the plague doctor renaissance vs victorian

Perhaps de Lorme should be credited with creating an outfit that was supposed to protect the entire body of the doctor. 'There are already descriptions from the later 16th century of doctors wearing protective masks. De Lorme is sometimes given credit for inventing the getup, but according to Black, that's probably unlikely: Our best evidence that the elaborate costume even existed comes from a description of the French royal physician Charles de Lorme. The mask could also simply hold a vinegar-soaked sponge, since the strong smell of vinegar was also thought to block miasma.' One of the most popular herbs was wormwood, the main ingredient of absinthe, which has a very sharp odor. It was to be filled with sweet or strong-smelling herbs which were believed to block or 'filter' out the miasma. 'The most important element was the long, beaked mask. 'According to one set of instructions for plague doctors, the cloak and hat should cover the entire body and be made of oiled Moroccan leather, to prevent miasma entering the pores,' says Black. Of course, contaminated water, poor hygiene and the lack of sanitation in settlements were the real culprits behind most of the epidemics that took place up until the 19th century, but how were they to know? Instead of remedying those problems, they spent their time tricking out their plague doctor costumes. Miasma - also called 'bad air' or 'night air' - was thought to emanate from rotting organic matter and infect people through their respiratory system or skin. No one was safe, and since the germ theory of disease wouldn't reinvent medicine for another 200 years, the Italians figured desperate times called for desperate measures, and so they sent their physicians out in the most bonkers costume imaginable. Similarly, during the outbreak of the bubonic plague in Italy in the 1650s, the doctors taking care of the sick - rich and poor alike - were purportedly mocked for their strange and somewhat frightening uniforms.Īlthough the plague that bedeviled southern Europe during this time wasn't nearly as destructive as the Black Death of the 14th century, it is estimated to have killed over a million people in Italy and surrounding areas over the course of the decade, but mostly between 16. For instance, clowns are supposed to be hilarious, and yet, according to one 2016 Vox survey, more Americans report being more afraid of clowns than climate change. Some of the creepiest things out there are the ones that are supposed to be funny, and some of the funniest things are the ones we're supposed to take seriously. The long, beaked mask of the plague doctor was typically filled with sweet or strong-smelling herbs, such as wormwood, the main ingredient in absinthe, which were believed to filter out miasma, or bad air.

The plague doctor renaissance vs victorian