ABSTRACT
The Black Death of 1347-51 has cast a long shadow over our expectations on how big epidemics have conditioned social and psychological reactions, not only for plague and the Renaissance, but for epidemics across time and place. The third saint active in the day-to-day treatment and salvation of plague victims became the most important plague saint by the Renaissance - San Rocco (Roch). Francesca Romana (Francesca Bussa dei Ponziani [1384-1440]) unites various strains seen with plague saints who, while alive, sacrificed for the spiritual and physical health of plague victims. Our understanding of the immediate socio-psychological reactions, not only to the Black Death, but to epidemic disease across time, has emphasized the negative, highlighting violence and blame and the splintering of communities, while remaining blind to epidemics' force in unifying and strengthening societies in past times.
