No description available.

The classical theory that plague was caused by breathing in corrupt air was challenged by, the Black Death, which was seen to be contagious. Civic authorities responded more quickly than the medical profession,, and were. increasingly involved in attempts to prevent. the spread of plague. Particularly influential-was Milan, where a permanent Health Office, responsible for plague control, was established before the mid-fifteenth century, Venice maintained a Health Office from 1490. At first its concerns were civic, but later it took responsibility for the whole Venetian mainland and for the work of provincial Offices.. Plague control came to be conceived in broad territorial terms, and by 1600 the Health Offices of the. Northern Italian states were in close cooperation... To control disease the Health Offices banned infected areas, preventing the movement of persons and merchandise by cordons sanitaires and health. passes. From the fifteenth century lazarettos were established, at first as hospitals for the plague sick, and later as, centres for quarantine and disinfection.. Although hampered by administrative problems, the plague measures corresponded remarkably to the needs of the situation.. The knowledge-of plague gained inductively by the Health. Offices stood in uneasy relation to theological and classical theories about epidemics.. In the mid-sixteenth century Fracastoro and other physicians sought a synthesis. Writers on the epidemic. in Venice and Padua in 1555-6 believed that. plague might arise initially by corruption of the air and then spread elsewhere. by, contagion alone.. In the plague, , of 1576, however, it was doubted whether plague in which contagion. alone was operative could be called 'true plague'. The resulting disputes revealed the continued vigour of classical theory in the late sixteenth century. The, survival of theological views of plague was promoted at the same time by the gathering pace of the Counter Reformation.

Par la richesse de sa documentation, le diocèse de Nebbio nous offre un point d’observation de première importance sur la Corse du Moyen Âge. La place de l’institution épiscopale s’y perçoit particulièrement bien. Les évêques jouaient d’abord un rôle politique et administratif dans la mesure où ils gouvernaient la cité de Nebbio et collectaient des taxes sur le commerce maritime. En cela, ils avaient certainement capté à leur profit une part des pouvoirs de ban des comtes ou des marquis de Corse. Par ailleurs, entre la fin du XIe siècle et le courant du XIIe siècle, ils participaient à la réforme de l’Église sous l’égide du Saint-Siège, laquelle se traduisait par l’édification d’églises piévanes et de la cathédrale Santa Maria de Nebbio et par un effort de formation et de contrôle du clergé local. L’empreinte des évêques des XIIe-XIIIe siècles était d’autant plus forte sur leur diocèse que la plupart était d’origine corse.Cependant, un autre pouvoir s’affirmait au XIIIe siècle : les communautés. Elles s’organisaient selon trois degrés de juridiction. Leur mission consistait à rendre la justice et, par voie de conséquence, à résoudre les conflits. Autrement dit, les institutions communales jouaient un rôle social majeur car elles permettaient la coexistence pacifique de deux groupes sociaux qui s’étaient nettement différenciés au fil du temps : le popolo et les familles seigneuriales. Elles protégeaient, en outre, les biens de l’Église contre les usurpations des grands laïcs.Malgré tout, dans le cours du XIVe siècle, les équilibres sociaux étaient rompus. Il est vrai qu’un seigneur tel que Giovanninello de Loreta montraient des prétentions exorbitantes qui heurtaient les populaires. En sorte qu’en 1357-1358, tous les châteaux du Nebbio étaient détruits, cependant que les Avogari-Gentile se maintenaient dans leurs seigneuries de Nonza et de Canari, au prix de la concession de statuts d’inspiration communale. Les révoltes populaires amenaient aussi l’émergence d’un nouveau groupe social : les caporali. Ces notables se faisaient alors les hérauts du popolo mais, au fil du temps, ils s’en détachaient. Ils adoptaient au XVe siècle un style de vie aristocratique et violent tandis qu’ils prétendaient à un statut social privilégié.Au milieu du XVe siècle, les populaires du diocèse, excédés par les désordres et l’arbitraire générés par les aristocraties seigneuriales ou « caporalices », trouvaient à Saint-Florent un refuge. La cité devenait leur point de ralliement. Ils la développaient grâce aux privilèges que le pouvoir génois, bien implanté dans l’île à partir de la seconde moitié du XVe siècle, leur avait concédés. Cependant, la situation sociale du diocèse de Nebbio se tendait et se dégradait entre la fin du XVe siècle et les années 1540. La population connaissait alors une croissance importante, de sorte que le contrôle des ressources économiques entrainait une vive concurrence mais aussi de grands déséquilibres sociaux. De là, résultaient de nombreuses violences, dont beaucoup étaient le fait des caporali. / By the wealth of its documentation, the diocese of Nebbio offers us a point of observation of first importance on Corsica of the Middle Ages. The place of the episcopal institution perceives itself there particularly well. The bishops played at first a political and administrative role as far as they governed the city of Nebbio and collected taxes on the maritime trade. In that respect, they had certainly got in their profit a part of the powers of the counts or the marquesses of Corsica. Besides, between the end of the XIth century and the current of the XIIth century, they participated in the reform of the Church under the aegis of the Holy See, who was translated by the construction of “piévanes” churches and the cathedral Santa Maria of Nebbio and by an effort of formation and control of the clergy. The imprint of the bishops of the XIIth and XIIIth centuries was all the stronger on their diocese as most were of Corsican origin.However, another power asserted itself in the XIIIth century: communities. They got organized according to three degrees of jurisdiction. Their mission consisted in returning the justice and, consequently, in solving the conflicts. In other words, the municipal institutions played a major social role because they allowed the peaceful coexistence of two social groups which had clearly differed over time: the popolo and the seigneurial families. They protected, besides, the properties of the Church against the usurpations of the big laymen.Nevertheless, in the course of the XIVth century, the social balances were broken. It is true that a Lord such as Giovanninello de Loreta showed exaggerated claims which struck the popular. So that in 1357-1358, all the castles of Nebbio were destroyed, however when Avogari-Gentile remained in their seigneuries of Nonza and Canary, at the price of the concession of statutes of municipal inspiration. The popular revolts also brought the emergence of a new social group: caporali. These notables were then made the heralds of the popolo but, over time, they got loose from it. They adopted in the XVth century an aristocratic lifestyle whereas they aspired to a privileged social status.In the middle of the XVth century, the popular of the diocese, irritated by the disorders and the arbitrary power generated by seigneurial aristocracies or by caporali, found to Saint-Florent a refuge. The city became their assembly point. They developed it thanks to the privileges which the Genoese power, implanted well on the island from the second half of the XVth century, had granted them. However, the social situation of the diocese of Nebbio tightened and degraded between the end of the XVth century and 1540’s. The population knew then an important growth, so that the control of the economic resources caused a keen competition but also of big social imbalance. From there, resulted numerous violence. Many were the fact of caporali.