Governing the Emergency: The 1690-92 Plague Epidemic in the Kingdom of Naples

In 1690 a plague epidemic broke out in the Kingdom of Naples, and ended in March 1692. It is better known as "the Conversano plague", as Conversano, a little town in the Apulian province of Terra di Bari, was the first plague-stricken place. Differently from the near 1656 pandemic, which had had a widespread diffusion all over the Kingdom and had provoked very high mortality rates, this epidemic hit only ten towns, remaining inside this Adriatic province. In 1690, in short, the disease was well controlled thanks to a strict and strongly desired preventive policy. This policy was based on a key figure, a governmental official who ruled at the local level, strongly supported by the Neapolitan authorities. So, in this paper, I deal with the 1690 plague epidemic, with its diffusion and mortality, and with the policy adopted by the central and the local governments to face the emergency. The story of this epidemic demonstrates that it was possible, under certain conditions, to adopt an effective health policy, isolating towns and villages; besides, it proves that in the 17th century a good policy of prevention was the main, if not the only, measure to be adopted to struggle against such a terrible disease.