What happened to John in Bridgerton season four part two? This is the scientific explanation

Spoiler alert: John Stirling dies in Bridgerton season four. The reason for his death isn’t really covered in the show. We see Francesca discovering that he died at the end of episode six, then episode seven opens with his funeral. Thankfully, the author of the Bridgerton books, Julia Quinn, has given an explanation of what John actually dies of.

Although there is a lot more description of John’s death in the book When He Was Wicked, the characters don’t quite understand how he died. The author did have a scientific explanation for this, though. In the Author’s Note, she wrote: “I had to make sure that their disease processes made scientific sense, while at the same time revealing only what was known by medical science in 1824 England.” (Season four of the Netflix show actually takes places earlier than 1824, but the point still stands.)

My heart
(Image via Netflix)

Julia Quinn explained: “John died of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Cerebral aneurysms are congenital weak spots in the walls of blood vessels within the brain. They may lie dormant for many years or they may rapidly enlarge an then rupture, leading to bleeding in the brain, which can be followed by unconsciousness, coma and death…. Nothing could have been done to save him; even today approximately one-half of ruptured cerebral aneurysms lead to death.

“During the 19th century, the only way to make a definitive diagnosis of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm was at autopsy. It is extremely unlikely, however, than an earl would have undergone a postmortem dissection; therefore John’s death would have remained a mystery to those who loved him. All Francesca would ever know was that her husband had a headache, lay down, and died.”

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In the Bridgerton books, there is a longer explanation of how Francesca and her cousin find out John has died. His death is even sadder in the book. There is a detailed description of John saying he has a headache, and Francesca going out for a walk. His valet doesn’t hear him for a while. Francesca goes into their bedroom, and realises she can’t wake him up.

Bridgerton is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.