This letter, written in 1576 and 1577, offers an eyewitness account of the plague in Venice, and a unique first-hand view of how it was living through a major epidemic before the advent of modern medicine.
The author, Rocco Benedetti, was a notary in Venice. We don’t know much about his personal situation, but he is known to have worked in the period between 1556 and 1582.
During the epidemic, his primary task was to write down last wills and testaments of those who expected to die soon.
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Rocco Benedetti — an introduction
Introduction of Rocco Benedetti, the manuscripts, the story, and the translation.
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Latest news from Venice
The letter of Rocco Benedetti, to Giacomo Foscarini, from January 1577, translated from the Venetian.
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Appendix A — What is the plague?
The epidemic which struck Venice in 1575 was an outbreak of yersinia pestis — the Black Plague or the Bubonic Plague.
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Appendix B — Humours and Miasma
The prevalent ideas in the 1500s of what constituted health and disease, originated in Ancient Greece and Rome, with Hippocrates and Galen.
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Appendix C — The Republic of Venice
Rocco Benedetti lived and worked in the Republic of Venice, and he mentions quite a few of the republic’s institutions. This appendix serves to give a quick overview of those bodies.
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Appendix D — Venetian society
The Republic of Venice was a class society, with an economy based on international trade and manufacturing.
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Appendix E — Biographies
Short biographies of some of the important persons mentioned in Benedetti’s letter.
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References
Biography, references and further reading.
The translation is copyright © 2026 René Seindal.
This work is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0. It can be copied and distributed freely, as long as the attribution and copyright notice are kept.