The () was the office of the Republic of Venice definitively instituted in 1490 to manage public health in the city of Venice and its territories, with specific attention on preventing the spread of epidemics within the maritime republic. The magistracy was among the first health authorities in Europe to institute public inoculation projects to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
Initially composed of three nobles, the magistracy was expanded in 1556 when two nobles were nominated in a supervisory role. The office of the Magistrato alla Sanità was retained until the Fall of the Republic of Venice, during which it was briefly replaced by a health committee and eventually superseded by other magistracies entirely.
Organisation
In the Venetian government, the term normally referred to a complex magistracy that was formed by the aggregation of individual committees. These could act together but, each having autonomous functions, also separately, at times with reciprocal control functions.Tiepolo, 'Venezia', p. 884 The was composed of two different committees and consisted in five nobles: the three (superintendents of health) and the two (supervisors of health). Supernumerary , with limited terms, could also be nominated by the Senate to investigate specific health-related matters. In addition, beginning in 1598, a (general superintendent for the plague) was designated during epidemics to control large geographical areas of the republic and coordinate containment efforts.Vanzan Marchini, I mali e i rimedi della Serenissima, p. 66
Provveditori alla Sanità
Origin Venice's commercial dealings with vessels coming from other Mediterranean ports made the city particularly susceptible to foreign diseases; it was consequently one of the early urban centres in Europe to be devastated by the Black Death, the outbreak of the plague in 1347. It was in response to this outbreak that the Great Council first created a temporary committee of public health on 30 March 1348.Tiepolo, 'Venezia', p. 972 Yet given the limited knowledge of the causes of the disease at the time and the resulting inability to enact adequate containment measures, the committee was largely tasked with the removal and burial of the highly contagious corpses.Vanzan Marchini, 'Venezia e l'invenzione del Lazzaretto', pp. 17 and 24
Beginning in 1423, the authority to determine the most efficient means to contain and eradicate frequent infections and to coordinate efforts between various government offices was completely delegated to the Full College, the executive committee of the Senate. However, given the numerous duties of the Full College, ad hoc commissions had to be created during the epidemics of 1459, 1460, and 1468 in order to effectively deal with the health crises.Vanzan Marchini, 'Venezia e l'invenzione del Lazzaretto', pp. 26–27 Despite the need for a permanent committee of public health, there was resistance from other government offices whose own authority would be diminished, primarily on the part of the Salt Office whose tax revenues, derived from the government monopoly of the salt trade, largely financed the lazarets, used for quarantine on islands away from the city.Vanzan Marchini, 'Venezia e l'invenzione del Lazzaretto', p. 19 Additional resistance to empowering a permanent government office stemmed from commercial interests which would be affected by the imposition of quarantine on ships and their cargo.Vanzan Marchini, Venezia, la salute e la fede, p. 77 Nevertheless, a dedicated committee, the three , was established by the Senate on 7 January 1486 (Venetian year 1485) to defend the city from the second major outbreak of the plague. At the conclusion of its twelve-month term, the committee was not renewed, and more delays ensued until 9 January 1490 (Venetian year 1489) when the were definitively established.Besta, Il senato veneziano..., p. 63Vanzan Marchini, Venezia, la salute e la fede, p. 78
Election and term The were initially a (senatorial magistracy), a standing committee elected by the Senate from among its own members.Besta, Il senato veneziano..., pp. 160 and 163 But legislation on 9 November 1537 assigned the election of the to the Great Council. They were henceforth chosen from among the broader ruling patrician class and were aggregated to the Senate as an external committee with authority to propose legislation concerning health matters but without vote.Maranini, La Costituzione di Venezia, II, p. 156 They were consequently classified as , literally beneath , in reference to , the alternative title of the senators.The name Senate, of classical derivation, began to be used in the Renaissance. The early name of the assembly was the (Council of ) since the members were ('prayed', invited) to attend. See Besta, Il senato veneziano..., p. 20 and Da Mosto, L'Archivio di Stato di Venezia..., p. 34.The were subdivided into three classes, termed , on the basis of their importance, the three being assigned to the second . To be eligible for election as it was required that the individual have already served in an office belonging to the first (inferior) . See Maranini, La Costituzione di Venezia, II, p. 171. The were exonerated from the obligation to actually take part in the meetings of the Senate during their tenure, due to the need to manage urgent health-related matters. At the conclusion of their term of office, they sat in the Senate in an advisory capacity for a period equivalent to their term, initially one year but extended to sixteen months in 1745. The reform of 1745 also granted the the right to vote in the Senate.Vanzan Marchini, I mali e i rimedi della Serenissima, p. 65
Sopraprovveditori alla Sanità
Origin The inferior hierarchical position of the , below senatorial dignity, limited their ability both to interact with higher-ranking offices throughout the government and to enforce the norms and directives aimed at safeguarding public health, particularly in the territories subject to Venice on the Italian mainland and overseas. This deficiency was increasingly problematic as the responsibilities of the office were increased, and it became acute during epidemics. Hence in 1556, at the first signs of a new outbreak of pestilence, the Senate had to compensate for the relative lack of authority of the by intervening directly to organize the necessary countermeasures. Later that same year, the Senate created a temporary committee to direct the work of the in the name of the republic. Similar temporary committees were created during later outbreaks of the plague until 1646 when the two were established as a permanent committee. Together with the , they formed the Magistrato alla Sanità. Their principal role was to coordinate with other magistracies. They also had the full authority of the Senate to enforce the public health measures of the Magistrato alla Sanità throughout the territories of the republic.
Election and term When the office was made permanent in 1646, the were designated as a : they were chosen by the Senate from among its own members.Besta, Il senato veneziano..., p. 73 Legislation on 9 December 1674 further defined the as a magistratura serrata (closed magistracy): they could not be elected to an alternative committee until the end of their term, the objective being to ensure that they had sufficient time to gain practical experience in dealing with the complex and critical matters of public health.Besta, Il senato veneziano..., p. 167 The term of office, initially six months, was extended to one year in 1667.
Functions
Upon its institution as a permanent body, the were tasked with safeguarding the public health of the state, with particular attention to preventing the spread of foreign diseases within the republic's territory, a regular threat for a city with an extensive reliance on international trade routes that facilitated contagion. From the offices of the magistracy, inside the public granaries near Saint Mark’s Square, it was possible to control the arrival of all ships and to prevent the disembarking of passengers and the unloading of cargo until health inspections were conducted. Upon sighting the arrival of a ship into port, observers of the magistracy, stationed in the nearby bell tower, immediately notified the magistracy so that health officials could be sent to conduct inspections. All travelers, merchants, sailors, or pilgrims, had to obtain permission to enter the city. Suspected individuals and cargo were redirected to the lazarets for quarantine.Vanzan Marchini, Venezia, la salute e la fede, p. 82
In order to enable control and quarantine of disease outbreaks, officials of the Magistrato alla Sanità were able to impose periods of isolation of at least 14 days, upper length dependent on the situation in the port of question, and to cordon off areas of the city. Independent branches of the Venetian health services immediately discontinued trade and travel to and from Venice, functioning independently with the immediate isolation order of the Venetian Senate until the outbreak abated. Other methods of disease control included an intricate network of information and messaging, allowing for efficient reporting of and response to outbreaks, and the capacity to mobilise local coastal garrisons to carry out inspections, allowing isolation of plague-infested areas using pre-existing infrastructure. Despite these precautions, epidemics continued to occur regularly in Venice. The outbreak of plague of 1576–1577 killed around 50,000 in Venice, almost a third of the population;"Medicine and society in early modern Europe". Mary Lindemann (1999). Cambridge University Press. p. 41. . a similar proportion of the population was killed in 1630 in the Italian plague of 1629-31, when around 46,000 of the city's 140,000 citizens were killed.
Within the city of Venice, the relied upon the network of , the elected administrators of the parishes, to control the spread of disease. Beginning in 1504, the were required to report all illnesses and deaths within the parish on a daily basis.Beltrami, Storia della popolazione di Venezia..., pp. 17–18 For illnesses, they were to record the signs and symptoms, particularly those indicative of plague, and to provide the names of any doctors that had been called.Vanzan Marchini, Venezia, la salute e la fede, p. 80 Burial licenses from the Magistrato alla Sanità were required with fines imposed for any unauthorized interments. Legislation in 1553 similarly required the heads of convents, monasteries, and recovering houses to report deaths.Beltrami, Storia della popolazione di Venezia..., p. 19
In all matters of public health, obtained supreme authority.Milan, Politi, and Vianello, Guida alle magistrature..., p. 150 It exercised authority in supervising a wide range of professions and services: in addition to the colleges of barbers and physicians, it regularly supervised the food industry, lazarets, waste disposal, sewage and water management and mortuary services. Together with the , which regulated the sale of meat, and the , which protected the Venetian Lagoon from pollution, the also oversaw the trades that utilized animal remains, including the tanners and cobblers.Tiepolo, 'Venezia', p. 930
The was also known to interact with prostitutes, vagrants, beggars and guesthouses, further aiding the surveillance of possible transmission of foreign maladies within their jurisdiction.
The Venetian was the second health provider in Italy to introduce variolation, which had only recently been introduced to Europe from eastern schools of medicine, as a means of inoculation against smallpox, preceded only by the Hospital of Santa Maria degli Innocenti in Florence, and the first to offer it freely to the public for purposes of herd immunity.
Authority