Ciuma și impactul său asupra mentalului colectiv în spațiul românesc (secolul al XVI-lea și al XVII-lea)
The plague and its impact on the collective mentality in the Romanian space (16th and 17th centuries)

Summary/Abstract: The article has as subject the impact of the plague on the collective mentality in the Romanian space during the 16th and 17th centuries. Of all the calamities that befell people during the Middle Ages, and especially during the 16th and 17th centuries, the plague was undoubtedly one of the most frightening. The lack of logical explanations for the cause of its occurrence and its way of spreading, its devastating effect on those infected and the inability to apply effective treatment made this contagious disease have a profound impact on the collective mind. Thus, the sources that recounted the events related to this calamity, the periods in which it spread and deeply affected the population of Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia are highlighted. The way in which the people of those centuries tried to explain the causes of the plague, the measures of prophylaxis imposed, even sporadically, and the effort made by human communities, both in rural areas and especially in urban areas, to overcome this terrifying calamity are contained in the pages of this article. In the face of this threat, people were trying to take measures that mainly consisted in isolating the sick and fleeing the calamity. When they proved ineffective — that is, almost every time — the people tried to find the support of the divinity or resorted to ancient rituals, in which they placed their last hopes.

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