O Testemunho da História: para viver e superar a epidemia no presente

The new coronavirus (SARS-CoV 2) and COVID-19 brought unexpected challenges to the Humanity. The answer to these challenges is more than a quest for the biomedical science and transcends health issues. In this context and seeking complementarity between health sciences and the emerging field of health humanities, this Symposium was promoted, which aimed to recourse to historical knowledge to understand and help to live the difficult present time. This role attributed to the humanities and historical studies has been highlighted in recent months in various initiatives (webinars, special magazine issues, interviews, opinion articles) carried out by various institutions and civil society, and in several countries. This seminar was, for two days, a space for knowledge sharing on the theme of epidemics, in different geographical contexts, national and foreign, limited to the Middle and Early Modern Ages, seeking to establish a bridge between the past and the present.