Health Prevention in Tenerife (1506-1606)

HEALTH PREVENTION IN TENERIFE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY (1506-1606) Between 1506 and 16061 the minutes of the Cabildo de Tenerife record a minimum of 350 sessions dedicated totally or partially to the Plague. Even though our island was hardly affected by the great epidemics of the Modern Age, the fluid commercial relations that were maintained with Western Europe and North Africa forced the island authorities to develop a set of measures, consistent with the medical thinking of the time, that would control the sanitary exchanges maintained during times of Plague. The only action that proved to be effective.2 These actions had been carried out in the Western Mediterranean in the last centuries of the Middle Ages to deal with the repeated attacks of the disease that followed the Black Death. It was the small urban republics of northern Italy, more exposed by their position and mercantile activity, that were the first to correctly establish the relationship between the arrival of ships from infected areas and the beginning of the epidemic within the walls of the city itself. In 1374 Barnabas Visconti ordered the isolation of those suffering from the plague outside Milan, and those who had treated or were suspected of suffering from the disease were held incommunicado for 14 days. Around the same time, Venice forbade access to its interior to people and goods infected or suspected of being infected, building in 1403 the first known Lazaretto on an islet located two miles from the city. In 1377 Ragusa drew up his "Provedimento de salud" (Health Supply) which included the first provisions on quarantines. At the same time, most of these cities require the presentation of the Health Patent, a document that certifies the health of the port of departure, in order to be admitted to their territory.3 From the end of the 15th century, these practices spread throughout the European continent, especially in the western Mediterranean, constituting the main technical baggage of local governments in their fight against the disease. In 1458, Barcelona was forbidden to disembark people from Mallorca because of the plague. A Morbería or Board of Health has been operating on the island since 1471, and four years later the first Capitols del Morbo were drawn up to respond to the epidemics that devastated the island. In 1460, the Council of Porto isolated sailors for fifteen days from a ship coming from an infected port. In England, less influenced by the Italian experience, we must wait until the Elisabeth Quarentine Order of 1543 to observe the first serious attempts to make quarantine mandatory for all ships.4 The evolution of health control mechanisms on our island shows a clear contemporaneity with the actions registered on the European continent.5 In 1506 the Portuguese were forbidden to enter the island and it was ordered that every eight days an alderman should go down to Santa Cruz who "... shall take charge not to allow the shipment of any wheat or to allow the entry of Nyngund Portogues (...) near which he shall have full power and faculty to defend the damage of the said island in the aforesaid and in all other things...".6 In 1508 it was ordered to "... those who have charge of the port see the faiths they bring and receive the oath, all of which shall be sent to the Lord Governor to provide..."7 Finally, in 1513 we find the first ordinance specifying the manner of receiving vessels coming from infected or suspected areas. Due to the Plague that devastates Gran Canaria, it is ordered that "... any ship or caravela that comes to the port of Santa Cruz shall be obliged to put the boat ashore and make an account of where they come from and who are coming from and whether they come healthy or from a sick part or place, and that for information an oath be received from the master and two other persons of the principal ones who come in the said vessel, so that they do not leap ashore without their doing the said diligence..."8 Subsequent ordinances did no more than incorporate nuances in specific aspects and very few novelties. The aim of this article is not only to delve into the knowledge of the sanitary mechanisms deployed by the Cabildo, but also to observe the way in which them, designed to prevent the arrival of the Plague, were used by the local elites installed in the island consistory, to defend their economic and political interests.9 The legislation, dispersed among the agreements of the Cabildo, avoided the paralysis of commercial relations that could be affected, not only by the epidemic threat, but also by the mistrust generated in other regions about the island's health surveillance.