the “fever tree” in preventing malaria. These trees belong to the Chinchona genus, which produce quinine, an antimalarial. In the following years, the use of quinine spread among the Jesuits in Peru. Between 1640 and 1650, Father Bartolomé Tafur brought some bark to Rome. The 1655 conclave in Rome was the first without a single death from malaria, which was endemic in Rome at the time. The Jesuits then began importing large quantities of bark to Europe, and a thriving trade ensued, reaching much of Europe—except in England, where “Jesuit dust” was viewed with suspicion by Protestants. Oliver Cromwell himself refused to be treated by the papists and died of malaria in 1658. Then, in 1670, another anti-malaria drug gained notoriety in England: Robert Talbor’s, and was used even by royalty and all the nobility. Then, after the death of Talbor, who had become rich thanks to his miracle cure, it was discovered that his drug was based on quinine…
