Quarantines are in the news again, as nations around the globe isolate people suspected of carrying a contagious, sometimes lethal, illness.
Believe it or not, quarantine is a practice that’s been around for over 500 years. The term came from the Italian word, quaranta, which means 40.
Why am I, a historical novelist, writing about quarantine?
The same research that prepared me to write Lucia’s Renaissance, my novel set mostly in Venice, also informed me about this important part of Venice’s history:
- Not just once (in 1348), but multiple times, the black (Bubonic) plague ravaged Venice—killing up to 1/3 of the population.
- Venice was a trade center with ships arriving from many places, so it’s not surprising it was the first city that forced people to stay quarantined for 40 days to stop diseases from spreading.
- Venice was built on islands, and after its leader, Doge Giovanni Mocenigo, died of the plague in 1485, the city funded a hospital on a nearby island, eventually calling it the lazzaretto vecchio, (old quarantine site) which cared for people ill with the plague.
- Another island, called the lazzaretto nuovo (new quarantine site), housed newcomers and traders who might bring diseases into the city. Reports indicated the food was good.
- The lucky people who survived the lazzaretto vecchio and recovered convalesced at the lazzaretto nuovo.
- At the end of each of five onslaughts of the plague, Venice built a church to thank God for deliverance (San Sebastiano, San Giobbe, San Rocco, Il Redentore, Santa Maria della Salute).
Were quarantines effective?
- Although thousands died in Venice, quarantines certainly spared many lives
- People who were sent to the quarantine island for the sick, lazzaretto vecchio, rarely survived. Recent archaeological excavations have revealed mass graves containing thousands of skeletons dating back to the plague epidemics.
Is there a lesson for today?
- Quarantines are a good idea anytime there is a deadly and infectious disease with no known cure or vaccination
(This conclusion from a helpful physician friend—many thanks!)
Quarantine and the plague in fiction:
Plagues and quarantine in Lucia’s Renaissance, my novel:
- Plague strikes Verona, killing many and causing panic
- A scene takes place on one of Venice’s quarantine islands
- After the 1576 plague in Venice kills over 25% of the population, families are upended by their losses
- When the 1576 plague ends, Venice builds the magnificent Church of the Redeemer (Redentore),
Many other novels feature plagues and quarantine in their plots. I’m mentioning a few titles by well-known authors. I haven’t read them all, but suggest caution: given the topic, in some of these, details may be graphic:
- The Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio—a rollicking story set during the plague, written in the Renaissance era
- A Journal of the Plague Year, by Daniel Defoe—a fictional journal of a doctor working with the sick in London during the plague
- The Betrothed, by Alessandro Manzoni—his best-known work, a three-volume historical novel that depicts a plague that struck Milan two centuries earlier
- The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London—takes place far into the future, charting sixty years of the “Red Death” that depopulates the planet before the novel begins in 2073
- The Plague, by Albert Camus—story of a cholera outbreak in Oran, Algeria
- A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, by Barbara Tuchman—incorporates both the great rhythms of history and the nitty-gritty of domestic life (including the plague)
- World Without End, by Ken Follett– a sweeping tale that deals with the fallout from both the 100 Years war and the plague
- Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks—set in an English town during the plague of 1666, deals with death, superstition, and paranoia
Can you recommend a favorite novel about quarantine or plague?