Brill's Series in the History of the Environment – serie

In recent decades, alternatives to the established bubonic-plague theory have been presented as to the microbiologcal identity and mechanism(s) of spread of historical plague epidemics. In this monograph, the six important alternative theories are intensively discussed in the light of the historical sources, the central primary studies and standard works on bubonic plague and the alternative microbiological agents, insofar as they are testable. These seven theories are incompatible and at least six of them must be untenable. In the author’s opinion, the arguments against the bubonic-plague theory and for all alternative theories are untenable. This monograph therefore also has been written also as a standard work on bubonic plague, giving a broad and in-depth presentation of the medical, epidemiological and historical evidence and the methodological tenets for identification of historical diseases by comparison with modern medical knowledge.

The field of premodern environmental history (the study of the complex and ever-changing interrelationship between human beings and the world around them prior to the Industrial Revolution) has grown vigorously over the past two decades, in no small part due to the energy and expertise of Richard C. Hoffmann (York University, Canada). In this collection, historians of medieval and early modern Europe and social scientists with a sensitivity to the use of historical information present their current research in honor of Richard C. Hoffmann's retirement from teaching. The result is a panoramic and dynamic view of the state of the field of premodern environmental history by leading practitioners. The papers are organized under the broad themes of "Premodern People and the Natural World" and "Aquatic Ecosystems and Human Economies".Contributors are Richard W. Unger, Paolo Squatriti, William Chester Jordan, Petra J.E.M. van Dam, Verena Winiwarter, Maryanne Kowaleski, Constance H. Berman, Pierre Claude Reynard, Wim Van Neer, and Anton Ervynck.

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the Levant saw a substantial rise in the number of droughts. This coincided with some of the most violent tectonic activity the region had witnessed. Nature, however, could conjure other powerful disasters: swarms of locusts, armies of mice, scorching winds and thick dust storms.The data for this research is drawn from contemporary Arabic and Latin sources. The main aim is to try and determine the long and short-term repercussions of environmental disasters on the political, military and social affairs in the Levant during the Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Did environmental disasters spur or hinder conflict?This research examines the most destructive disasters and gradual climate changes within a broader historical context.

Roots of Empire is the first monograph to connect forest management and state-building in the early modern Spanish global monarchy. The Spanish crown's control over valuable sources of shipbuilding timber in Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines was critical for developing and sustaining its maritime empire. This book examines Spain's forest management policies from the sixteenth century through the middle of the eighteenth century, connecting the global imperial level with local lived experiences in forest communities impacted by this manifestation of expanded state power. As home to the early modern world's most extensive forestry bureaucracy, Spain met serious political, technological, and financial limitations while still managing to address most of its timber needs without upending the social balance.

In Santa Bárbara’s Legacy: An Environmental History of Huancavelica, Peru, Nicholas A. Robins presents the first comprehensive environmental history of a mercury producing region in Latin America. Tracing the origins, rise and decline of the regional population and economy from pre-history to the present, Robins explores how people’s multifaceted, intimate and often toxic relationship with their environment has resulted in Huancavelica being among the most mercury-contaminated urban areas on earth. The narrative highlights issues of environmental justice and the toxic burdens that contemporary residents confront, especially many of those who live in adobe homes and are exposed to mercury, as well as lead and arsenic, on a daily basis. The work incorporates archival and printed primary sources as well as scientific research led by the author.

This book analyses the origin and evolution of the water supply service in Andalusia (southern Spain) between 1800 and 2020 from several perspectives. It does so from a historical perspective, to understand the evolution of the service over the years; from an economic perspective, as it is very useful to obtain an overview of the level of efficiency of the service; from a legislative perspective, as the regulatory framework of each era determines the models of management and provision of the service; and, finally, from an ecological and environmental perspective, of great importance in the New Water Culture and the protection of this resource. The volume's main objective is to contribute to the extension of knowledge and analysis of the processes of municipalisation and/or privatisation of this service in Andalusia, with the aim of providing those responsible for local governments and administrations, both political and technical, with useful reflection and illustrative information on the use of municipalisation and/or privatisation as instruments for the reform of the local public sector.Contributors are: María Ana Bernardo, Ana Cardoso de Matos, José Escalante Jiménez, Antonio Rafael Fernández-Paradas, Mercedes Fernández-Paradas, Leticia Gallego Valero, Víctor Manuel Heredia-Flores, Carlos Larrinaga, Nuria Magaldi, Alberte Martínez-López, Juan Manuel Matés-Barco, Jesús Mirás Araujo, Encarnación Moral Pajares, Jesús Raúl Navarro García, Nuria Rodríguez Martín, and María Vázquez-Fariñas.

While providing a basis for all ecosystems, bugs such as insects and arachnids also destroy crops and indirectly kill humans and other animals by the millions. This book illuminates the many ways in which human lives affect and are affected by bugs as part of a wider network of species. 14 chapters reveal how knowledge, ideas, and emotions related to bugs are historically and culturally formed. With many bug populations in free fall, how can humans and bugs coexist? This book examines this question and offers a new ethics for this coexistence. Contributors are Michaela Fenske, Minna Santaoja, Concepción Cortés Zulueta, Heidi Mikkola, Laura Hollsten, Sophie FitzMaurice, Otto Latva, Marianne Mäkelin, Taina Syrjämaa, Suvi Rytty, Sanna Lillbroända-Annala, Emily Webster, Karine Aasgaard Jansen, Heta Lähdesmäki, and Tuomas Räsänen.

By focussing on timber sourcing, this book sheds light on the exploitation of forests in settings outside the Iberian Peninsula, including foreign states in the southern Baltic region and the colonial territory of New Spain between the c.1740-1795.Analysis of contracts, projects, and their implementation by the Spanish crown in the 18th century allow for a better understanding of the position of the Spanish monarchy’s nearly global efforts to sustain its naval commitments in the Atlantic World.