Medieval Milan and public health policy

The Washington Post has an opinion piece article by an historian about how the city and Duchy of Milan coped with pandemics and other outbreaks of plague in the later Middle Ages. It points out the sophistication of Milanese medicine and of its public health policies. These were clearly very advanced for their time but other cities and territories were also prudential in their management of the terrifying threat posed by bubonic plague. The article argues that in some respects medieval Milan still has things to teach modern states grappling with coronavirus.

The article can be read at Opinion | Milan’s medieval response to the plague holds lessons for today