Inventing Public Health in the Early Modern Age: Venice and the Northern Adriatic

The volume investigates how in the course of the early modern age the Northern Adriatic port cities with their institutions favored the emergence of the first forms of public health and systematic collection of information on the subject. Venice with its Adriatic information network also established itself as a useful model for the other Mediterranean and European port cities for health issues and, above all, as hubs for reliable, verified and certified information on the health status of the Adriatic and the Eastern Mediterranean. During the eighteenth century Venice, as an information and health management hub, was challenged by other emerging centers, such as Livorno and Trieste, triggering an alternation of competitive, collaborative and improvement mechanisms. By reconstructing these information flows, the volume finally illustrates the evolution towards the modern concept of public health (and right to health) of health control policies, showing how the Northern Adriatic ports have been real precursors in this field. Furthermore, starting from the historical case studies, the project intends to highlight the continuing importance of international cooperation, the dialogue between science and politics and the communication and information dimension in the management of health crises.