Death doctor were doctors that emerged in medieval times to deal with the black or bubonic plague. They were called “plague doctor” or “doctor of death” since, once their services were called for, it was known in advance that patients would die.
Summary
[ hide ]
- 1 History
- 2 Tasks of Death Doctors
- 3 His bizarre dress
- 4 Treatments
- 5 Featured Black Plague Doctors
- 6 Sources
History
In a town or city where the Black Death appeared, the vast majority of doctors fled before the patients, because they predicted what would happen. The communities hired the services of doctors of death, who generally did not have a traditional education and in many cases had not been able to establish themselves successfully in the profession, or were young doctors trying to make their way into medicine.
Tasks of the Death Doctors
One of his tasks consisted of, in addition to caring for plague victims, removing corpses and doing autopsies, writing down public records of deaths caused by the plague. The most identifying feature of these servants was the clothing, on which it is known that it was devised by the French doctor Charles de L´Orme.
His bizarre dress
Dressed in an ankle-length black tunic, with gloves, a wide-brimmed hat, and an eccentric bird-beak mask – all black and goatskin – the death doctors carried a white cane with a clockwork. sand on high to examine the sick.
Plague doctor
The mask had attached two crystals (said to be red) through which the doctor could see. Straws and various aromatic substances were introduced into the beak shape with the idea of being able to filter the air and mitigate the stench emanating from the dying. At that time it was thought that the plague was spread by air and that it penetrated the body through the pores of the skin, so any precaution seemed little.
Another reason why the mask was shaped like a beak was because it prevented the doctor from getting too close to the patient. There was also the belief that the disease was transmitted by birds, so the bird shape of the mask made these animals move away from whoever was wearing it (birds, by the way, were immune to the bacteria that cause plague ).
It was ironic that those who made efforts to care for patients were seen as the spitting image of death. Those who crossed them on the road fled terrified by the panic they perceived when witnessing them.
Treatments
Plague doctors used bleeding and other remedies such as putting toads or leeches on boobies to “rebalance humors” as traditional routines. Plague doctors were unable to interact with the general public due to the nature of their work and the possibility of spreading the disease to others; they could also be quarantined.
Featured Black Plague Doctors
A famous doctor of the black plague who gave medical advice on preventive measures against the plague was Nostradamus.Nostradamus’s advice was to remove infected bodies, take fresh air, drink clean water, and drink a juice prepared with rose hips (rose hips). In Traité des fardemens, Part A Chapter VIII, it is shown that Nostradamus also recommends not bleeding the patient.
Giovanni de Ventura was hired by the Italian city of Pavia as the community plague physician in 1479. The Irish doctor Niall O’Glacáin earned much respect in Spain, France and Italy for his bravery caring for many plague patients. The famous anatomist Ambroise Pare and Paracelsus were also famous plague doctors in Medieval Europe.
