BOUNDARY FORMATION AND DIFFUSION

OF PLAGUE : SWISS EPIDEMICS FROM 1562 TO 1669

by Edward A. ECKERT

While plague épidémies were a récurrent brake on population growth in western Europe from the Black Death of 1348 until the early 18th century, the tempo of plague outbreaks suggests a résurgence during the period from 1562 to 1669 x. This era is also of particular interest in that it encompasses a shift in population growth from the relatively rapid rate of the 16th century to a decreased rate in the 17th century. Such a décélération cannot be ascribed directly to the effect of plague deaths since there are many examples demonstrating the recuperative powers of communities and régions following devastating épidémies. Nevertheless, repeated losses of 5 to 25 percent of the populace in many communities could generate or aggravate social and économie strains contributing to the évolution of a prolongea démographie stagnation.

An évaluation of the démographie impact of plague on western Europe would require knowledge of the geographical extent and temporal and spatial pattern of plague outbreaks. Studies of the geographical distribution of plague in Europe hâve stressed its occurrence in widely separated larger cities with lesser emphasis on régional interprétations. However, analysis of the diffusion of plague between areas has been applied to several individual épidémies. Thus, the épidémie of 1348/52 demonstrated a graduai movement of plague from the Mediterranean to the northern coastal régions2. The épidémie of 1596/99 in Spain originated in the région of Santander on the northern coast and followed