Plagues, poisons and potions

Plague-spreading conspiracies in the Western Alps, c. 1530–1640

William G. Naphy

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9780719046407
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526158604
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early Modern History
• Index: History

Plagues, poisons and potions highlights one of the most fascinating aspects of the history of early modern plague. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries outbreaks of plague in and around the ancient Duchy of Savoy led to the arrests of many people who were accused of conspiring to spread the disease. Those implicated in the conspiracies were usually poor female migrants working in the plague hospitals under the direction of educated professional male barber-surgeons. These 'conspirators' were subsequently tried for spreading plague among leading and wealthy people from urban areas so that they could rob them while the afflicted homeowners were confined to their beds.

In order to understand how this phenomenon developed and was regarded at the time, this study examines the courts, the judiciary and the part played by torture in the trials, which frequently concluded with the spectacular and gruesome execution of the suspects. The author goes on to consider the socio-economic conditions of the workers and in doing so highlights an early modern form of 'class warfare'. However, what makes this phenomenon especially interesting is that in an age dominated by superstition, religious strife and witch-hunts, the conspiracies were always given a moe rational explanation and motivation – profit.

Both teachers and students of early modern history will be fascinated by this enlightening study into the fears of European society, the spread of the disease and the judicial procedures of the time.

INDEX

Note: page numbers in bold refer to main entries.

adultery see fornication

Aix-en-Provence 173

Allemande, Jaqueme 144

Alliod, Pierre 117

Alps 3, 159, 163–4, 173

Amboise 109

animals 9–10, 12, 21, 50, 53, 111, 115–16, 119, 134, 161–3, 181, 197

Anjou, Duke of 109

Annecy 25, 56, 76, 109, 112, 115, 147, 158, 165

Antwerp 178

apothecaries 13, 21, 23, 29, 46, 50–1, 56, 76, 85, 96, 108, no, 114, 116, 119, 135, 173

see also barber-surgeons; doctors; medical practitioners; midwives; nurses

Appostoloix 87, 136

see also plague cures/preventatives

Armand, Alex 141

arson/fire 12, 18, 91, 171, 174

Atanasio, Giovanni Battista 169

Aubert

Antoine 163–4

Henry 51, 90, 93, 114

Auger, Emond 169

Avignon n, 28, 96, 178

Bacon, Francis 6

Balard, Jean 32, 82

barber-surgeons 15, 19, 20–2, 24–5, 27, 45–7, 49–50, 55–6, 58, 67, 74, 84, 87, 90, 94, 96–8, 109–11, 113–16, 118–20, 133, 136, 146, 161, 170–3, 182, 198, 201

see also apothecaries; doctors; hospitaliers;

medical practitioners; midwives; nurs...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of tables
• Series editor’s foreword
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• Maps
• Introduction
• One Geneva, plague and the first conspiracy
• Two The magistrates and plague, 1542–46
• Three The conspirators of 1545
• Four The magistrates and plague, 1567–72
• Five The conspirators of 1571
• Six Spreading the phenomenon
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• Bibliography
• Index