I dug out some old uni work today and found a primary source analysis I wrote in Second year. I chose to write on a piece of 17th century legislation, introducing Health Passes Ferrara in order to combat the Plague. 1/6

Reading over my work allowed me to see some fascinating and worrying parallels - my writing on the 1679 response by the Health Magistracies in Ferrara seemed so relevant to today it is actually spooky. 2/6

I wrote "Health Passes were introduced in 1630 in Bologna in response to the rapid spreading of the disease, immediately being implemented within two days... Ferrara only decided on these measures in 1679...the plague hit different states and cities at different times. 3/6

Being of high status was not enough to allow the escapement of such an encompassing disease... The chancery make no distinction between social status – there was no charge for the passes and they were intended to help all individuals. 4/6

It is an insightful account into how the governing body used a quarantine basis to prevent contamination... typical in what it reveals about causation and prevention... The source fails to show how widely the Health Passes were implemented, and to what effect. 5/6

This is why I love primary sources. We can learn so much from the past - good & bad. This source was written in 1679 and yet today it resonates so much. Little did I know when I was a 2nd yr student that 5 years later I would find even more meaning behind this document. 6/6