Жұқпалы обамен күрескен дәрігерлер

Physician that treated patients with bubonic plague

A plague doctor was a physician who treated victims of bubonic plague during epidemics mainly in the 16th and 17th centuries. 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 and trained physicians or surgeons, instead being volunteers, second rate doctors, or young doctors just starting a career. In one case, a plague doctor was a fruit salesman before his employment as a physician. 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 European city or town at the same time.

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. 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 at the time. After De Lorme, German engraver Gerhart Altzenbach published a famous illustration in 1656, which publisher Paulus Fürst's iconic Doctor Schnabel von Rom (1656) is based upon. In this satirical work, Fürst describes how the doctor does nothing but terrify people and take money from the dead and dying. The city of Orvieto hired Matteo fu Angelo as a plague doctor in 1348 for four times at a normal doctor's rate of 50 florins per year. Pope Clement VI hired several extra plague doctors during the Black Death plague to tend to the sick people of Avignon. Of eighteen doctors in Venice, only one was left by 1348: five had died of the plague, and twelve were missing and may have fled.

Plague doctors practiced bloodletting and other remedies such as putting frogs or leeches 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 and Perugia, 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 during times of plague epidemics, and gave advice to their patients about their conduct before death. This advice varied depending on the patient, and after the Middle Ages, the nature of the relationship between doctor and patient was governed by an increasingly complex ethical code.

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). The plague doctors would also wear gloves, boots, a wide brimmed hat, a linen hood, and an outer over clothing garment. 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. Most depictions come from satirical writings and political cartoons. The beaked plague doctor inspired costumes in Italian theatre 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. 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 theatre and other works of fiction. The typical mask had glass openings for the eyes and a curved leather beak, The beak could hold dried flowers (like roses and carnations), herbs (like lavender and peppermint), camphor, or a vinegar sponge, as well as juniper berry, ambergris, cloves, labdanum, myrrh, and storax. 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. 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. The wide brimmed leather hat indicated their 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 germs did not stick to linen as easily as other materials.

A plague doctor's contract was an agreement between a town's administrators and a doctor to treat bubonic plague patients. These contracts are present in European city archives. A plague doctor had to serve a long quarantine after seeing a plague patient. The doctor was regarded as a "contact" who by agreement had to live in isolation to be quarantined.

The bargaining which always preceded the final contract often consisted of serious negotiations. For example, the town administrators of Turin 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. Bernardino di Francesco Rinaldi obtained a clause in his contract when he was hired as plague doctor by the city of Volterra 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.

In 1527, in the city of Prato, 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. The Irish physician, Niall Ó Glacáin 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 were also famous Renaissance plague doctors. Nostradamus 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 hips. In Traité des fardemens Part A Chapter VIII, Nostradamus also recommended to not bleed the patient. but he died in June 1645 only weeks after beginning employment.

Nostradamus. The Prophecies of Nostradamus, self published 1555 and 1558; reprinted by Forgotten Books publishing 1973,
Nostradamus. Traité des fardemens et confitures, self published 1555