Bidspirit auction | (FRANCE). (Epidemic). Nous les Commissaires

(FRANCE). (Epidemic). Nous les Commissaires Députés de la Chambre de Santé etablié de la Ville de Strasbourg [.] que tout Commerce & Négoce avec le Royaume de Pologne, de la Moldavie …Quant aux Juifs des environs de cette ville …L’entrée an cette ville sera refusée … French edict. Singe printed page. 14 x 16 inches. Strasbourg, 1770.   Travel restriction on Jewish peddlers in response to containing the plague.  In response to outbreaks of plague, smallpox, and other contagious diseases, the city of Strasbourg enacted this regulation to prevent the spread. It prohibited or suspended any commercial activities originating from or linked to German cities, Poland, Moldavia, Wallachia, the Banat of Temeswar, and Transylvania. Additionally, the decree bared deserted soldiers, Jewish beggars and vagabonds from entering the city, even if they possessed appropriate papers. Jews residing outside Strasbourg had to renew their residence permission monthly.  During the early modern era in Europe, the threat of plague and other contagious diseases loomed large, with uncertainty as to when or where they might strike. Although often accompanied by false rumors and alarms, the measures of this edict is likely connected to the Russian plague of 1770, which began in Moldavia in January 1770. The plague spread during the Russian-Turkish war, advancing northward through Ukraine, Poland, and central Russia before peaking in Moscow in September 1771. This outbreak claimed an estimated thousand lives daily in Moscow, with total death toll estimates ranging from 52,000 to 300,000.