Leseprobe

45 Eva-Bettina Krems Barely a year after being elected pope on 7 April 1655, Alexander VII was confronted with a dire situation for the city and the Papal States: the plague broke out in Rome in the spring of 1656. The epidemic had spread from North Africa to Spain and southern France in the middle of the 17 th century and by 1652 had already reached Sardinia, which belonged to the Kingdom of Spain at the time. In spite of the trade barriers imposed against the island, the plagued raged in Naples four years later, in 1656, where it took the lives of more than 100,000 people – around one third of the total population of the city. Rome was dependent on grain deliveries from Naples and, for that reason, the borders started to be controlled in spring 1656 and all ships arriving were carefully scrutinized for infected crew members and passengers. In spite of these precautionary measures, several people fell ill in Trastevere in May. Today, this Roman district on the western side of the Tiber is especially popular with tourists, but in those times it was a rundown, poor area with catastrophic hygienic conditions where the plague was able to spread like wildfire. Within a few days, new cases appeared in the neighbouring Jewish ghetto, as well as in other districts of the city. 1 In the mid-17 th century, Rome was a densely populated city, tightly enclosed by its medi- aeval walls. Most of the streets were in a state of disordered chaos, crowded with booths, countless vendors, and slowly moving coaches. Very few of the city’s inhabitants followed the rules imposed by the city administration to depose of their rubbish at the places intended for it on the banks of the Tiber; most of the refuse was simply thrown onto the street. The con- temporary Lorenzo Pizzati wrote: “What is the use of living in the glory of Rome if you have to move about more like an animal than a human being?” In a direct appeal to the sovereign himself, the pope, he continued: “Holy Father, lift the poor out of the excrement.” 2 As was the case in other cities, the destitute bore the brunt of the cramped conditions and deficient hygiene. They lived in the damp, lower-lying areas of the city that were regularly f looded by the Tiber and most of their houses had fallen into a state of ruin. Many were homeless, begged on the street, enveloped in the stench of rotting rubbish and animal and human excrement. Pizzati used his critical voice to petition the pope once again, declaring: “Good Shepherd, with all due respect, we are no longer living in Rome, but in a pigsty.” 3 Despite the problematic hygienic conditions – especially in the poor quarters – only around 14,000 people out of a total population of 120,000 (as recorded in the 1656 Easter census) had fallen victim to the plague before it was declared overcome in August 1657. This mortality rate is much lower than in Naples, for instance, or London nine years later, when 80,000 Londoners Fig. 30 Nicolas Poussin, The Plague at Ashdod (detail) , 1630, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris Heavenly and Earthly Forces in the Battle against the Pandemic Pope Alexander VII and the Plague in Rome 1656 –1657