Troubling News Travels Fast. The Sannio Earthquake Ripples through the Spanish Monarchy

On the evening of 5 June 1688, a violent earthquake hit Naples. Actually, the epicentre was in an inland area, in the Samnium, where some small towns were completely destroyed. A disaster due to a natural event is obviously an exceptional news producer. In this respect, this earthquake was no exception. The flow of information spread from Naples, where the news about devastation and death from inland areas only arrived a few days later. The dynamics of communication therefore defined the earthquake as “Neapolitan”. This paper deals with an important channel of this news circulation: the diplomatic correspondence between the Secretary of State in Rome and the apostolic nuncios in Naples and Madrid. Four main themes emerge from the surviving correspondence: the response of the Church to the earthquake; the funds provided to victims and for reconstruction work; the political and diplomatic pressure applied to abolishing a significant lottery (the beneficiata); and the disputes over the Church’s prerogatives in the territories of the Spanish Monarchy. Examining these aspects sheds light on the political backdrop to the 1688 Sannio earthquake and, more generally, on the links between politics, religion and science in the management of disasters under the Ancien Régime.