History of Plague

Marko Pijović - Kuga u Evropi i Dubrovniku u 14. st

by Marko Pijović

“Plague's Messengers: Communicating Hope and Despair in England, 1550-1750.”

by Rebecca Totaro

Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 89.1-2 (2003): 87-94.

“Recent Plague Studies.”

by Rebecca Totaro

“Recent Plague Studies,” Kritikon Litterarum 37. 3-4 (2010). 254–260.

http://www.reference-global.com/doi/abs/10.1515/KL.2010.006b

Chicken Soup (and Orange Juice) for the Plague-Time Soul?: Francis Bacon’s Utopian

by Rebecca Totaro

English Language Notes 47.2 (Fall/Winter 2009): 25-33.

http://www.colorado.edu/English/eln/issues/47_2.html

"The Body, Public Health and Social Control in Sixteenth-Century Venice"

by Michelle Laughran

Doctoral Dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1998

Through a blend of political-institutional, medical, and socio-cultural history, this dissertation demonstrates dig... more Through a blend of political-institutional, medical, and socio-cultural history, this dissertation demonstrates dig the rapid development of sixteenth-century Venice's public health policy marks not only "the medical renaissance of the sixteenth century," but highlights an important development in the history of mentalities as well. Using a wide range of archival and published sources, I argue that when the pre-modern cultural universe--epitomized by a unified, anthropomorphic body--was under siege during the 1500s by a divided Christendom and warring inchoate nation-states, one prescription for Venice in the throes of a major European-wide "paradigm shift" was to invoke this metaphor of the body (in all of its manifestations: whether as a medical body, a body social, a body politic, etc.), and entrust the continued welfare of this ailing embodiment to its newly created health magistracy, the Provveditori alla Sanità . Since the Venetian patriciate at the time was preoccupied with public exhibitions and ritual assurances of order within the body social and hierarchy within the body politic, the broader social and cultural implications of early modern epidemiology encouraged a rapid multiplication of the magistracy's powers during the sixteenth century. Those who were perceived as a threat to this order were--as a result of the overlapping metaphors of the body in the early modern worldview--frequently understood to be sources of contagion and/or diseases like the plague who were dangerous to the medical body as well. At the same time, the increasing separation between elite and popular cultures reinforced these associations: physicians--engaged in their own processes of "self-fashioning"--would theorize that the poor possessed a physiologically different body which was inherently predisposed to epidemic disease. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Venetian Magistracy's public health authority would thus extend beyond disease control and sanitation to include the regulation of marginalized groups such as the poor, prostitutes, and popular healers. My dissertation consequently traces the processes by which contemporary visions of the body, health and disease were informed and transformed by the Sanità 's particular reactions to the perceived crises in sixteenth-century Venice.

"Foreign Bodies in the Body Politic: Plague and the Poor in Renaissance Venice"

by Michelle Laughran

Presented at the Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, NYC, 2004

While Ann Carmichael has traced an epidemiological link between the poor and epidemic diseases conflated with plague,... more While Ann Carmichael has traced an epidemiological link between the poor and epidemic diseases conflated with plague, she suggests that this association served as a focus for the concerns and fears of the elite, needing, as she put it, “the attention of a social historian more than a medical one.” In sixteenth-century Venice there is perhaps no better source to examine these sociopolitical concerns than the 40,000-page diary of Venetian nobleman Marin Sanudo, who yearned to serve as the republic’s official historian. Sanudo was well aware of Venice’s need to bolster its body politic from a myriad of external threats. I argue that the result would lead, not merely to the identification of the foreign poor as the source of the epidemic of the late 1520s, but also to their representation as being physiologically predisposed to acting as the very plague itself, which was afflicting the “body of the city.”

"The Collective Body-in-Pain: Plague Sufferers in Tintoretto’s Paintings for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice"

by Michelle Laughran

Presented at the Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, Chicago, April 2008

Western historians have no conceptual basis for more than minimally understanding plague sufferers' torments (and thus... more Western historians have no conceptual basis for more than minimally understanding plague sufferers' torments (and thus the contemporary importance of their representations).  Pain is a quintessentially alienating experience, but I suggest that Tintoretto would attempt to render this complex exterior and interior experience of plague suffering visually in his narrative paintings of the life of San Rocco executed for the confraternity’s church.  The plague victims depicted by Tintoretto both individually assumed and collectively expressed a consciousness of one’s own fragility, mortality and evanescence,  which had a potential to be transitively communicated, just as the confratelli di disciplina both assumed and collectively expressed the penitence of the brothers, the confraternity and even the society as a whole.

La utilización sepulcral de las cuevas en época visigoda: los casos de Las Penas, La Garma y El Portillo del Arenal (Cantabria)

by José Ángel Hierro Gárate

Versión reducida y actualizada del trabajo de Máster presentado en 2008 y que está colgado más abajo. Published in Munibe (Antropologia-Arkeologia) 62, 2011, pp. 351-402

El hallazgo de materiales de época visigoda en el interior de cuevas de la península ibérica es conocido desde antiguo... more El hallazgo de materiales de época visigoda en el interior de cuevas de la península ibérica es conocido desde antiguo y ha sido interpretado de diferentes maneras. En este trabajo se analizan los tres ejemplos más significativos del registro arqueológico cántabro y se comparan con otros de Cantabria y del resto del territorio del Reino Visigodo para establecer una serie de características comunes. A partir de ellas se propone una nueva interpretación: el uso de algunas cuevas como lugares de enterramiento para las víctimas de alguna de las epidemias que asolaron la Península durante los siglos VII-VIII d. de C. También se esboza una línea de interpretación complementaria que relaciona esos enterramientos atípicos con el miedo a los muertos y con prácticas necrofóbicas

Plague and print in the Netherlands: A short-title catalogue of publications in the University Library of Amsterdam

by paul dijstelberge

De zwarte rand van de gouden eeuw: expositie in de Universiteitsbibliotheek van amsterdam 2/7-3/9: catalogus

by paul dijstelberge

Singularis contra pestem patronus. Několik poznámek ke kultu a ikonografii svatého Šebestiána jakožto ochránce před morem v pozdní antice a raném středověku [Singularis contra pestem patronus. Some Comments on the Cult and Iconography of St Sebastian as a Plague Patron in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages], in Czech

by Petr Kitzler

published in: J. Förster - P. Kitzler - V. Petrbok - H. Svatošová (eds.), Musarum Socius, jinak též Malý Slavnospis, Praha: KKS FLU AV CR 2011.

This brief note re-opens again the question of how St. Sebastian became one of the most powerful and popular plague... more This brief note re-opens again the question of how St. Sebastian became one of the most powerful and popular plague patrons in the Middle Ages. The paper examines the textual evidence related to the martyr, the Acta Sebastiani martyris, written in the mid-fifth century by Arnobius Iunior, and the oldest extant depictions of St. Sebastian in the Callixtus’ catacombs in Rome, the mosaics in the S. Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna and S. Pietro in Vincoli, and the fresco paintings in S. Maria in Pallara in Rome. Neither in the text of the Acta Sebastiani nor on the paintings up to the 10th century, there can be traced any connection between the saint and the plague. The first who explicitly links Sebastian with the protection against the plague is Paulus Diaconus who mentions the miraculous cessation of the plague in Rome and Pavia (ancient Ticinum) in 680, after erecting the altars in honour of St. Sebastian both in Rome and Pavia. This curious incident was in the mid-thirteenth century mentioned again by Jacobus a Voragine in his Legenda Aurea, and since then, the cult of St. Sebastian as a singularis contra pestem patronus was firmly established. Iconographically, the depiction of martyr’s sagittation appeared for the first time on the fresco cycle in S. Maria Pallara in Rome, and become predominant throughout the whole Middle Ages.

La peste antonine (166 ap. J.-C.)

by Benoît Rossignol

L'examen de l'historiographie de l'épidémie dite "peste antonine" et de certaines questions méthodologiques... more L'examen de l'historiographie de l'épidémie dite "peste antonine" et de certaines questions méthodologiques relatives à l'écriture de son histoire amène à insister sur l'hétérogénéité de nos sources et la nécessaire prudence quant à leur exploitation. Il faut se garder de confondre antériorité et causalité dans l'examen des conséquences de l'épidémie. Deux exemples sont analysés : les oracles liés aux épidémies et la question de l'origine de l'épidémie lors de la prise de Séleucie.

B. Rossignol, S. Durost, « Volcanisme global et variations climatiques de courte durée dans l'histoire romaine (Ier s. av. J.-C. - IVème ap. J.-C.) : leçons d'une archive glaciaire (GISP2) », JRGZM, 54-2, 2007 (2010), p. 395-438

by Benoît Rossignol

The publication of ice-core records in the 1990s , and especially GISP2, recounted the main episodes of global... more The publication of ice-core records in the 1990s , and especially GISP2, recounted the main episodes of global volcanism that might have resulted in important climate-forcing. In pre-modern societies, this volcanic climate-forcing generally caused agricultural, health and social troubles (such as food shortages, epidemics, riots...). Comparing ice-core records with some episodes of Roman antiquity proves fruitful. The background to the end of the Gallic war (55-51 BC) seems to be marked by an important atmospheric disturbance which might partially account for the suddenness of some events of the Gallic rebellion of 52BC, and its most critical aspects. Some of the troubles of the late Antonine period might also be accounted for by similar volcanic events (ca. 154, ca. 162 and ca. 181 AD). However, there is no reason to link the events of the Deserters' war to the cataclysmic eruption of Lake Taupo, contrary to what was suggested in the 1980s. Finally, following this period, volcanic activity in the third century seems to have been more regular in a less favourable climatic era : did these factors contribute to the troubles of the Empire at that critical time ? As it is, the existence in the 260s of a disturbance of at least equal importance as that of the Antonine period, has been attested. On the contrary, the fourth century after 332 AD, bears no trace of any major eruption : no volcanic forcing disturbed imperial recovery then.

Les résultats publiés des carottes glaciaires prélevées dans les années 1990, en particulier GISP2, retracent les épisodes majeurs du volcanisme mondial susceptibles d'avoir causé des perturbations climatiques importantes. Dans les sociétés pré-modernes de telles perturbations engendrent en général des troubles agricoles, sanitaires et sociaux (disette, épidémies, émeutes...). La confrontation des résultats des carottes glaciaires à certains épisodes de l'antiquité romaine est fertile. Le contexte de la fin de la guerre des Gaules (55-51) semble être marqué par une importante perturbation qui explique sans doute en partie le caractère soudain de certains évènements de la révolte gauloise de 52 et ses aspects les plus critiques. Certaines des difficultés de la fin de l'époque antonine trouvent peut-être aussi leur explication dans des épisodes volcaniques similaires (ca. 154, ca. 162, ca. 181). En revanche, il n'y a pas de raison de lier les événements de la guerre des déserteurs à l'éruption cataclysmique du Lac Taupo ainsi que cela avait été proposé durant les années 1980. Enfin, à la suite de cette période, le troisième siècle semble connaître une activité volcanique plus régulière dans une période climatique moins favorable : cela a-t-il contribué aux difficultés de l'empire dans cette période critique ? Une perturbation au moins égale à celle de l'époque antonine est en tout cas attestée dans la décennie 260. Le quatrième siècle au contraire, après 332, est pour ainsi dire vierge de toute trace d'éruption de grande ampleur : nulle perturbation d'origine volcanique n'est venue troubler le redressement de l'empire.

Pestepidemien im Europa der Frühen Neuzeit

by Franz Mauelshagen

In: Pest. Die Geschichte eines Menschheitstraumas, edited by M. Meier. Stuttgart. Klett-Cotta, 2005, p. 237-65, 432-34

This is a survey article on early modern plague epidemics. This is a survey article on early modern plague epidemics.

LA UTILIZACIÓN DE LAS CUEVAS EN CANTABRIA EN ÉPOCA VISIGODA. LOS CASOS DE LAS PENAS, LA GARMA Y EL PORTILLO DEL ARENAL

by José Ángel Hierro Gárate

(Not so) Distant Mirrors: a complex macro-comparison of polities and political, economic and religious systems in the crisis of the 14th century

by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller

Paper for the International Conference "THE ANGEVIN DYNASTY (14TH CENTURY)" in Targoviste (Romania), October 21st-23rd 2011.
Slides here: http://oeaw.academia.edu/JohannesPreiserKapeller/Talks/58247/_Not_so_Distant_Mirrors_a_complex_macro-comparison_of_polities_and_political_economic_and_religious_systems_in_the_crisis_of_the_14th_century

In the “calamitous” 14th century, as Barbara Tuchman called it in her classic „A Distant Mirror“ (1978) , the medieval... more In the “calamitous” 14th century, as Barbara Tuchman called it in her classic „A Distant Mirror“ (1978) , the medieval world entered a period of severe crisis in demography, economy, politics and religion. This crisis took hold in all regions, ranging from China in the East to England in the West. Even before the catastrophic pandemic of the Black Death (1346-1352), deteriorating climatic conditions had ended the period of demographic and economic expansion that began in the 10th century.
The local and regional impacts and consequences of these general potentially crisis-laden conditions may have differed; outcomes ranged from actual societal collapse to the emergence of powerful new polities – while Byzantium´s power dwindled away, Hungary entered a period of strong rulership and external power in the reign of Louis I of Anjou (1342-1382), for instance. But these conditions provide a framework for global perspective on this period and allow us to use the 14th century-crisis as a field of “natural experiments of history”, as Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson have called them ; accordingly, we analyse how similar crisis phenomena influenced the development of societies with different (or similar) traditions, religions, institutions, geographies or ecologies.
In order to be able to capture the local variations and complexities, we adopt concepts and tools provided by the field of complexity science. Mono-causal or linear explanations are inadequate for the analysis and the description of crisis, transformation or collapse of pre-modern polities. Within this framework, complex systems are understood as large networks of individual components, whose interactions at the microscopic level produce “complex” changing patterns of behaviour of the whole system on the macroscopic level. In the last decades, historians and social scientists who became interested in complexity theory tried to use its concepts and terminology for the conceptualisation and description of phenomena in their own fields, but often only in a “metaphoric” way. Less frequently, though, historians have tried to make use of the mathematical foundations of complexity theory or of quantitative tools provided by this field. Recent scholarship has implemented some of these tools especially for the construction of macro-models of socio-economic development. While these studies help us construct analytical tools for the macro-level of our own research, they run the same risk as earlier scholarship of neglecting complex variations at the local and regional levels.
Therefore, we combine complexity theory with the analytical framework of „systems theory“ developed by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann in order to capture the interveawements between politics, economy and religion within a polity and with the political, economic and ecological environment. In addition, we employ the methods and tools of network analysis, which allow us to capture, analyse and model linkages and cause-effect correlations in society, economy, politics and religion on the macro- and micro-level down to groups and individuals.
Overall, as a complement to earlier studies our analytical
approach shall allow us to capture the “diversité véritable” of our period without losing track of essential commonalities (the “strange parallels”, as Victor Liebermann has called them in his remarkable study on Southeast Asia in Global Context, 2009 ) of this “first world crisis” across all cultures and societies. The scientic value of this approach will be demonstrated for some specific cases.

Ovid's Aeginetan plague and the metamorphosis of the Georgics

by Mark Heerink

Hermes 139 (2011) in press

Plague, Performance, and the Elusive History of the Stella celi extirpavit

by Christopher Macklin

Early Music History 29, pp. 1-31

One of the greatest scourges of the later medieval period was plague. While there is a considerable scholarly... more One of the greatest scourges of the later medieval period was plague. While there is a considerable scholarly literature tracing the impact of the dread disease on literature and art, the impermanence of performance has rendered the extension of such studies to the field of music problematic. These problems are to some extent surmountable in studying the fifteenth-century hymn Stella celi extirpavit, a Marian invocation unequivocally phrased as a plea for deliverance from illness. In this paper, it is proposed that the Stella celi is representative of the beliefs and skills shared by a broad spectrum of late medieval society in the shadow of the plague. Analysis of musical and textual features, and the contexts of performance, further suggest links with the artistic and intellectual concerns of the Franciscan order, which may have thus enabled otherwise ephemeral music to be preserved as an enduring response to epidemic calamity.

“A nature but infected”: plague and embodied transformation in Timon of Athens

by Darryl Chalk

Published in Early Modern Literary Studies Special Issue 19 “Embodying Shakespeare” (2009) 9.1-28 <URL: http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/si-19/chalplag.html&gt;