Development of Health Care in Dubrovnik from 14th to 16th Century – Specific Features of Ragusan Medicine

Tamara Alebić, Helena Marković

Abstract


The eastern Adriatic coast saw the development of the city of Dubrovnik, which became a large trading naval power, especially since the fourteenth century and onward. Although the city thrived economically, its seaborne trade with the East and hinterland brought about a great risk of various disease epidemics. To ensure its trading prosperity, identity and its very existence, Dubrovnik implemented different preventive medical measures – the most famous of which is the introduction of quarantine. A large range of people, from Ragusan nobility, special healthcare officials and trained physicians, took care of the population's health, the lack of which would mean the loss of Dubrovnik's trading status and power. With its many hygiene and medicine regulations, it was ranked among the most developed European cities, while retaining the distinctive features of its medicine.


Keywords*


history of medicine, Dubrovnik, plague, leprosy, quarantine, medics

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