Epidemias - History Lab

The plague in the Kingdom of Cordoba in the 17th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000

The Kingdom of Cordoba was one of the territories involved in the great plague epidemics that devastated the Iberian Peninsula during the 17th century. The resource lists the localities affected, using the 1761 map drawn up by Tomás López. In red are the epidemic outbreaks that occurred in the two-year period 1649-1650. Originating in the ports of Cadiz and the cities of Seville, Malaga, Antequera and Murcia, the epidemic reached the city of Cordoba with virulence and affected the municipalities located in the north of the kingdom and some areas in the south. Years later, and represented in blue dots, another plague epidemic broke out, which had a greater incidence in the south and, once again, in the city of Cordoba itself. How did the kingdom’s authorities deal with the epidemics? Isolation and the closure of communications were the best way to prevent the plague from spreading further; however, the absence of a centralised entity to control and delimit the vast territories resulted in the permeability of municipal borders. At the local level, the Board of Health decreed the measures to be implemented: food stockpiling, closure of trade, limitation of foreign trade and promotion of hygiene were the most widespread formulas.

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Map of the cordon sanitaire in Orihuela for the plague of 1676

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000

The plague was one of the diseases that most decimated the Spanish population. The XVII century was the worst hit in demographic terms in Orihuela, Alicante: with the plague of 1647-1652 the population was reduced from 12,200 inhabitants to around 7,000. Against this background, the new outbreak recorded in 1676 in the surrounding towns was met with greater sanitary prevention. The city of Orihuela was isolated to avoid contagion and the accumulation of grain and foodstuffs was encouraged in order to deal with the possible epidemic. The danger for this city was in the market gardens, as many farmers crossed the municipal boundaries in the direction of Murcia or Elche to illegally supply produce. Faced with the danger of them becoming infected and returning with the disease, the Board of Health ordered quarantines to be imposed on those people who had been in areas at risk. Finally, a more effective cordon sanitaire was imposed, with 4 lines, linking Orihuela with Alicante: the first 2 lines were intended to isolate the outbreaks in Murcia and Cartagena, passing through the Segura River, the third line isolated the municipality of Elche, while the fourth was aimed at cutting off the outbreaks coming from La Mancha. Between the 19 leagues of the cordon sanitaire, 56 surveillance posts were set up with more than 100 operatives and men on horseback, who were permanently patrolling the containment lines.

The post Map of the cordon sanitaire in Orihuela for the plague of 1676 first appeared on History Lab.

The plague of 1649 in Seville

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:12 +0000

During the Modern Age, numerous epidemics struck Spanish and European populations. The painting shown here, by an anonymous artist, depicts the plague in Seville in 1649. The work focuses on the Hospital de la Sangre and the Macarena Gate, a perspective of the area outside the city walls that shows the tragedy. The Junta de Salud (Board of Health) established this area as a place of transfer for care or a burial site, as was the Prado de San Sebastián or Triana. The painting also shows a procession on the left, while the central area is dominated by the transport of the sick. On the right is a greater concentration of corpses. Due to the high number of contagions and the high mortality rate, it is estimated that this outbreak of plague, the last and most virulent, claimed the lives of 60,000 people in Seville, almost 45% of the city’s population.

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The plague of 1679 in Antequera, Málaga

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:12 +0000

The plague, one of the greatest threats to public health, struck Antequera in 1679. After the strong impact it had on the city of Seville, reflected in an anonymous painting dated 1649, the city of Malaga followed the same fate. The painting, an anonymous oil painting dated 1723, depicts the religious nature of these episodes: the Virgin of the Rosary appears in the upper left-hand band as part of the religious programme. On the right is a rainbow, symbol of God’s mercy, above a pious procession. Below, the city, under a rain of arrows representing the plague, the action unfolds. The dead are piled into mass graves while objects and personal belongings are burnt. The living are assisted by doctors and surgeons, who perform precarious medicinal work for healing (bloodletting, draining buboes, gauzing with ointments or cauterising wounds with hot irons). In short, the author depicted the tragedy of the plague, its social implications and its connection with the religious mentality.

The post The plague of 1679 in Antequera, Málaga first appeared on History Lab.

Epidemics of plague in Spain: 16th and 17th centuries

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:12 +0000

The plague epidemic had an early manifestation in Spain. There is evidence of outbreaks of plague along the Mediterranean strip of the peninsula as early as the 6th-8th centuries. During the 14th century, the Black Death appeared in Europe, an epidemic which, interspersed with others such as influenza and typhus, reappeared in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1596 the plague reached the peninsula via Santander, a port area. It spread virulently through the territories of Extremadura and the two Castiles, especially the area around Madrid. The Cantabrian coast and Andalusia were also affected, as well as the area between Alicante and Valencia. It was in the latter city that another plague epidemic broke out years later, in 1647. From Valencia it spread to the northern part of the Crown of Aragon: Catalonia and the Aragonese territories themselves were affected. Andalusia was also hit again, with the city of Seville suffering significant human losses, where it is estimated that 45% of the population died. It was in Seville that another epidemic appeared in 1676. With no time to recover, cities such as Seville, Cordoba, Malaga, Cadiz and Jaen were the protagonists of the horror. They were joined by Cartagena, in the Kingdom of Murcia. These were the last large-scale epidemics to occur in the peninsular territories of the Hispanic Monarchy. Once the epidemic, demographic and food crises of the 17th century were overcome, the 18th century ushered in a period of generalised growth.

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Mortality, birth rate and nuptiality in Hoyos (1795-1820)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:56 +0000

In the Extremaduran village of Hoyos, the Spanish War of Independence in 1808 brought about a structural change in marriages, birth rates and mortality, as a result of the demographic and economic crises that fully affected the previously observed patterns. When the conflict broke out, the population was still in the process of recovery from the subsistence crises of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The premature presence of the French army from 1807 and the long stays of French, British and Spanish armies meant a drain on food and money that these territories were barely able to cope with.
As is usual in other territories, the marriage rate adapted to the different stimuli experienced by each municipality over the years. Mortality, on the other hand, is more structural and shows the consequences of certain diseases such as smallpox or cholera, droughts or plagues that devastated the livelihoods of the inhabitants. A key factor at the end of the 18th century was the crisis caused by the price of wheat between 1797 and 1798, which had an impact on a staple product and led to terrible economic and social prospects that were reflected in the birth and marriage curves. In terms of mortality, the peak occurred between 1804 and 1805, due to the previous agrarian crisis and the appearance of new outbreaks of typhus and malaria.

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Smallpox mortality in New Spain. The parish of San Pablo Apetatitlan, 1797-1798

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:48 +0000

During the Modern Age, smallpox was an epidemic that decimated numerous populations on the European continent. America’s joining the world-system meant that this territory also became involved in global problems. The resource shows the incidence in New Spain of the last smallpox epidemic of the 18th century in that viceroyalty through the parish of San Pablo Apetatitlan, in the governorate of Tlaxcala. In this rural parish, between December 1797 and December 1798, a total of 75 deaths from smallpox were recorded, most of them indigenous people from this rural area. The author places the epidemic cycle in October 1797 in the city of Puebla, arriving in the jurisdiction of Tlaxcala in the first week of December. Its arrival led to a dramatic increase in mortality in the first few days of its appearance; 91.42% of deaths from the disease were recorded in one month. After the strong impact, social isolation and quarantines were the measures adopted by the authorities.

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Deaths in the city of Granada between 1647 and 1648

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:36 +0000

Epidemics were a constant throughout the Modern Age, decimating the number of inhabitants. The graph shows the evolution of mortality in the city of Granada in two years: 1647 and 1648. In the context of the typhus that struck the city, mortality was stable during the first year, but from June onwards it increased considerably until September, when it remained almost constant until November and December. At the beginning of 1648, the first months are more benign; however, from June onwards, it increases again until its peak in September where, unlike the previous year, it drops considerably until December. Analysis of the data reveals the seasonality of deaths in Granada: the summer months. By age group, adults suffer the most from this phenomenon, followed by children and, finally, young people. Apart from the extraordinary epidemiological effects, the mortality rate is in line with that of the old demographic regime.

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Politics, economy and society. Theme: The 17th century. Session 1

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:41 +0000

Explanatory video outlining the socio-economic and political characteristics of the 17th century in Modern Europe. During this period, Europe was plunged into a deep crisis. Population growth was slowed by successive plague epidemics, wars that led to terrible famines, low agricultural yields and poor harvests. On the other hand, the trade established with America, as well as the network established between Europe and Africa, provided excellent profits. Internationally, England and Holland began to compete with Spain and Portugal, expanding mainly in Asia and attacking Iberian cities and routes with pirates and privateers. France imposed its dominance in Europe over all other nations after the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War in Germany.

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The Time Archive

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:41 +0000

Historical dissemination channel under the coordination of the creator of the seminar, Dr. Antonio J. Díaz Rodríguez, where historians of consolidated trajectory and young researchers from different universities present to the audience a particular journey through Cordoba and Andalusia in the 16th and 17th centuries. This initiative is the result of the collaboration between the Laboratory of Judeo-Conversion Studies of the University of Cordoba and the Provincial Historical Archive of Cordoba. Conversos, slaves, wine smugglers, prized Andalusian horses, swords from Toledo, Inca nobility, literati, gardeners, document forgers, Moors and much more are shown in these seminars via Youtube.

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