When the plague of 1630 devastated Milan, the theory spread that Spain’s enemies wanted to bring some dust from there to sow the plague into the country.
This hoax was echoed in the incident reports, printed news brochures represents the incipient form of journalism.
This publication is dedicated to exhibition National Library of Spain (BNE) can be visited until 12 June Madrid. Among them, many are scientific and specifically related to epidemics.
This conspiracy theory The dusts of Milan combine some components of the ‘fake news’ of covid-19: fear, lack of any scientific basis and a certain political will.
How was the first press?
Since at least the time of the Romans, strong handwritten news was exchanged by mail.. But something changes in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. “The postal network is reaching a high level of development and printing is getting cheaper,” explains BNE’s Adelaida Caro, co-curator of the exhibition.
Private letters begin to seep into print shops, which print them cheap on bad paper and sell them cheap in bookstores. very soon event relations they turn into success. Almost always anonymous authors write them openly, sometimes even in verse so that they can be read to those who can’t.
“These are usually diplomats, soldiers, or churchmen who understand that it serves their interests,” explains Henry Ettinghausen, professor emeritus at the University of Southampton and an authority on the subject.
Monarchies need to create states of mind: therefore censor About printers and their relations commissions of royal celebrations to outstanding writers like Lope de Vega.
How were epidemics treated at the dawn of the press?
In the BNE you can see lists of the plague of Logroño in 1599, the plague of Seville in 1649, and other plagues that occurred in North Africa. “Providentialism dominates: they are almost always seen as a sign of divine wrath caused by sin and an encouragement to repentance,” he explains. Snow Pickco-curator of the exhibition from the University of La Coruña.
beside moralismanother component propaganda. Hence the series of successful reports on the misfortunes of Constantinople (epidemics and other disasters as well) presented as a sign that God did not love the Ottoman Empire at all.
The third component, according to carmen mirrorJournalism historian from the University of Seville, sensationalism. It was crucial in a product aimed at capturing the “curious reader”.
With these premises, “the generation of fake news, same patterns and more interest than today: plotting, creating opinion states, etc. ”says Pena.
Were they all hoaxes?
“There has been an emphasis on ‘fake news’, but this is not the most common: proto-journalistic intent”, says Ettinghausen.
“In the report on the plague of Logroño in 1599, the famous 5W of journalism [¿Quién? ¿Qué? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde? ¿Por qué?, en sus iniciales inglesas]”, says Caro. Concerning the plague of Seville in 1649, it focuses on the counting of the dead and the narrative of pious acts, avoiding morbid overtones.
“Overall, the factual relationship prevailed. Even in the eighteenth century data journalism”, says Mirror.
Beyond the epidemics, various accounts of unique medical cases have proven true. about some relationships “monstrous deliveries” actually refers to your birth Siamese and one hermadrodito (Everything makes sense except placing the penis in the middle of the baby’s face).
Another case is “giant girl”. It turns out that her name is Eugenia Martínez Vallejo, she is from Burgos, and painter Juan Carreño de Mendoza painted her in a painting seen at the exhibition that bears an impressive resemblance to the relationship engraving.
What other scientific topics has it been written about?
Natural events were a goldmine at the dawn of the press. One of the informative bombardments “the amazing fire volcano” In 1638 in the Azores, in 1682 from a star (probably Halley’s comet) and lisbon earthquake from 1775.
In time, a scientific proto-journalism emerged. There are reports of the Lisbon earthquake. questionnaire It was commissioned by the Iberian monarchs. Or an analysis of a solar eclipse signed in 1764. mathematicians Diego de Torres and Villarroelfrom the University of Salamanca.
How does science today use the old press?
Sometimes event relationships are the best resource for reconstructing past natural events. For example, the historian Mariano Sweeping He used them in collaboration with climate researchers to fix a 500-year-old record of flooding in Europe. “There are many things about singular events: a hurricane in the Bay of Cádis, ‘l’any del diluvi’ in Catalonia, the tsunami in Lisbon… They are almost the same texts as the present ones because of their structure and wording. To check the dates, because copied texts can be transported for nearly 300 years without any problems,” says Barriendos.
geologist Carlos Caracciolo Used to estimate the intensity of ancient earthquakes. They also represent a crucial source for the historian’s ‘Cursed Century: Climate, War and Disasters in the 17th Century’. Geoffrey Parker.
Source: Informacion
