The plague of 1630 in Modena (Italy) through the study of parish registers

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Mirko Traversari
Diletta Biagini
Giancarlo Cerasoli
Raffaele Gaeta
Donata Luiselli
Giorgio Gruppioni
Elisabetta Cilli

Keywords

Plague, Infectious diseases, Paleopathology

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact this disease had on the community in Modena during the epidemic in 1630 and highlight the real course of the disease that brought Modena and whole Europe to its knees in the 17th century. The investigation was carried out by transcribing and studying the parish certificates of death for the period 1625-1635. This study confirmed that the plague epidemic in Modena began as early as 1629, and then exploded in the most virulent form since the beginning of summer 1630 and reached its peak in August of the same year, when it caused about seven hundred victims.

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