For centuries, recurrent plague outbreaks took a grim toll on
populations across Europe and Asia. While medical interventions and
treatments did not change significantly from the fourteenth century to
the eighteenth century, understandings of where and how plague
originated did.Through an innovative reading of medical advice
literature produced in England and France, Patterns of Plague explores
these changing perceptions across four centuries. When plague appeared
in the Mediterranean region in 1348, physicians believed the epidemic's
timing and spread could be explained logically and the disease could be
successfully treated. This confidence resulted in the widespread and
long-term circulation of plague tracts, which described the causes and
signs of the disease, offered advice for preventing infection, and
recommended therapies in a largely consistent style. What, where, and
especially who was blamed for plague outbreaks changed considerably,
however, as political, religious, economic, intellectual, medical, and
even publication circumstances evolved.Patterns of Plague sheds light on
what was consistent about plague thinking and what was idiosyncratic to
particular places and times, revealing the many factors that influence
how people understand and respond to epidemic disease.