La gestion des épizooties de peste bovine dans les villes de l’espace belge au xviiie siècle

Abstract

Based mainly on the regulations of the central, provincial and local authorities, as well as on a few memoirs, essays and medical reports, this contribution proposes to address the management of the rinderpest in the cities of the Netherlands and the Principality of Liège in the eighteenth century. The aim is to show how the animal body became both an administrative and a sanitary issue in this crisis context, and to observe the way in which it influenced the organisation and supply of urban space, a territory less often dealt with in studies devoted to this theme. By focusing on the establishment of a sanitary cordon and the strengthening of the food surveillance policy, this study shows the city's capacity to organise itself during an epizootic period to ensure both the preservation of public health and the smooth running of the economy. This study shows the ability of the city to organise itself during an epizootic to ensure both the preservation of public health and the smooth running of the economy. The attention that the disease aroused in society was considerable, as evidenced by the development of veterinary medicine, the writings of several European doctors on the subject, and the creation of a joint venture in certain provinces of the Netherlands.

Keywords

• epizootic
• rinderpest
• urban history
• animal
• anthropozoological relations
• Liege