[The spread of the plague: A sciento-historiographic review]

Area of Science:

• Historical epidemiology
• Medical history
• Paleopathology

Context:

• Scholarly debate persists regarding the diagnosis and nature of historical plague outbreaks.
• Previous assumptions, such as the medieval Black Death being solely bubonic plague, are challenged due to limited evidence.

Purpose:

• To critically re-evaluate historical plague diagnoses by integrating textual analysis and iconography.
• To question existing hypotheses through novel interpretations of primary sources and contemporary data.

Summary:

• This research analyzes Renaissance medical treatises by Italian physicians and visual evidence from illustrated manuscripts (Boccaccio's Decameron, Hebrew Haggadah).
• Findings are cross-referenced with cutting-edge DNA and micropaleontological research to provide new insights into plague's nature.
• Historiographical review and new interpretations challenge established retro-diagnoses of plague events.

Impact:

• Offers a more nuanced understanding of historical plague epidemics and their diagnostic challenges.
• Provides a framework for interdisciplinary approaches in historical epidemiology.
• Contributes to resolving long-standing uncertainties in plague research through evidence-based interpretation.