title: Public health problems in the medieval statutes of Croatian Adriatic coastal towns: from public morality to public health.
abstract: The article seeks out the regulations about public health in the oldest medieval statutes of fourteen cities of the eastern Croatian Adriatic coast, between the thirteenth and sixteenth century. The research revealed numerous examples of direct or indirect ways of protecting public health. Through the analyzed documents, a noteworthy relationship between public morality and public health can be noted. The described rules are important as a reflection of awareness about public health as a condition of survival and progress in the past. They witness a progressive transition from an original common law into a written law as well as the impact that religion had in influencing people's general opinion and lifestyle in light of public health problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Rijeka University School of Medicine, Brace Branchetta 20, 51 000, Rijeka, Croatia. anja.petaros@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petaros
authors.forename: Ante
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skrobonja
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Culina
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bosnar
authors.forename: Vedran
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Frkovic
authors.forename: Josip
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Azman
mesh_terms: D017523:Croatia; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012068:Religion and Medicine