International Journal of Anthropology · 2002 · 12 citations · 2 references
This study analyses the diffusion and intensity of the plague in the territory of the Duchy of Parma in the 17th century. Thanks to a large availability of data, the analysis has been carried out both at the macro and micro level. The first was used to investigate the outbreak of the epidemic, its spread in the territory and the final recovery of the population in terms either of mortality or birth rate. The second level was based on the particulatly rich ecclesiastical documentation of two small parishes, mandregolo, located in the plain, and Cella di Palmia, a hilly village. The linking of information between vital and census registers allowed us to enter more in details in the description of the diffusion and effects of the plague. Death and birth rates have been in fact computed along with detailed analyses on the spreading of the infection at a household-level, issue rarely investigated by scholars of historical populations.
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