Uno stato di continua emergenza epidemica. La Puglia di fine Seicento tra violazioni e controllo

Since the Ancient Age and throughout the Modern Age the plague had always sailed on the Mediterranean, causing severe and widespread epidemics. However, at the end of the 17th century epidemics were decreasing in number and intensity. The plague was still present in the Mediterranean area, but it was mainly concentrated in the Eastern part of the sea, because the disease came mainly from the East, where prevention was adopted with less attention. In the West, and in particular in the Kingdom of Naples, thanks also to the memory of the past, and above all to the memory of the serious 1656 epidemic, rulers had become more intransigent than the years before. In fact, by then they had well learned the importance of prevention, of isolation and quarantine, to protect the coasts from the attacks of the plague. Apulia, which faced the Adriatic and the East, was more in danger than other Southern areas. Active trades between the two Adriatic shores, together with other factors, made Apulia a particularly vulnerable region. Thus, Neapolitan authorities were forced to impose a strict and continuous control over the Apulian coasts because only thanks to such a rigorous control it was possible to defend not only the Adriatic area but also the whole kingdom.