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Keep your distance, stay home in case of symptoms and wash your hands; we are urged to slow down the pandemic. But the recommendations have not always been the same: the history of pandemics is long, and we used to use completely different strategies to protect ourselves against disease.
Digerdöden illustrated in “The Dance of Death” by Hans Holbein (1491). Stock Photography.
As Sweden has become secularized and medical science has taken shape and spread, our rites to counteract and cure disease have changed.
In Sweden, the more traditional religious rites have been eliminated, while new types of rites have emerged.
It could be, for example, different purity rituals, says Marja-Liisa Keinänen, associate professor at Stockholm University and an expert on religious-historical perspectives on epidemics and disease.
– I’m thinking of an image I saw in a newspaper in April where tanker trucks washed the streets with disinfectants, while a doctor said that it was not entirely rational because we do not know the mechanisms behind the virus, says Marja-Liisa Keinänen.
The use of mouth guards is another example, according to Marja-Liisa Keinänen, because the debate about the efficacy of mouth guards is still being debated.
– It can be seen as a medical ritual that will protect us from this danger. It gives some kind of sense of control that gives us security.
As early as the 17th century, Sweden had a clear idea of how, among other things, various plagues, wars and cold winters would be remedied. So the solution was the days of prayer.
– Pandemics were seen as God’s punishment against a disobedient people. Then it was a matter of trying to appease God through prayer, repentance and atonement through various religious rituals, says Marja-Liisa Keinänen.
Between 1710 and 1711, when Sweden was hit hard by the plague, days of prayer were organized four times a year. Church attendance was compulsory and those who did not attend were punished.
At this time, people were also participating in other magical rituals, which were not related to the church. Such a ritual could involve building a bonfire on the day of the summer solstice. All old fires in the homes would then be extinguished and a new fire would be made by rubbing.
– I have seen several court records from the late 17th century in which people have been brought to justice for the use of arson. It was considered witchcraft or was feared to have been used in such contexts. You had to pay a fine for it, says Marja-Liisa Keinänen.
Other examples of historical rituals were that the representatives of each household met before a person who died from the plague and each put his hand on the corpse to calm the disease. However, we don’t know how common it was.
Smallpox is another epidemic that has plagued humanity for many centuries. Vaccination began in Sweden in the early 19th century, and there the church and priests played an important role.
– The priest wrote down in the duration of the home questioning if you had been ill with smallpox, and I suppose they also marked if you had been vaccinated, at least apparently from the Finnish home questioning, says Marja-Liisa Keinänen.
Through the lengths, the situation and the development of the disease could be documented and more informed.
Natural and religious explanatory models already existed in parallel during the 17th century, and probably even earlier, says Marja-Liisa Keinänen.
Parallel to the days of prayer and other religious events, contact with the infected was avoided, and those who could afford it moved away from the infected areas. People were not allowed to move freely during the epidemic, but had to stay home so as not to spread the infection.
– I have a Swedish eyewitness account of the plague in Istanbul at the beginning of the 18th century, where the person tells that people were isolated, the streets were empty. Some ordered food delivery and delivery was left outside the door. After being outside, they hung their warm clothes in the sun, says Marja-Liisa Keinänen, adding:
– Many of these measures are recognized today.
Historical pandemics
Smallpox
The disease reached Europe in the 400s and 600s. In the 18th century, around 400,000 people died annually in Europe alone. In 1796 a vaccine against smallpox was invented.
Parasite
The plague killed 50 million people in Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 14th century in what became known as the Great Depression. As recently as the 19th century, the disease killed 12 million people in Asia.
There is no vaccine yet, but antibiotic medication can cure the disease. In Sweden, the last eruption occurred between 1710 and 1713.
Anger
During the 19th century, cholera became the great plague. Between 1834 and 1873, Sweden was affected by cholera outbreaks no less than eleven times. Minor outbreaks occurred even after this period.
Pandemics in the 1920s and 2000s:
1918 Spanish disease
1957 asians
1968 Hong Kong flu
2009-2010 Swine flu
2020 Covid-19
Source: Swedish Public Health Agency, BBC, Marja-Liisa Keinänen
