A SOCIETY OF SOCIAL DIFFERENCES: ISOLATING THE RICH AND THE POOR IN THE 17th-CENTURY KINGDOM OF NAPLES DURING A PLAGUE EPIDEMIC

In this essay I will deal with plague and preventive measures in two epidemics which broke out in the Kingdom of Naples in 1656 and in 1690. The prevention was the most effective solution against the disease, but it was not always adopted. Differences between isolating the rich and isolating the poor existed, and they contributed to the plague spreading, as it happened especially in the 1656 disease. However, by the end of the 17 century a greater awareness of the importance of prevention had been reached, as well evidenced by the experience of the better managed 1690 epidemic.