Allyson Creasman is an associate professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University, where she specializes in the German reformation. Dr. Creasman paints a thorough picture of the pandemic in Luther’s time, examining the early modern quarantine legislation and the secularization of the healthcare system. She discusses whether Luther would have a Twitter, what his thoughts on social distancing were, and what the debates over censorship in Luther’s time can teach us about today’s controversies over fake news.

• Censorship and Dissemination of Information in Reformation Germany

• Martin Luther’s Response to Plague

• Secularization of Healthcare

• Early Quarantine Legislation

• Early Modern Understandings of Plague

• Sociological Ramifications of the Bubonic Plague 

Links:
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel