Health Data Reporting and Recordkeeping in Early Modern Transylvania: The Medical Reports of Andrea Carol Grosse
Health Data Reporting and Recordkeeping in Early Modern Transylvania: The Medical Reports of Andrea Carol Grosse

Summary/Abstract: This study explores the emergence of systematic health data reporting and recordkeeping in early modern Transylvania through an analysis of Andrea Carol Grosse’s medical report on the 1737–1738 plague outbreak. Against the backdrop of the Habsburg Monarchy’s increasing centralization and the concomitant recognition of population health as a cornerstone of military strength and economic prosperity, Grosse’s work illustrates the early integration of empirical observation with nascent statistical methods. His report, structured in three interrelated sections—descriptive analysis, detailed patient case studies, and a travel diary—demonstrates how paper-based administrative technologies facilitated the collection and organization of health data. Grosse’s systematic documentation of disease transmission, symptomatology, and outcomes not only reflects contemporary theories of contagion and miasma but also anticipates modern epidemiological approaches by linking individual patient histories to broader public health measures. By contextualizing Grosse’s observations within the broader shifts in statecraft, medical practice, and administrative technology, this paper contributes to our understanding of how early modern health data practices laid the groundwork for the development of medical statistics and evidence-based public health policy. The findings underscore the transformative role of health data in early modern governmental strategies and offer new insights into the interplay between medical knowledge production and state power.

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