The Story of the plague in the Maritime Republic of Genoa (Italy) (1656-1657): An innovative public health system and an efficacious method of territorial health organization

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the terms quarantine, contagion and infection have again become part of our everyday speech, prompting historians to reflect on the settings in which they were originally used and to make comparisons with the present time. How did people cope with epidemics in the past? What measures were taken? Here, we analyse the institutional response of the Republic of Genoa to a calamity that shook the city - the plague of 1656-1657. In doing so, we focus particularly on the public health measures implemented, as recorded also in unpublished and archival documents. In order to tighten control over the population, Genoa was divided into 20 zones, each of which was placed under the authority of a Commissioner endowed with criminal jurisdiction. The Commissioners' duties concerned the spheres of public health, public order and those tasks which today we would assign to "civil protection". Through the official documentation and the trial records kept by the Chancellor of one of these zones, we can shed light on the Commissioners' everyday activities and assess the impact of the public health measures on the population. The 17 century plague in Genoa provides us with an important testimony of a well-organised and structured public health policy - an institutional response involving the adoption of efficacious measures of safety and prevention in the field of hygiene and public health. From the historical-social, normative and public health perspectives, this meaningful experience highlights the organisation of a large port city, which was at the time a flourishing commercial and financial hub.