Of course they did. Governments banned murder, blood feuds, the duello, and other activities that led to harming the public. They banned vile activities (such as theatrical arts) that they feared would lead to the moral corruption of the community. They banned false religions which could cost their folk their immortal souls. They exiled or killed off communities which did not fit into society (such as Moriscos in Spain, Christians in Japan, Irish in Ireland). They banned miscegenation, in early attempts at genetics. They forbade the murder of servants, homosexuality, working on Sunday, etc. In medieval Germany, most towns had a vigorously enforced curfew, because all right-thinking folk ought to be in bed when it was late.
By our standards, many of these laws had a malign, oppressive, and interfering nature, but the intent was frequently a do-gooders' attempt to help others.
>Yes, dead citizens don't pay taxes, but did anybody care in earlier
>times?
You bet. Some places forbade killing serfs without reason. More obviously, a lot of places forbade any attempt at birth control, less their numbers decrease.
>It seems to me that even today laws made to protect people are
>started by private citizens or groups.
What is a medieval government but a private citizen or group? There was no distinction between public and private duty. As late as the 1600s, Prince Conde of France was able to turn traitor and war against his brother, the king, then return to good favor. Such an act nowadays would be considered high treason, unforgiveable. At that time, it was just a family quarrel gone seriously awry. Because the government was "owned" by those who governed, Ferdinand Marcos-style looting of the public was standard practice.
>You claim that quarantines are old. I think that people didn't know
>that many diseases are contagious until a few hundred years ago.
They absolutely knew that disease spread by contact. The bubonic plague was often blamed on "plague-spreaders", usually Jews, who were accused of wiping virulent matter on walls, or seeding wells with contagion. The ancients often burned the clothing, even the house, of a man who had died of disease -- this was known among primitive societies as much as among highly civilized ones. Of course, this didn't mean that certain diseases couldn't also be spread by other means, such as witches, bad air, the moon, the sight of something horrible, etc.
Lepers were isolated from the general population as of thousands of years ago. Refugees from the Black Death were not allowed to enter many cities and ports (at least the authorities tried to prevent it). Homes in which a death from certain diseases took place were boarded up, and the survivors fed through holes in the walls, kept prisoner in their house for a month or longer, until they had all died from the illness, or it was determined that they were going to survive.
One of the reasons for the success of Christianity in the Roman Empire was the appearance of some serious epidemics during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Standard pagan practice was to flee the sick, leaving them to die in their homes. But Christians were exhorted to tend the sick, and many did. Naturally enough, a sick person tended by a Christian was rather more impressed by his nurse's faith, and made invidious comparisons with his former friends who'd fled to the countryside, and each epidemic was followed by an increase in Christian strength. (Of course, Christians often caught the illness through their practices, but they had a better chance of surviving malaria, smallpox, etc. because they were nursed through it. Probably differential survival accounts for some of the Christian expansion, too. See PLAGUES AND PEOPLES for more info.)
DISEASE IN GLORANTHA
Now, in Glorantha, disease is an ever-present threat. On the one
hand, there exist healers (such as Chalana Arroy, Deezola, Xemela,
etc. adherents) who are clearly more effective than any medieval
physician (though probably not so good as a skilled Roman, Incan, or
Hindu doctor). Even better, these healers are themselves quite
resistant to disease, so they can safely enter a sick house and purge
the ailments.
But on the other hand, there actually _are_ plague-spreaders in Glorantha, unlike Earth. Malians, broos, harpies, evil ocean beings, to name a few. For that matter, any evil magician can summon a disease spirit and send it vs. his foes. This does not wholly counteract the curative effects of the healers, but it's got to hurt.
Gloranthan diseases, in general, seem to come in two main types: chronic wasting ailments and highly lethal epidemics.
The chronic ailments are, of course, the Big Five (The Shakes, Brain Fever, etc.), plus a number of lesser sicknesses recorded in various places (Creeping Crud, Sniffles, Blotches, etc.). PCs know and detest these from time immemorial.
The epidemics are mainly known from histories and other accounts. As in "Jolar was devastated by the White Plague", or "a withering ailment struck down Errinoru's house and their special flowers". Most of these epidemics appear to have been extremely fatal, rapid in their progress, and regional in nature. Perhaps because such plagues are most neatly encapsuled in literary reference. In general, Glorantha seems void of real-world sicknesses.
I have decided, on my own nickel, that the various epidemics of Glorantha are, in fact, real-world diseases, which explains their devastating nature and the vagueness in their descriptions.
In my current campaign, the players are locked up in a castle with other refugees from a cholera epidemic raging outside. I can't say much more about the epidemic, its causes and cures, because Guy Hoyle reads the dang list.
Sandy
End of Glorantha Digest V3 #136
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
Powered by hypermail