Start Date
4-30-2026 10:35 AM
End Date
4-30-2026 11:45 AM
Disciplines
History
Abstract
This paper examines the causes and consequences of the Great Plague of Marseille (1720-1722), which was one of Western Europe's last major outbreaks of the bubonic plague. Although European port cities had developed quarantine systems to prevent epidemics, Marseille’s outbreak revealed how these protections failed in practice. This paper argues that the plague became so devastating not because of a lack of institutional systems, but due to fragmented local authority, delayed government intervention, and the prioritization of economic interests over public health. Focusing on the arrival of the merchant ship Grand-Saint-Antoine, this paper analyzes how merchant elites influenced quarantine decisions, and allowed for infected goods to enter the city and initiate widespread transmission. It further explores how denial among local officials and conflicting medical interpretations delayed recognition of the disease. Ultimately accelerating its spread among Marseille’s dense population. Through evaluating medical accounts, government responses, and contemporary observations, this paper demonstrates how ineffective early response transformed a containable outbreak into a regional disaster. The crisis eventually forced the French monarchy to centralize public health authority and standardize quarantine practices across the kingdom. The Great Plague of Marseille serves as a critical case study in how economic priorities and political fragmentation can undermine disease prevention systems, highlighting the necessity of unified leadership in managing public health.
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Copyright 2026 Lucy Herzig
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Included in
The Great Plague of Marseille
This paper examines the causes and consequences of the Great Plague of Marseille (1720-1722), which was one of Western Europe's last major outbreaks of the bubonic plague. Although European port cities had developed quarantine systems to prevent epidemics, Marseille’s outbreak revealed how these protections failed in practice. This paper argues that the plague became so devastating not because of a lack of institutional systems, but due to fragmented local authority, delayed government intervention, and the prioritization of economic interests over public health. Focusing on the arrival of the merchant ship Grand-Saint-Antoine, this paper analyzes how merchant elites influenced quarantine decisions, and allowed for infected goods to enter the city and initiate widespread transmission. It further explores how denial among local officials and conflicting medical interpretations delayed recognition of the disease. Ultimately accelerating its spread among Marseille’s dense population. Through evaluating medical accounts, government responses, and contemporary observations, this paper demonstrates how ineffective early response transformed a containable outbreak into a regional disaster. The crisis eventually forced the French monarchy to centralize public health authority and standardize quarantine practices across the kingdom. The Great Plague of Marseille serves as a critical case study in how economic priorities and political fragmentation can undermine disease prevention systems, highlighting the necessity of unified leadership in managing public health.