The Bubonic Plague was an event of almost unique proportions. The mythification of this event that has built up over the subsequent centuries demonstrates the depth of its impact and consequences as well as the place it holds in the European and Mediterranean collective memory. Aware of this importance, and encountering a lack of in-depth research on this subject in Portugal, I decided to dedicate my PhD project to studying the Bubonic Plague, its impacts and consequences (primarily in socioeconomic terms) in two Portuguese regions: Entre-Douro-e-Minho and Entre-Tejo-e-Guadiana. Intensive documentary collection from archives across these regions, spanning an interval of seven decades in which the Bubonic Plague is roughly halfway through its duration, seeks to obtain ‘before’ and ‘after’ images, taking advantage of the contrasts in terrain, climate, settlement and local structures of these two medieval counties to return a clearer and less ‘monographic’ picture. This seminar is dedicated to presenting the results of this research.

About the author
With a Degree in History (2013) and Master’s Degree in Medieval Studies (2015) from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto. His main research interests focus on culture in Medieval Portugal, with particular attention to teaching and the formation of knowledge communities, as well as the social history of medicine, health and disease. In 2015/2016, he was a CIDEHUS (UÉ) grant holder on the City of Évora Digital Reconstruction Project. He received his PhD in History from the Faculty of Arts, the University of Oporto, having been a Foundation for Science and Technology grant holder for the project entitled “The Bubonic Plague in Portugal in the Thirteen Hundreds: impacts and consequences” (SFRH/BD/122385/2016), supervised by Luís Miguel Duarte (FLUP) and Filomena Barros (UÉ). He is a researcher at CITCEM (UP) and also collaborates with CIDEHUS (UÉ).