The Great Plague Scare of 1720
Disaster and Diplomacy in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

A transnational history of the 1720 French plague epidemic and its ramifications in port cities across the early modern Atlantic world.

Cindy Ermus (Author)

9781108747349, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 March 2025

268 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.392 kg

'Unlike some other recent histories of disease, Ermus is less interested in the workings of illness itself and more focused on the response to disease - including the threat of disease - and, consequently, on how power works. The strengths of the book lie in Ermus's questions and in her research … Ermus's research in French, Italian, Spanish, and English, with a trace of Portuguese, allows her to conduct a transnational study and make an informed argument about various European powers in the early eighteenth century. Her research shows the specific ways in which governing bodies at the local, regional, national, and imperial levels were able to assert authority, as well as the ways in which the governed either chafed against, supported, or thwarted that authority.' Katherine Johnston, Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society

From 1720 to 1722, the French region of Provence and surrounding areas experienced one of the last major epidemics of plague to strike Western Europe. The Plague of Provence was a major disaster that left in its wake as many as 126,000 deaths, as well as new understandings about the nature of contagion and the best ways to manage its threat. In this transnational study, Cindy Ermus focuses on the social, commercial, and diplomatic impact of the epidemic beyond French borders, examining reactions to this public health crisis from Italy to Great Britain to Spain and the overseas colonies. She reveals how a crisis in one part of the globe can transcend geographic boundaries and influence society, politics, and public health policy in regions far from the epicentre of disaster.

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Plague in Provence
2. 'L'état le plus exposé': The Plague of Provence in Genoa and Italy
3. 'A Scheme so Barbarous and so Destructive': Responses to the Plague of Provence in London
4. The Spanish Plague That Never Was: The Plague of Provence in Cádiz and Spain
5. Entangled Empires: The Great Plague Scare in the Colonies
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: History of medicine [MBX], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], European history [HBJD], General & world history [HBG]