The Great Plague Scare of 1720: Disaster and Society in the Early Modern World

FAIN: HB-281904-22

Cindy Ermus
University of Texas, San Antonio (San Antonio, TX 78249-1644)

Writing and researching the history of a plague epidemic in southern France (1720-1722), tracing its impact on global trade and the development of early modern public health policy.

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 disaster and disease and how to best manage their threat. While emergency measures in France and surrounding states successfully prevented the infection from spreading beyond Provence, the social, commercial, and diplomatic effects of the epidemic extended across Europe and to the colonies in the Americas and Asia. My book is thus a transnational study that explores the responses to this biological threat in some of the foremost port cities of the 18th-century world. In this way, my study reveals how a crisis in one part of the globe can yet transcend geographic and temporal boundaries to influence society, politics, and public health policy in regions far removed from the epicenter of disaster.

Associated Products

The Great Plague Scare of 1720: Disaster and Diplomacy in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World (Book)
Title: The Great Plague Scare of 1720: Disaster and Diplomacy in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World
Author: Cindy Ermus
Editor: Lucy Rhymer
Abstract: 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.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/history-medicine/great-plague-scare-1720-disaster-and-diplomacy-eighteenth-century-atlantic-world?format=HB
Publisher: Cambridge
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781108489546
Copy sent to NEH?: No

The Great Plague Scare of 1720: Disaster and Diplomacy in the Eighteenth-Century AtlanticWorld (Blog Post)
Title: The Great Plague Scare of 1720: Disaster and Diplomacy in the Eighteenth-Century AtlanticWorld
Author: Cindy Ermus
Abstract: 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.
Date: 12/02/2022
Primary URL: https://www.cambridgeblog.org/2022/12/the-great-plague-scare-of-1720-disaster-and-society-in-the-eighteenth-century-world/
Website: Fifteeneightyfour: Cambridge University Press Blog

Violent Encounters: Franco-Spanish Aggression in the Early Eighteenth-Century Caribbean (Article)
Title: Violent Encounters: Franco-Spanish Aggression in the Early Eighteenth-Century Caribbean
Author: Cindy Ermus
Abstract: This piece looks at anti-French violence by Spaniards in the Caribbean during the 1720 Plague of Provence.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://ageofrevolutions.com/2023/02/06/violent-encounters-franco-spanish-aggression-in-the-early-eighteenth-century-caribbean/
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Age of Revolutions
Publisher: Online, open-access

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