1629–1631 Italian plague

[3] The disease first spread to Venetian troops and in October 1629 reached Milan, Lombardy's major commercial centre.

Although the city instituted a quarantine and limited access to external visitors and trade goods, it failed to eliminate the disease.

A major outbreak in March 1630 resulted from relaxed health measures during the carnival season, followed by a second wave in the spring and summer of 1631.

Some historians believe that the drastic loss of life, and its impact on commerce, ultimately resulted in the downfall of Venice as a major commercial and political power.

These findings support the hypothesis that seventeenth-century plagues played a fundamental role in triggering the process of relative decline of the Italian economies.