Smelling the Metropolis: Emission, Infection and Olfaction in Early Modern London

• Applicant: Dr. Birgit Näther
• Subject Area: Early Modern History
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 450128971

The project examines scholarly, political and social discourses on and practices of dealing with air and air pollution in London in the early modern period. The first chapters of the project are based on case studies on two thematic complexes: the early modern plague outbreaks associated with air in London, in particular the Great Plague of 1665/1666, and urban air pollution beyond epidemics. The work on the final chapter planned for the proposed second funding phase should also make the project's research questions fruitful for analysing the 'Sattelzeit': The historical changes that can be observed between around 1750 and 1830 with regard to the concepts of and approach to air and air pollution are to be investigated.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants