Epidemic Disease and Society in the Premodern Low Countries. Inequality and Community

Abstract

In this book, evidence from a long-run history of epidemic-society interaction in the Low Countries shows that most recurring outbreaks were accommodated by communities, and most reactions, responses, and changes seen were the product of frequent and incremental adaptations, sometimes in periods outside of epidemics. Epidemics blur the distinction between the normal and the sub-normal. Accordingly, although histories tend to emphasise epidemics’ capacity to create sharp changes, deviations, or transitions within societies and economies, this book develops an alternative argument that the most relevant questions are not “how and why change”, but given the substantial pressures of raised mortality, why was change often so modest? It brings together around five centuries' worth of existing and new evidence on epidemics and societal resistance, wealth redistribution, and women’s experiences to support this interpretation. Challenging conventional narratives about epidemics as agents of dramatic change, this book will be of interest to researchers examining historiographical debates about crisis and continuity in European history.