A Plague Doctor Arrested For Mortality Inspection: a blog about historical events and costumes.
The Plague Doctor Costume is a type of protective suit worn by medical professionals when dealing with patients infected with the highly contagious Bubonic Plague.
This costume was first introduced in the 17th century and was used until the 19th century. A plague doctor was also one of the few people allowed to wear a mask during this time. The mask is believed to have been used to keep the doctor from inhaling the disease, although there is no evidence that it actually worked.
The costume consisted of an ankle-long overcoat and a bird-like beak mask, often filled with sweet or strong smelling substances (commonly lavender), along with gloves, boots, a wide-brimmed hat, and an outer over-clothing garment designed to cover the body of the physician to protect them from airborne diseases.
A Plague Doctor Arrested For Mortality Inspection
On the 28th of June, in 1656, a plague doctor was arrested for conducting illegal inspections.
The plague doctor, who lived in Bologna, Italy, was arrested after a local judge witnessed him inspecting the body of a man recently deceased. Evidently he had been contracted by the local authorities to perform this inspection after the individual had died. However, due to the nature of his appearance, and his rather unusual method of inspecting the body he was arrested on suspicion of witchcraft.
At that time plague doctors were not viewed as physicians at all, but rather viewed as servants of Satan.
In 1721, a plague doctor was arrested for his treatment of the sick.
His crime? Mortality inspection.
Now, you may be wondering, what does that mean? Was he looking at dead bodies and getting paid for it?
The answer is yes.
Well, sort of. He was being paid to treat the sick, but he wasn’t doing anything about it. Yes, he performed inspections on them (and their houses), but they were more like routine visits than actual examinations. There were no medicines used, or diagnostic equipment used. And if there was any treatment performed, it was usually a small amount of alcohol or opium.
This doctor wasn’t the only one to perform these kinds of inspections – there were many others throughout Europe during this time period. However, this particular doctor was well known because he wore a long coat and leather boots while performing his duties. The leather boots were covered in wax so that they would not get wet when walking through puddles of water or other forms of fluids from those who had died from the plague (or other diseases). This type of clothing became very popular among doctors during this time period as well as those who worked with dead bodies such as undertakers or taxidermists…
A few days ago, a strange incident occurred in the village of Les Prés. The plague doctor, Jacobus Bellamont, was arrested and taken to jail. Apparently, he had been accused of some kind of misconduct related to his professional life. In this article I will present you with what little information there is about this case and then I will share my own opinion on the subject.
It all happened during a routine mortality inspection. Dr. Bellamont was doing his job when he was surprised by the arrival of the police officers. They had come at the request of one of the villagers who apparently had lost their patience with the doctor’s behaviour and decided that it was time to take action.
The man’s name is Pierre-Louis Montes and he is a farmer who lives just outside Les Prés. He claims that Dr. Bellamont came to his house on several occasions these past few weeks but never actually did anything useful for his sick wife who is dying from pneumonia. Instead, he would just stand there staring at her while she was gasping for breath and slowly losing her life.
The Plague Doctor Costume is one of the most recognizable costumes in the world. Even if you have never heard of it, you have almost certainly seen something similar in a horror movie or two. The costume usually consists of a dark overcoat and a birdlike mask, often with a beak shaped like a bucket. These masks were designed to hold scented items to filter out bad smells, which were believed to be the main cause of illnesses like the Bubonic Plague.
It is not known for certain who designed the first plague doctor costume, but there are many theories. Some say that it was created by Charles de Lorme, the physician to King Louis XIII. Others claim that it was invented by an unknown doctor from Milan who was trying to prevent plague from spreading into his city. There are even some who believe that these outfits originated in medieval times as part of an annual parade celebrating St. Anthony’s Day on January 17th (the Feast of St. Anthony).
The first appearance of this costume was during an outbreak in Marseille in 1619 where doctors wore them while treating patients infected with what they thought was influenza but later turned out to be bubonic plague (the Black Death). This epidemic lasted until 1622 when it finally ended after killing approximately 200 people
According to the historical record, the first plague doctor was Charles de Lorme (1584-1678), a French physician who is credited with creating the costume for his patients. However, a similar costume has been documented in the records of Bernardo Della Torre (1530-1607) from Venice.
Charles de Lorme was born in Saint Germain de la Riviere, in Picardy. He studied medicine and surgery in Paris before becoming a doctor for King Louis XIII. When he turned 70 years old, he wrote a treatise on chirurgie (surgery) and anatomy that would become a standard reference book for those studying medicine.
When the first outbreak of the Bubonic Plague occurred in 1656, de Lorme decided to create a costume to protect himself while treating patients. His costume consisted of an ankle-length overcoat and a bird-like beak mask filled with aromatic items. The mask also included round glass eyes to allow him to see while protecting his face from infection.
The Plague Doctor Costume
The beak-shaped mask had glass openings for the eyes and a curved beak shaped like a bird’s beak with straps that held the beak in front of the doctor’s nose. Doctors believed (wrongly) that bad smells spread the disease, so the mask was filled with sweet herbs and flowers.
The mask had a hollow beak into which the doctor put dried flowers (particularly roses and carnations), herbs (particularly lavender), spices, camphor, or a vinegar sponge. The purpose of the mask was to keep away bad smells, known as miasma, which were thought to be the principal cause of the disease (the name plague is derived from plaga, the Latin word for “strike”). The mask had a small nose slit to allow the wearer to breathe, but most doctors preferred not to use it. Their theory was that breathing through their mouths helped protect them from bad vapors by passing them through an aromatic sponge soaked in vinegar or herbal concoctions.[1]
The costume worn by these physicians consisted of an ankle length overcoat and a bird-like beak mask, often filled with sweet or strong smelling substances (commonly lavender), along with gloves, boots, a wide-brimmed