In France in the seventeenth century, for example, the larger than life Louis XIV saw his only son, his eldest grandson, and his eldest great-grandson - all potential kings of France - die within the span of a year (the second-eldest great-grandson, the future Louis XV, was saved only by his governess, who locked herself in a room with the two year old prince and forbid any doctors to come in and “treat” him with bloodletting).