All About History 81 - 2019 UK

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ISSUE 081

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Avian Influence Symbolic and
practical
There is much debate over the
origin of the bird-like mask of the Many elements of
plague doctor. In practical terms the classic plague
the beak was used as a kind of doctor costume play
respirator. packed with herbs both practical and
and oils like mint and lavender to symbolic roles. The
block the bad smells. or miasma entire composition of
as it was known. from infecting the outfit is intended
to prevent illness
the doctor. Symbolically. from spreading to
some suggest that the physician. but
it was inspired by elements like the
the idea that hat also helped to
birds spread identify them as
the plague so medical doctors.
looking like
one might Keeping notes
draw the
sickness out Alongside attempting
of patients. to treat plagues the
other very important
The pomander function of the plague
doctor was to record
Since early plague doctors believed that the spread of the
the sickness was spread by miasma disease and to bury
(corrupted air) they also thought that good. and record the dead.
strong smells could ward it off. So it is that As such the doctors
pomanders. citrus fruit. sometimes held in a would have travelled
container with strong scented liquids. would with notebooks and
be worn as a protection against illness and kept extensive records
the general odours of the street. The simple of their patients that
form of the pomander. an orange studded would prove useful to
with cloves. is still used as a gift and symbol future studies.
at Christmas and New Year.
Minimal contact
No exposure
The cane of the plague doctor
The long overcoat with the mask tucked into was important i n minimising even
the collar is an example of how the outfit further the risks to the physician
was designed to reduce skin exposure to the by preventing direct body to
air. The clothing is said to have been coated body contact with a plague
in suet (animal fat) as a barrier to stop the patient. The cane could be used
miasma penetrating the leather. to interact with the body. lifting
limbs and so forth as well as
indicating areas for treatment
to family members who were
already exposed.

numerous cities and states necessarily had to work of public health policy did not always work as
together, sending news of plague quickly and planned: during the plagues of 1600 and 1625 in
being honest about the presence and scope of an London, the College of Physicians refused to help
epidemic. Quarantine was made more effective the government of London fight the epidemic,
through the establishment of permanent plague as most of its members fled the city and urged
hospitals or 'pesthouses'. These became a common everyone else to do so as well. However, during
feature of cities across Europe during the 16th and the Great Plague of 1665, some of the professional
17th centuries. Some were built within the city London physicians considered it their public
walls, but most were located well outside of a city duty to stay in the city and treat victims. They
to isolate confirmed and potential plague patients. volunteered their services as official plague doctors.

To help monitor and contain epidemic diseases The l\lasked Plague Doctor
and to run and staff the plague hospitals, first
Italian city-states and then royal governments After nearly three centuries of treatments, treatises
elsewhere in Europe established health boards
and hired public physicians. One of the first such and policies for the plague we finally meet the
boards appeared in 1486, when the Republic of
beaked 'plague doctor', who too often represents
Venice founded a permanent Provveditori alia the entire history of plague for popular audiences.
Sanita (Commission on Public Health) to oversee The first mention of the costume that is so well­
known today is found in a work written in the
the rapid identification of plague, the deployment mid-17th century by Charles de Lorme, a royal
of trained physicians, the quarantine of the sick
and the careful burial of the dead. Other cities physician in the service of King Louis XIII of
responded much later. The city of Naples created
France. De Lorme wrote in his autobiography that
a Magistrato della Sanita (Board of Health) in 1656 earlier in his life, during a 1619 plague outbreak
in Paris, he developed an outfit made entirely of
in reaction to a major outbreak of plague. The Moroccan goat leather, including boots, breeches, a
entire Kingdom of Naples also funded a royal long coat, hat and gloves. The main feature of the
costume is a tight-fitting mask, fitted with crystal
Protomedicato, a medical tribunal that oversaw eyepieces. extending into a long beak, about half
a foot long, filled with perfume or aromatic herbs.
and licensed pharmacies and town physicians
especially in times of plague. The establishment