![]() In fact, plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, bacteria that can be transmitted from animals to humans and through flea bites, contact with contaminated fluid or tissue, and inhalation of infectious droplets from sneezing or coughing people with pneumonic plague. ![]() De Lorme thought the beak shape of the mask would give the air sufficient time to be suffused by the protective herbs before it hit plague doctors’ nostrils and lungs. Plague doctors filled their masks with theriac, a compound of more than 55 herbs and other components like viper flesh powder, cinnamon, myrrh, and honey. Sweet and pungent perfumes were thought to be able to fumigate plague-stricken areas and protect the smeller nosegays, incense, and other perfumes were common in the era. Some French plague doctors even set the herbs on fire, producing a protective smoke within the beak. This concoction of more than 55 herbs included cinnamon, myrrh, viper flesh powder, and honey. The knight protects himself with an armor against deadly blows of. In the times before the germ theory of disease, physicians believed that the plague spread through poisoned air that could create an imbalance in a person’s humors, or bodily fluids. To protect against this poisonous air, plague doctors filled the beaks of their costumes with theriac. With the mask of the plague doctor you protect yourself from the deadly disease of this world. The aroma would keep plague doctors from smelling the death miasma. Sometimes things like wormwood were also used (an important ingredient to absinthe). ![]() Though plague doctors across Europe wore these outfits, the look was so iconic in Italy that the "plague doctor" became a staple of Italian commedia dell’arte and carnival celebrations-and is still a popular costume today.īut the forbidding ensemble was not just a deathly fashion statement: It was intended to protect the doctor from miasma. Plague doctor masks were chock full of herbs and other aromatic things, like lavender. Their head gear was particularly unusual: Plague doctors wore spectacles, de Lorme continued, and a mask with a nose “half a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils, but that can suffice to breathe and carry along with the air one breathes the impression of the enclosed further along in the beak.” Plague doctors also carried a rod that allowed them to poke (or fend off) victims. He described an outfit that included a coat covered in scented wax, breeches connected to boots, a tucked-in shirt, and a hat and gloves made of goat leather. The costume is usually credited to Charles de Lorme, a physician who catered to the medical needs of many European royals during the 17th century, including King Louis XIII and Gaston d'Orléans, son of Marie de Médici.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |