Siglos XVIII-XIX - History Lab

Child vaccinators: the feat that brought the smallpox vaccine from Spain halfway around the world

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:06 +0000

Short 5.11 minute video produced by the Department of Microbiology of the University of Seville on the Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition that managed to bring the smallpox vaccine, transported by children, from Spain to different areas of America and Asia as part of the then Spanish empire. It was the first expedition of its kind in human history. The expedition, also known as the Balmis Expedition after the doctor from Alicante, Francisco Javier Balmis, who led it, took place between 1803 and 1806 under the auspices of King Charles IV with funds from the public treasury. In order to preserve the vaccine sample for the duration of the voyage, it was decided that it should be carried by children who were successively inoculated arm in arm during the course of the voyage. Thus, the protagonists of this story were 22 foundlings aged between 3 and 9 from the Foundling Homes in A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela and Madrid, all of them accompanied by Isabel Zendal Gómez, rector of the A Coruña home and mother of one of the children. With the aim of reaching the general public, the narration is particularly clear in its presentation, with visual resources very suitable for primary and secondary school pupils. In addition, this video aims to raise public awareness of the importance of vaccination, as well as to debunk the myth of ‘anti-vaccination’ and its lack of scientific rigour.

The post Child vaccinators: the feat that brought the smallpox vaccine from Spain halfway around the world first appeared on History Lab.

The Balmis Expedition – RNE Documents

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:06 +0000

Audio documentary 55.45 minutes long, which deals with the Royal Philanthropic Smallpox Vaccine Expedition. Commonly known as the Balmis Expedition, it left the port of A Coruña on 30 November 1803 and lasted for three more years. The vaccine, developed by the Englishman Edward Jenner in 1796, proved to be an effective remedy to contain the spread of the virus. With the aim of eradicating the disease in the Empire and the overseas colonies, the Spanish monarchy, with Charles IV as king, sponsored this ambitious and pioneering scientific-medical project. At its head was Dr. Francisco Javier Balmis y Berenguer. The video provides a well-documented account of the expedition. Twenty-two foundlings and orphans travelled with the medical team, led by Isabel Zendal Gómez, the rector of the Casa de Expósitos in A Coruña. The children, aged between 3 and 9 years, carried the vaccine in their bodies and so would be preserved in good condition until their arrival in America. The method consisted of injecting the vaccine into one child and, when it matured, the pulp was extracted and inoculated into another; in this way, a chain was established that ensured the vaccine fluid. In Venezuela, the team split up: one group, led by Balmis himself, went to Cuba and Mexico, while the other, led by deputy director José Salvany, went to South America. The former reached the Philippines and returned to the Peninsula in 1806, while the latter died before their return. With a script by Elisabeth Norell, Documentos RNE rigorously exposes one of the main milestones in the history of medicine with the participation of prestigious historians and experts in public health and epidemiology.

The post The Balmis Expedition – RNE Documents first appeared on History Lab.

Isabel Zendal: the unsung heroine of the vaccine expedition

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:06 +0000

A 1 hour and 30 minute video in which, with the participation of different specialists and the contribution of period documents, the figure of Isabel Zendal Gómez is discussed in the context of the Royal Philanthropic Smallpox Vaccine Expedition. Commonly known as the Balmis Expedition, it left the port of A Coruña on 30 November 1803. With the aim of eradicating the disease in the Empire and the overseas colonies, the Spanish monarchy, with Charles IV as king, sponsored this ambitious and pioneering scientific and medical project. At its head was Dr Francisco Javier Balmis y Berenguer. Twenty-two foundlings and orphans travelled with the medical team, led by Isabel Zendal, the rector of the Casa de Expósitos in A Coruña. The children, aged between 3 and 9 years, carried the vaccine in their bodies and it was kept in good condition until their arrival in America. The method consisted of injecting the vaccine into one child and, when it matured, the pulp was extracted and inoculated into another; in this way, a chain was established that ensured the vaccine fluid. After the American phase, the expedition continued to the Philippines, also with 26 children. The World Health Organisation recognised Zendal as the first nurse in history on an international mission. Her professional activity in the philanthropic expedition lasted for the ten years it took to bring the smallpox vaccine to the Spanish overseas territories.

The post Isabel Zendal: the unsung heroine of the vaccine expedition first appeared on History Lab.

Isabel Zendal

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:06 +0000

2.12 minute video produced by the Mexican Society of Public Health on the figure of Isabel Zendal Gómez in the context of the Royal Philanthropic Smallpox Vaccine Expedition (1803). It is commonly known as the Balmis Expedition because it was led by Dr Francisco Javier Balmis y Berenguer. Twenty-two foundlings and orphans travelled with the medical team, led by Isabel Zendal, the rector of the Casa de Expósitos of the Hospital de la Caridad in A Coruña. They, aged between 3 and 9 years, were the ones who carried the vaccine in their bodies and so it could be preserved in good condition until its arrival in America. With the aim of being accessible to the general public, the narration is particularly clear in its presentation, with visual resources very suitable for primary and secondary school pupils. Isabel Zendal was recognised by the World Health Organisation as the first nurse in history on an international mission.

The post Isabel Zendal first appeared on History Lab.

Surveillance of sexuality. The prison for adulteresses. Calle de Atocha, 87 (Madrid)

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

The video, 4.33 minutes long, is part of “Madrid, Ciudad de las Mujeres”, a cultural and touristic application where the traces of women in the city of Madrid are recovered http://madridciudaddelasmujeres.es/. As the video recounts, the galleys and hospices of Madrid have, since the beginning of modern times, been a place of reclusion and torture for a whole series of women who did not comply with the established rules. These included poor women, “rogues”, “fortune tellers”, prostitutes and adulteresses. As we entered the 18th century and under enlightened and charitable precepts, the quality and diversity of places of confinement for women diversified, with houses of seclusion and repentance where many women who practised prostitution would end up apart from society and subjected to a regime of beatitudes. Touched, veiled and living under a strict rule that they would only leave to get married or take religious vows. They were also places of confinement for a wide variety of petty crimes such as stealing clothes or vagrancy, and moral offences such as adultery or the highly punishable female adultery. A hospice was founded in the building at Calle de Atocha, 97, in Madrid, which also housed the Colegio de San Nicolás de Bari at the beginning of the 18th century, an institution for women who, “forgetful of their honour or conjugal fidelity, incurred in some crime of impurity”. The video tells the story of some of these condemned women.

The post Surveillance of sexuality. The prison for adulteresses. Calle de Atocha, 87 (Madrid) first appeared on History Lab.

Teresa Montalvo a salonnière. Calle de la Luna (Madrid)

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

Teresa Montalvo was a Cuban intellectual whose literary and political salon shone in Madrid at the end of the 18th century, located in an estate that no longer exists on Calle Luna and the old Calle Panaderos. Married to the Count of Jaruco, Teresa’s life changed when she moved to Madrid in 1789. In the capital, her intelligence, personality and social skills turned her house, where she had a large library, into a political, economic and cultural centre that was frequented by Goya, Moratín and other writers and intellectuals of the time. Despite her personal difficulties, such as the death of her husband in 1807 or the rumours that identified her as the lover of José I during the War of Independence, her figure is considered a catalyst of Enlightenment ideas, a facilitator of projects and business – especially between Spain and Cuba – and an intelligent person who knew how to make the most of the Spanish court customs of the time. The video, 4.48 minutes long, is part of “Madrid, Ciudad de las Mujeres”, a cultural and touristic application where the traces of women in the city of Madrid are recovered http://madridciudaddelasmujeres.es/ and to which we refer for this description.

The post Teresa Montalvo a salonnière. Calle de la Luna (Madrid) first appeared on History Lab.

The washerwomen. Segovia Bridge (Madrid)

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

For centuries, the job of washerwoman was one of the most arduous professions carried out by women. In Madrid, after collecting clothes from private homes or convents and hospitals, they had to take them to the Manzanares River in large sacks to be washed. There they spent long days completely soaked, kneeling on benches placed in the riverbed and exposed to the harsh winter weather. Chilblains and respiratory diseases did not prevent them from handling the wet clothes, sheets and towels. Garments were lathered with soda or potash, beaten and brushed, rinsed and hung, making this a heavy mechanical job. This female work was key to the subsistence economies of the time, to such an extent that the Madrid City Council reserved an important part of the washing benches for poor families in the 18th century, although it was the neighbouring towns of Madrid, such as Hortaleza, which were mainly in charge of cleaning the Court’s clothes. In the middle of the 18th century these banks in Madrid became private, leased for years to a few businessmen, and in order to access them the laundresses had to pay. In 1750, in the part of the river shown in the video there were around 1,142 washing benches, which gives an image of the concentration of workers in this place. The washhouses were small buildings made of reeds and poles for hanging clothes that grew to accommodate a large number of workers to whom the tenant also sold soap. The misery of the washerwomen’s work was hidden by the liveliness and colour of the place, where their children were also present, which attracted the attention of all travellers visiting the capital, especially romantics. The video, 3.51 minutes long, is part of “Madrid, Ciudad de las Mujeres”, a cultural and tourist application where the traces of women in the city of Madrid are recovered http://madridciudaddelasmujeres.es/ and to which we refer for this description.

The post The washerwomen. Segovia Bridge (Madrid) first appeared on History Lab.

The incluse. The wet nurses. Arturo Barea Square (Madrid)

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

The video, which is 4.48 minutes long and chronologically presented, is part of “Madrid, Ciudad de las Mujeres”, a cultural and tourist application where the traces of women in the city of Madrid are recovered http://madridciudaddelasmujeres.es/. As indicated in the presentation on the website, to which we refer for this description, the Inclusa de Madrid was a charitable institution dedicated to collecting abandoned children that in 1807 was installed in a large house located in the Plaza de Arturo Barea. The institution, founded two centuries earlier, took in an average of a thousand children a year. Some were abandoned in the adjoining Casa de la Maternidad and others in the lathes that were scattered around Madrid. According to its statutes, the objectives of the Inclusa were to “prevent infanticide and save the honour of mothers” as well as to collect “all children born of illegitimate conception”. Although it could function as a place of temporary abandonment or a place of redistribution of abandoned children among the families of the neighbourhood in exchange for a small amount of money, with the construction of this building it was planned to house them up to the age of seven. The wet nurses of the incluse are a clear example of how care has historically been entrusted to women, especially those from the most fragile economic strata, who made their milk available externally. Women who practised the so-called “mercenary breastfeeding”, a widespread custom among the middle and upper classes. Their working conditions were not good, and not only because of the possibility of falling ill, but also because of their low economic compensation. The Inclusa became a privileged setting in which to debate about care, payment for care and its impact on women’s lives.

The post The incluse. The wet nurses. Arturo Barea Square (Madrid) first appeared on History Lab.