Health Workers on the Frontline: The Great Plague of Seville (1646-1652)
Medical practitioners have always served on the frontline battling deadly epidemics, risking their lives to save others. They include doctors, nurses, midwives, and pharmacists, who often face significant losses in their efforts to combat these deadly diseases. As an expert in early modern Spanish literature and theater, I want to take you through the history of Spain's fatal plague - the Great Plague of Seville. The eerie similarities with our current COVID-19 pandemic raise a pertinent question: do we really learn from our past mistakes?
In 1646, the bubonic plague entered Andalusia, wreaking havoc on Seville and its neighboring cities. However, the officials in Seville chose to turn a blind eye to the disease, prioritizing trade over human lives. As a result, the epidemic spread like wildfire throughout the region. Only five years later, in 1651, the Grand Ministry of Health passed a resolution to quarantine ships from America for forty days before allowing them onshore. But by then, the plague had already claimed over 500,000 lives, accounting for a significant number compared to Spain's 10 million population.
Families who feared the epidemic fled to neighboring cities, leading to a sharp decline in trade and local businesses. As a result, many residents lost their homes and jobs, struggling to make ends meet. The city also imposed strict prohibitions, preventing those suspected of being infected from leaving their homes.
Severe headaches, high fever, and painful carbuncles on the skin characterized the plague. Within 24 hours, victims experienced extreme swelling of the lymph nodes, leading to excruciating pain in the groin, thigh, underarm, or neck. The religious charities did their best to help the sick. Still, the plague overwhelmed them, leaving a high demand for doctors, surgeons, and apothecaries.
Spain's medical faculties, including the University of Seville, produced some of the world's best medical practitioners for years. The students had to pass rigorous exams before receiving their licenses to practice, which included Islamic and Jewish healing traditions. However, even the most rigorous training could not prepare healthcare practitioners for the catastrophic epidemic that hit them from all sides. Despite the advice from medical experts, people refused to stay indoors when they experienced mild symptoms, leading to an exponential rise in the number of infections. Even those serving on the frontline could not escape the deadly pathogen, with many of them succumbing to the plague.
The Great Plague of Seville claimed the lives of approximately 150,000 men, women, and children in Andalusia, accounting for a quarter of its population. A few years later, the region was hit again by another disease outbreak from 1676 to 1685, further devastating an already weakened population. Its economy never recovered from the catastrophic effects of the plague, leaving behind a cautionary tale of the importance of taking swift and decisive action in the face of an epidemic.
Let’s learn from history. Listen to the medical experts. Stay healthy. Stay safe.
-LP
References
Cook, Alexandra Parma, and Noble David Cook. The Plague Files: Crisis Management in Sixteenth-Century Seville (Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Series Award). Louisiana State UP, 2009. Kindle Edition.
Sánchez-Arjona, José. Anales del teatro en Sevilla desde Lope de Rueda hasta fines del siglo XVII (1808).
INTERESTING LINKS ABOUT PLAGUES
Plague Broadsides: Or, How a Dog Saved 17th-Century Rome, Newberry Library. https://youtu.be/0O9dUmrALhM (Visit their YouTube site for more interesting videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Xbrmk9KQz6tUyyBlvCxlg. )
