A multidisciplinary archaeological team have examined plague burials from a 17th century AD monastery-turned hospital in Basel, Switzerland, shedding light on how social status impacted plague mortality in Early Modern Europe.
Throughout history, Europe suffered many outbreaks of plague (Yersinia pestis). The city of Basel was regularly affected, as its reliance on trade made the city council reluctant to close the gates during epidemics, facilitating the spread of disease.
In the present day, the Covid-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the links between socioeconomic conditions and the impact of infection, but how these factors contributed to disease mortality in the past is poorly understood.
Therefore, the dating of the multiple burials at the hospital to Switzerland’s last recorded plague outbreak (c. AD 1665-70) provides a rare opportunity to scientifically investigate the impact of the plague on real people in an Early Modern city.
“The Covid-19 pandemic raised many questions about social inequality”, says lead author of the research, osteoarchaeologist Laura Rindlisbacher from the University of Basel. “We wanted to explore these same questions for our Early Modern sample.”
By examining the human remains from the cemetery in comparison with historical evidence, researchers explored how socioeconomic status affected mortality during plague outbreaks.
Ancient DNA analysis confirmed the presence of Y. pestis in at least five individuals, strongly indicating that this significant mortality event was caused by plague.
“But the focus of this study was on detailed osteological observations of signs of strenuous labour as well as the individuals’ health status,” states Rindlisbacher.
The individuals were typically young at death (average age was 17.7 years) and all died within a short time span. They also displayed many pathological conditions indicative of degenerative diseases, suggesting these were predominantly non-adults who already performed physically demanding work, indicating they were of lower social status.
Therefore, this suggests working youths from lower social classes were those most likely to die from Early Modern plague outbreaks.
“Work strain was of particular interest for us, as this represents one of the most important factors for vulnerability during a pandemic”, Rindlisbacher explains. “If somebody can’t forego work to survive, even the danger of contracting a deadly disease cannot stop these persons from working.”
Importantly, this rift occurred not just economically, between lower and higher classes, but even within the lower classes themselves, dependent on social clout.
“Besides municipal schemes, medical care was provided by family or similar close-knit social networks”, says Rindlisbacher. “While social cohesion was strong in the Early Modern period, it did not automatically include everyone. In these social dynamics, citizenship status as well as perceptions of honour and respectability were an important social capital.”
Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic showed how factors such as socioeconomic status, citizenship and access to social support networks impact the vulnerability of specific social groups today, this research proves that it is by no means a new phenomenon.
“It was striking to observe the extent to which young lives were cut short by the plague, especially the lives of disadvantaged lower-class youths already subject to hard and frequent labour in Early Modern Basel”, Rindlisbacher concludes. “We were also surprised by how clearly some of the social determinants of well-being and survival observed during the Covid-19 pandemic also emerged for the Early Modern period.”