Pre-modern Seminar No 53

On Thursday September 22^nd, Jürgen Beyer will give a talk called:

«Managing epidemics across language borders (17th–19th centuries).»

The seminar will take place in Lossi 3-406 at 18.15.

A short presentation of the lecture:

«Starting in Italy already in the fifteenth century, towns would issue health passes to travellers, stating that the place of departure was free of plague. On presenting such a document, the traveller would be admitted to the next town without having to undergo quarantine (which would have lasted 40 days). For journeys within Italy on foot or by horse, this system worked well using Italian dialects as languages of written communication. Since health passes were also demanded for cargo, cattle and ships, solutions had to be found for crossing language borders, most notably in the case of maritime trade. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries health passes spread to most parts of the world. The talk will discuss the use of common vernacular languages understood throughout larger areas as well as the longevity of Latin, still employed in international shipping in the second half of the nineteenth century. Apart from health passes, some bilingual printed documents from Estonia and Livonia used in the fight against epidemics, will also be presented.»

Everybody is welcome!