Life in a Time of Pestilence: The Great Castilian Plague of 1596–1601

by Ruth MacKay

From the Middle Ages onwards, deadly epidemics swept through portions of Spain repeatedly, but the Castilian Plague at the end of the sixteenth century was especially terrible. In late 1596, a ship carrying the plague docked in Santander, and over the next five years the disease killed some 500,000 people in Castile, around 10 percent of the population. Plague is traditionally understood to have triggered chaos and madness. By contrast, Ruth Mackay focuses on the sites of everyday life, exploring how beliefs, practices, laws, and relationships endured even under the onslaught of disease. She takes an original and holistic approach to understanding the impact of plague, and explores how the epidemic was understood and managed by everyday people. Offering a fresh perspective on the social, political, and economic history of Spain, this original and engaging book demonstrates how, even in the midst of chaos, life carried on.

Genres: History

288 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2019

Reviews

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a specialized and scholarly book. I thought it was very good and gave a picture of the last big plague in Spain— how people were affected, governments, cities and towns.
Living in Laredo Cantabria near where it started in Santander, I got a better picture of what happened here and how Laredo declined from that time even economically.
“…plagues do not appear in contemporary city histories, which were annals of accomplishments, gifts, and beauty;…”
There has been silence about a time that actually had a lot of influence on these places that suffered from the plague. Ruth MacKay also includes some specific stories as well as mentions the names of plague victims.