Wearing masks in Venice goes back to at least the 12th century and was a way to play with the rigid societal stratification, so popular that the authorities had to shorten the Carnival season, from six months in its heyday to about six weeks. 1656 – How do I compare?īut the plague doctor mask, just like quarantining, is most associated with Venice, perhaps because of the population’s general fondness for mask-wearing during Carnival. Beak,” a plague doctor in 17th-century Rome, c. Apparently though he had a very good success rate, his remedies relying less on bloodletting and garlic wearing and and more on good hygiene, a healthy diet, and basic public health regimes such as removing infected corpses from the streets. One of the most famous plague doctors in history was Nostradamus, though living during the 16th century in France he would not have worn this outfit (too soon). In addition to taking care of patients (if one could call it that), they took a sort of death census and performed other tasks related to death, including writing wills. Plague doctors carried canes so they could examine patients without touching them (the first instance of mask-wearing and physical distancing?). The tell-tale beak-shaped mask actually originated in Naples in the 17th century, the beak filled with herbs and spices designed to combat noxious smells as well as to prevent infection. What or who exactly was a plague doctor? The profession itself is quite old, certainly going back to the Black Death of the 14th century (when 30-50% of Europeans died) and possibly as far back as the 6th century’s Plague of Justinian (when something like 25% of the Roman Empire’s population died) and likely even earlier. So I decided to be a plague doctor for Halloween this year.
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