Serial Killer or Doctor?

 I know it has been a while since I posted, but I finally graduated from grad. school and am back to enjoying some free time!  So, I hope to get the blog back up and running.  There is also going to be a slight change where I write some creative non-fiction based on historical stories that intrigue me.  The goal is to bring history to life, share books, spark interest, and lighten up the stuffy halls of academia.  

     To start off here is this fabulous engraving:

     Is this a sketch of a serial killer?

     Actually, this image shows a doctor dressed in protective clothing to ward off the plague.  He looks like a brilliant character design for a Disney villain or serial killer in a slasher movie.  I am pretty terrified of him and surely just the sight of this doctor would strike fear in medieval people, because this garb signified uncontrollable death.  During the late medieval and renaissance periods, the unwelcome plague visited several times.  People believed the plague spread through the air, so many images show people holding their noses to prevent the germs from getting in their bodies.  This outfit fully covered the doctors who had to treat plague victims, even though there was little doctors could do against the terrifying sickness.  The man in the image wears gloves to cover his hands, so his fingers are probably not that creepy and pointed.  The stick he holds is not a torture device or weapon, it is so he can touch the sick from a supposedly safe distance.  The beak is not a mask to disguise a murderer's identity, but another tactic to ward off the plague.  It would be stuffed with strong smelling herbs people thought kept the plague away and helped with the stench of death.  

Although, we now know the plague spread by infected flea bites and then the coughs and sneezes of infected humans, the idea of disease spreading through the air is a step in the right direction for prevention.  This outfit kept fleas from getting near the skin.  So this garb helped in some unintentional way.

My favorite detail is in the bottom left corner where a man in this outfit scares children away.  This detail supports the serial killer look of the man, but it probably just illustrates how this outfit terrified people because it meant the plague had arrived.  The city scape in the right corner shows the plague primarily appeared in urban environments.

If you see a man in this outfit today, you should probably run the other way because he is either a serial killer or a time traveler who will spread the plague all over again or he is just a creepy history buff who likes to accurately dress up.  But seriously, how about a scary movie featuring the plague doctor?  Instead of attempting to cure the disease, the doctor just spreads it as part of the diabolical plan.  Isn't history fun?