ANST - War Disease

[Dennis Grace]

Salut, Cozyns,

Lyonel aisai.

Ulf penned:

>What I was looking for here was a discussion of historical problems with
>sanitation and disease, such as London went through until they cleaned
>up the Thames.  Or how dysentery spreads in a sieged city.  Hopefully,
>the discussion could then be tweaked into problems we face at large SCA
>events, like Pennsic and other wars.

Hmmmm.  The disease-in-period thing has been done to death.  The libraries
are chock full of tomes on diseases and epidemics stretching back as far as
Herodotus's (I think it was his) account of the Athenian influenza
pandemic.  What might be even more interesting here, however, are accounts
of *SCA* epidemics (no, I don't want to discuss rhino-hiding or the
pervasive use of lycra--I'm being literal here).

We gather large quantities of folks together from around the world every
year to celebrate and play at Pennsic, Estrella, Gulf Wars, Antir-West War,
Great Western War, and Lilies (to name but a few).  Has anyone
experienced/observed any sort of widespread pathologies cropping up at
*our* wars?  Flu?  Food poisoning?  STDs?  Legionnaire's disease?  Warts?

Inquiring minds want to know.

lo vostre por vos servir
Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace


Dennis G. Grace
PostModern Medievalist
Assistant Instructor
Division of Rhetoric and Composition
University of Texas

Micel yfel deth se unwritere
                                        --Aelfric of York (a really fun guy)


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