第二次鼠疫大流行与意大利和英国的社会应对

The Second Plague Pandemic and the Social Responses in Italy and England

第二次鼠疫大流行与欧洲的应对是学术界长期讨论的问题。辉格派学者重视自上而下的研究,突出政府和知识精英的作用,认为现代公共卫生起源于欧洲尤其是意大利人的抗疫斗争。但后现代主义史家反对辉格派史家的线性进步观,将研究重点转向了多样性、微观和边缘社会群体。本文将以意大利和英国为主要研究对象,对第二次鼠疫大流行时期欧洲的社会应对做长时段和比较的分析。文章首先考察文艺复兴时期意大利公共卫生的兴起,然后分别论述意大利和英国在17世纪疫情灾难面前的不同表现。笔者认为,应对重大疫情不是单纯的医学问题,也不是单纯的公共卫生问题,而涉及社会的方方面面,尤其与国家治理能力密切相关。由于公共卫生和国家治理能力受多方面因素如国家形态、统治者意愿和主流思想观念的制约和影响,因此本文将在分析欧洲抗疫和公共卫生建设成就的同时,充分认识历史发展的复杂性和曲折性。

The second plague pandemic and Europe’s responses are long-term discussions in the academic community.Whiggish scholars attach importance to topdown research,highlighting the role of the government and intellectual elites,and believing that modern public health originated in Europe,especially the Italian struggle against the epidemic.However,postmodernist historians opposed the linear progression view of Whiggish historians and turned their research focus to diversity,micro and marginal social groups.This article will take Italy and England as the main research subjects to make a long-term and comparative analysis of the European social response during the second plague pandemic.The article will first examine the rise of public health in Italy during the Renaissance,and then discuss the different performances of Italy and England in the face of the 17th century epidemic disaster.The author believes responding to a major epidemic is not purely a medical problem,nor is it purely a public health issue,it involves all aspects of society,especially a country’s governance.Since public health and national governance capabilities are affected and restricted by many factors such as state forms,rulers’willingness,and mainstream ideas,this article will,while analyzing the achievements of European antiepidemic and public health,fully appreciate the complexity and tortuous nature of historical development.