Disease and Health Care in the North-West of Spain in the Early Modern Period. The Bierzo region

Abstract

he Bierzo is one of the natural districts of the Spanish Province of Leon. Situated in the western part of this province, it borders the Galician Provinces of Lugo and Orense to the west; to the south lies another natural region of Leon, the Cabrera; to the east stand the Mounts of Leon; while to the northwest there is the former administrative district of Ribas del Sil de Arriba. This is a territory with considerable geographic diversity, in which it is possible to distinguish mountainous zones, occupying somewhat more than half of the district, the so-called Upper Bierzo; plains or depressions, forming the Lower Bierzo; and transitional areas, linking these two. T