CEREMONIES, RITUALS AND SCENTED ARTEFACTS: THE OTHER FACE OF ANDALUSIAN CITIES IN TIMES OF PESTILENCE (16th-17th CENTURIES)

In contrast to traditional descriptions of the stinking atmosphere of the city in times of epidemics, an aspect analysed by Alain Corbin in his inaugural work on olfactory studies, the treatises on plague published in the Ancien R & eacute;gime describe objects, recipes and remedies with pleasant and purifying aromas. In addition to the medical treatises, this research has taken into account other primary sources that provide significant news about beneficial smells that were part of the hygienic-sanitary rituals used in homes, hospitals and streets of the city. Likewise, beyond prophylactic protocols, the staging of processions and rogations also included smells associated with both piety and healing. This research is concerned with analysing the olfactory, material, performative and affective aspects in seventeenth-century Andalusian cities during periods of health crisis. In short, it aims to address the experience of living in the city in times of pestilence.