HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A plague doctor was a
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
who treated victims of
bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...
during
epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
s in 17th-century Europe. These physicians were hired by cities to treat infected patients regardless of income, especially the poor, who could not afford to pay. Plague doctors had a mixed reputation, with some citizens seeing their presence as a warning to leave the area or that death was near. Some plague doctors were said to charge patients and their families additional fees for special treatments or false cures. In many cases, these doctors were not experienced or trained physicians or
surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...
s, instead being volunteers, second-rate doctors, or young doctors just starting a career. Plague doctors rarely cured patients, instead serving to record death tolls and the number of infected people for demographic purposes. In France and the Netherlands, plague doctors often lacked medical training and were referred to as " empirics". Plague doctors were known as municipal or "community plague doctors", whereas "general practitioners" were separate doctors and both might be in the same city or town simultaneously.


History

An early reference to plague doctors wearing masks is in 1373 when Johannes Jacobi recommends the use of masks, but offers no physical description of the masks themselves. According to Michel Tibayrunc's ''Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases'', the first mention of the iconic plague doctor is found during the 1619 plague outbreak in Paris, in a biography of royal physician Charles de Lorme, serving King
Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...
at the time. After De Lorme, German engraver Gerhart Altzenbach published a famous illustration in 1656, which publisher Paulus Fürst's iconic (1656) is based upon. In this
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
work, Fürst describes how the doctor does nothing but terrify people and take money from the dead and dying. The city of
Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...
hired Matteo Angelo as a plague doctor in 1348 for four times a normal doctor's rate of 50
florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...
s per year.
Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI (; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death, in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Black Death (1 ...
hired several extra plague doctors during the
Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
plague to tend to the sick people of
Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...
. Of eighteen doctors in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, only one was left by 1348: five had died of the plague, and twelve were missing and may have fled.


Methods and tasks

Plague doctors practiced
bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) was the deliberate withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and othe ...
and other remedies such as putting
frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...
s or
leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...
es on the buboes to "rebalance the humors." A plague doctor's principal task, besides treating people with the plague, was to compile public records of plague deaths. In certain European cities like
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
and
Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...
, plague doctors were requested to do autopsies to help determine the cause of death and how the plague affected the people. Plague doctors also sometimes took patients' last
will and testament A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...
during times of plague epidemics, and gave advice to their patients about their conduct before death. This advice differed per patient, and after the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, the nature of the relationship between doctor and patient was governed by an increasingly complex ethical code.


Costume

Some plague doctors wore a special costume consisting of an ankle-length overcoat and a bird-like beak mask. As an attempt to purify the air they breathed (it was believed that good smells would 'cancel out' the diseases, and people would often walk around with a flower under their nose), the wearer would fill the mask with herbs and spices (commonly
lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean ...
). The plague doctors would also wear gloves, boots, a wide-brimmed hat, a linen hood, and an outer over-clothing garment.Glaser, pp. 33–34 However, the costume was not worn by all medieval and early modern physicians studying and treating plague patients. The exact origins of the plague costumes are unclear but have been dated back to Italy and France. Plague doctors wore a mask of some form since at least 1373. Most depictions come from satirical writings and political cartoons. The beaked plague doctor inspired costumes in Italian theater as a symbol of general horror and death, though some historians insist that the plague doctor was originally fictional and inspired the real plague doctors later. Depictions of the beaked plague doctor rose in response to superstition and fear about the unknown source of the plague. Often, these plague doctors were the last thing a patient would see before death; therefore, the doctors were seen as a foreboding of death. It appears that the only contemporary sources which claim witness to this infamous costume are based in Italy during the 17th century. Later sources based in other areas do claim that this costume was in use in their country (most specifically during the Black Death); however, it is possible that these sources were influenced by theater and other works of fiction. The typical mask had glass openings for the eyes and a curved leather beak, shaped like a bird's beak, with straps that held the beak in front of the doctor's nose. The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of
respirator A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres including lead, lead fumes, vapors, gases and particulate matter such as dusts and airborne pathogens such as viruses. There are two main categories o ...
which contained aromatic items. The first known observation of the herbal-stuffed beak was during the 1656–1658 epidemic in Rome. The beak could hold dried flowers (like
rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
s and
carnation ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,00 ...
s), herbs (like
lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean ...
and
peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of Mentha, mint, a cross between Mentha aquatica, watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in m ...
),
camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel (''Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the kapu ...
, or a
vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...
sponge, as well as
juniper berry A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales called a galbulus, which gives it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of ...
, ambergris, cloves, labdanum,
myrrh Myrrh (; from an unidentified ancient Semitic language, see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a few small, thorny tree species of the '' Commiphora'' genus, belonging to the Burseraceae family. Myrrh resin has been used ...
, and
storax Storax (; , ''stúrax''), often commercially sold as styrax, is a natural fragrant resin isolated from the wounded bark of ''Liquidambar orientalis'' Mill. (Asia Minor) and ''Liquidambar styraciflua'' L. (Eastern US, Mexico, Central America) (A ...
. The herbs right up against the nose inside the beak allowed for the doctor to have both of their hands free in order to examine the patient or corpse. The purpose of the mask was to keep away bad smells such as decaying bodies and the smell taken with the most caution was known as miasma, a noxious form of "bad air". This was thought to be the principal cause of the disease. Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected. Irvine Loudon, ''Western Medicine: An Illustrated History'' (Oxford, 2001), p. 189. A wide-brimmed leather hat helped to indicate a plague doctor's profession. They used wooden canes in order to point out areas needing attention and to examine patients without touching them. The canes were also used to keep people away and to remove clothing from plague victims without having to touch them. The doctor's long robe was made from linen because it was said contagion did not stick to linen as easily as other materials. The robe was also sometimes made from goat skin, which was said to be stronger against the plague than linen because of its small pores and polished texture. It was not unheard of for the robe to be sealed with oil or wax for an extra layer of protection so the "bad air" could not seep through the holes of the linen material. Though contemporary theories about the plague's nature were incorrect, it is likely that the costume actually did afford the wearer some protection. The garments covered the body, shielding against splattered blood, lymph and cough droplets, and the waxed robe prevented
flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...
s (the true carriers of the plague) from touching the body or clinging to the linen. The costume of the plague doctor is one of the earliest examples of a
hazmat suit A hazmat suit is a piece of personal protective equipment that consists of an permeation, impermeable whole-body or one piece garment worn as protection against hazardous materials. Such suits are often combined with self-contained breathing ap ...
. This well known costume now is used as common costume in festivals mainly in Europe and within the art of theater.


Contract

A plague doctor's contract was an agreement between a town's administrators and a doctor to treat
bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...
patients. These contracts are present in European city archives. Their contractual responsibility was to treat plague patients, and no other type of patient, to prevent spreading the disease to the uninfected. A plague doctor had to serve a long
quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...
after seeing a plague patient. The doctor was regarded as a "contact" who by agreement had to live in isolation to be quarantined.


Negotiations

The bargaining which always preceded the final contract often consisted of serious negotiations. For example, the town administrators of
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
in 1630 were considering the terms of an agreement requested by one Dr. Maletto to become their plague doctor. After much negotiating, they instructed their broker representatives to make a fair and prompt deal as soon as possible with Dr. Maletto. They were told to get the best possible deal for their city, but to be careful not to lose the opportunity of hiring this plague doctor, as it would be difficult to find someone else to perform these dangerous duties at such a low rate. As an example of the tough negotiating that went on between plague doctors and infected European towns, there is in
Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...
an original agreement between one Giovanni de Ventura and the city in their archives that shows a sixteen clause contract that was further amended after it was originally written. Clause one originally showed 30 florins per month for pay but was later modified to be net of living expenses. Clause two was originally that the pay was to be given two months in advance but later modified to monthly. Clause five provided originally a
severance pay Severance may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Severance'' (film), a 2006 British horror film * ''Severance'' (novel), a 2018 novel by Ling Ma *''Severance'', a 2006 short-story collection by Robert Olen Butler * ''Severance'' (TV series), ...
of two months but later modified that to one month's pay. Clause six stated that "the said master Giovanni shall not be bound nor held under obligation except only in attending the plague patients", which was later amplified with "...the doctor must treat all patients and visit infected places as it shall be found to be necessary." Clause seven had to do with full citizenship and the original text was modified with "according to how he shall behave himself." Bernardino di Francesco Rinaldi obtained a clause in his contract when he was hired as plague doctor by the city of
Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History ...
in 1527 that said essentially that the city had the obligation to provide Bernardino with all and everything necessary for his life support (i.e. food, water), and for these living expenses to be paid through the city expenditures.


Reprimands

In 1527, in the city of
Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...
, a plague doctor named Stefano Mezzettino was seen attending to other patients without a custodian. The rule in the plague doctor contract was that a custodian must always be with the plague doctor when he visits other patients. This created much danger for the public. He was fined for his illegal act and breaking the rule of the plague doctor contract.


Notable plague doctors

* The Italian city of
Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...
, in 1479, contracted Giovanni de Ventura as a community plague doctor. * The Irish
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
Niall Ó Glacáin (–1653) earned deep respect in Spain, France and Italy for his bravery in treating numerous people with the plague. * The French anatomist Ambroise Paré and Swiss iatrochemist
Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. H ...
were also famous Renaissance plague doctors. *
Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...
gave advice about preventive measures against the plague, such as the removal of infected corpses, getting fresh air, drinking clean water, and drinking a juice preparation of
rose hip The rose hip or rosehip, also called rose haw and rose hep, is the accessory fruit of the various species of rose plant. It is typically red to orange, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form after pollina ...
s. In Part A Chapter VIII, Nostradamus also recommended to not bleed the patient. * John Paulitious was
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
's first plague doctor, but he died in June 1645 only weeks after beginning employment. He was succeeded by George Rae.


Footnotes


References


Primary sources

* Nostradamus. ''The Prophecies of Nostradamus'', self-published 1555 and 1558; reprinted b
Forgotten Books publishing 1973
* Nostradamus. , self-published 1555


Secondary sources

* * * * *
Chapter 4
* * * * * *


Further reading

* Fee, Elizabeth, ''AIDS: the burdens of history'', University of California Press, 1988, * Fitzharris, Lindsey. "Behind the Mask: The Plague Doctor." The Chirurgeons Apprentice. Web. 6 May 2014. * Haggard, Howard W., ''From Medicine Man to Doctor: The Story of the Science of Healing'', Courier Dover Publications, 2004, * Heymann, David L., ''The World Health Report 2007: a safer future: global public health security in the 21st century'', World Health Organization, 2007, * Kenda, Barbara, ''Aeolian winds and the spirit in Renaissance architecture: Academia Eolia revisited'', Taylor & Francis, 2006, * Mattie, Herbert J. "In search of Doctor Zero." History, Health & Healing. Web. October 2022. * Reading, Mario, ''The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus'', Sterling Publishing (2009), * Rosenhek, Jackie. "Doctor's Review: Medicine on the Move." Doctor's Review. Web. May 2011. * Pavia city archives Envelope, 458


External links

* {{Portal bar, History, Medicine