Tag: Venezia
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Miracle cure or snake oil?
When the English gentleman John Evelyn left Venice in 1646, after almost a year in Venice and Padua, he had more stuff than when he had arrived. From his diary for late March 1646: Having packed up my purchases of books, pictures, casts, treacle, &c., (the making and extraordinary ceremony whereof I had been curious
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Episode 23 — Venice treacle — the cure-all remedy
Venice produced and exported Theriac, an ancient wonder medicine for just about every ailment imaginable. It was a flourishing business for centuries, and an important part of the Venetian economy.
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Thomas Philologus Ravennas
The statue on the façade of the San Zulian church is not of a saint. It is of a physician who got rich selling remedies for syphilis.
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Episode 21 — The Plague Doctor
The well-known image of the plague doctor with the beaked mask doesn’t really have a lot of support in our sources. Did he even exist?
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Episode 20 — Venice and the plague – part 4
The plague slowly diminished during the 1700s, even if it didn’t disappear, and Venice reorganised the Lazzaretti.
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Episode 19 — Venice and the plague – part 3
During the 1400s, Venice had created defences against the recurring outbreaks of the plague, and they kept Venice mostly safe for the following centuries. Mostly safe.
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The Battle of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto was a great victory for Venice and its allies, but even if Venice won a battle, it still lost the war.
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Episode 18 — Venice and the plague – part 2
Without a cure for the plague, the only way forward was prevention, and during the 1400s, Venice figured out how to govern the plague.
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Campo Santa Giustina
In Venice, even the most dull and featureless square is full of stories, if one knows where to look