Ok. So I couldn't help get annoyed about a few mistakes I've seen about medieval history and such. Let me just casually correct this. I have done enough research and confirming about this that I once had an argument with a professor and won. (seven months ago on a Thursday. I won by reminding him of the exact date of the plague mask invention). Anyway, here ya go:
The Black Death pandemic (worldwide epidemic) hit Europe in 1347. It spread quickly via travelers and trades, and killed an estimated 50 million people. Unlike most people believe, the plague doctor mask was NOT from this era. It wasn't even invented for another three hundred years.
Another misdemeanor is that the illness was blamed on witches. In truth, the church hadn't even accepted witches as real and the name was unknown to most. They blamed it on a mix of bad luck, wrath of God, and the Miasma.
The miasma was "bad air" caused by rot and evil spirits, as the people believed. There was no known cute to the illness, although people tried.everything from herbal baths to burning it out of them. Bodies were collected and either burned or dumped into mass graves if the town was overwhelmed. The Pestilence ended in 1352, after which everything finally recovered.
The Bird Mask plague doctor outfit was invented in 1619 by a german man named Charles DeLorme. The idea of it was to completely separate the doctor from the patient. The bird mask was made with a beak about a foot long stuffed with herbs and spices in an effort to filter out the Miasma. The entire mask sad made of leather with glass lenses so they could see without allowing air to reach their face. They wore a blouse that tucked into thick boots and trousers with a large coat and leather gloves over it. This was the first sort of "biohazard suit". They carried a stick that was used to best away desperate people and rats, as well as poke and prod the patient. Plague doctors were forced to live in complete solitude in an effort to keep them from getting ill.
Move down to London and skip ahead to 1665. One of the funnier dates in my opinion, I'll point out why in a moment.
In 1665, trade ships originating from Italy arrived in London over the Thames (t?ame?z for those who don't know). Unbeknownst to them, they were infested with black rats carrying rat fleas infected with Bubonic plague. It all went downhill from there. The illness spread rapidly. People developed severe fevers, rashes (thought now to be caused by the fleas).and coughs, with the worst cases including pneumonia and coughing blood. The main identifier of the bubonic plague was the formation of buboes (the swelling of lymph nodes to the point of a large blister). After the Pestilence in 1347, doctors learned that popping these buboes indeed helped. But many other treatments did not. They would run cut up animal parts all over their body, and among the most gruesome was rubbing the patient with mercury and in fact baking them. The epidemic continued until the next year, 1666.
It ended on September 2nd, when a great fire broke out and destroyed an estimated 70,000 homes. The fire did, though, kill the rats and fleas, therefore ending the Great Plague. There were roughly 68,596 deaths recorded in total from the illness.
The Great Fire of London went out on September 7th with a total of merely six reported casualties. But 1666 still remains one of London's darkest years.
Also, check the date. 1666. Great plague and Great Fire in the same year. ;)
Anyway just wanted to spout stuff off and correct people before I went mad.