Inadequate burials as an important factor in plague epidemic amongst Serbs in the Habsburg Monarchy by the end of the 18th century: A historical analysis

Abstract

Analysis of the archaic customs of burying the deceased in Srem, primarily amongst Serbs, in the second half of the 18th century is the essential part of the paper that aims at clarifying the consequences of this negative habit onto the spreading of plague epidemic. The Austrian Empire tried to stop and prevent the epidemic with an array of legal norms, but in practice, these orders were often not upheld. Serbian Metropolitans Pavle Nenadović and Stefan Stratimirović insisted on eradicating superstition and retrograde, often uncivilized actions in burial rituals, and they partially succeeded. The example of plague in Irig and the surroundings in 1795-1796 explicitly shows the hazardous effects of the inadequate attitude towards the deceased as one of the factors in spreading the epidemic. Using primary archives, and published sources, with adequate literature, authors depict this complex historical process.

Keywords

• burial
• plague
• epidemic
• archaic customs
• church
• history of medicine