Panel 21: Crossing Borders, Containing Disease: Networks of Health Knowledge in Early Modern Europe (EN)

Chair:

Joana Balsa de Pinho, ARTIS-University of Lisbon

Edite Martins Alberto, CHAM-NOVA FCSH

During the Early Modern period, the circulation of medical knowledge and the transfer of sanitary practices across European kingdoms played a crucial role in shaping public health policies. This panel explores the dynamics of knowledge exchange, mobility of experts, and the transcultural practices within broader European networks.

In recent decades, studies on Early Modern public health have shown how epidemic responses were shaped by political authority, local governance, and the circulation of medical knowledge, influenced by both local conditions and transnational flows of expertise (Slack, 1985; Cipolla, 1992; Owens, 2021; Walker, 2019). However, while many individual cases and local strategies have been examined, there is still a lack of systematic mapping of these transnational networks and their real impact on institutionalized health policies. This panel aims to address this gap by linking case studies through a comparative, network-based approach.

In 1526, Portuguese King João III established the first health regiment based on a report by Judge Pedro Vaz, which drew on sanitary measures implemented in Italian cities severely affected by epidemics. This initiative reflects a deliberate political effort to import and adapt medical knowledge across borders to combat health crises. Subsequently, in 1569, faced with the devastating plague in Portugal, King Sebastião summoned two Spanish doctors from Seville, Tomás Alvarez and Garcia de Salzedo, specialists in epidemic control, to advise on mitigating the effects of the “Great Plague of Lisbon.”

These cases exemplify the transnational circulation of medical expertise and the formation of formalized health policies through intercultural contact and professional mobility. While drawing on examples from the Portuguese Early Modern World, the panel explicitly invites papers addressing other European and global contexts to foster comparative discussions across cultural and political boundaries. We aim to bring together researchers from diverse backgrounds and geographies to map these networks of influence and examine how knowledge and practices traveled, were adapted, and transformed across regions and cultures during a period of significant mobility and exchange.

Keywords: Medical Knowledge; Mobility; Public Health; Transcultural Practices; Early Modern Europe