ABSTRACT
A good deal has been written about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in modern Europe: however, although some areas and periods have received a good deal of attention, there are still significant lacunae in the story. The medical narrative of developing understandings of the venereal diseases and the development of effective means of treatment has tended to focus on the contributions of significant figures and possibly rather smoothes out a more complex picture of controversies and contested ideas. Attention has also been paid to governmental attempts to control the spread of these diseases through strategies of prevention, although how detailed and nuanced the historiography is of these varies greatly from area to area. There are many additional detailed specific studies that could shed light on understandings of and responses to these diseases in particular places and at particular times, while there is also a need for further syntheses based on comparative data and in particular looking at the international dimension. There have been discernible waves of rising and falling public concern over the diseases.1 The historical narrative to date has tended to reflect this, since interest in these diseases generated public debate involving state officials, doctors, organized religion and various other interest groups, leaving a rich trail of documentary evidence. So far we know much less about what was going on between the obvious peaks in the narrative.
