IV: Scientific
explanations
56. The report of the
This is the most
authoritative contemporary statement of the nature of the plague and
therefore forms an appropriate introduction to this section. The full text
consists of two parts: three chapters on the causes of the plague, and seven on
remedies and regimen. Only the first part is printed here.
R. Hoeniger (ed), Der Schwarze Tod,
Seeing things
which cannot be explained, even by the most gifted intellects,
initially stirs the human mind to amazement; but after marvelling,
the prudent soul next yields to its desire for understanding and, anxious for
its own perfection, strives with all its might to discover the
causes of the amazing events. For there is within the human mind an innate desire to seize
on goodness and truth. As the Philosopher
makes plain, all things seek for the good and want to understand.[1]
To attain this end we have listened to the opinions of many modern
experts on astrology and medicine about the causes of the epidemic which has prevailed since 1345. However, because their conclusions still leave room for considerable
uncertainty, we, the masters of the faculty
of medicine at Paris, inspired by the command of the most illustrious prince, our most serene lord, Philip, King of France, and by our desire to achieve something of
public benefit, have decided to
compile, with God's help, a brief compendium of the distant and immediate causes of the present universal epidemic
(as far as these can be understood by
the human intellect) and of wholesome remedies; drawing on the opinions of the most brilliant ancient philosophers and modern experts, astronomers as well as doctors of
medicine. And if we cannot explain everything as we would wish, for a
sure explanation and perfect understanding
of these matters is not always to be had (as Pliny says in book II,
chapter 39: `some accidental causes of storms
are still
uncertain, or cannot be explained'), it is open to any diligent reader to make
good the deficiency.
We shall divide the work into two parts,
in the first of which we shall investigate the causes of this pestilence and whence they come, for without knowledge of the causes no one can
prescribe cures. In the second part
we shall include methods of prevention and cure. There will be three chapters in the first part, for this
epidemic arises from a able cause. One cause is distant and from above, and
pertains to the heavens; the other is near and from below and pertains to
the earth, and is dependent, causally and effectively, on the first
cause. Therefore first chapter will deal with the first cause, the
second with the second cause, and the third with the prognostications and signs
associated with both of them. There will be two treatises in the second part. The first will deal with medical
means of prevention and cure and will be divided
into four chapters: the first on the disposition of the air its rectification;
the second on exercise and baths; the third on food and drink;
the fourth on sleeping and waking, emptiness and fullness the stomach
and on the emotions. The second treatise will have three chapters: the first on universal remedies; the
second on specific remedies
appropriate to different patients; the third on antidotes.
CHAPTER 1 OF THE
FIRST PART: CONCERNING THE UNIVERSAL AND DISTANT CAUSE
We say that the distant and first cause of this pestilence was and is the configuration of
the heavens. In 1345, at one hour after
These effects
were intensified because Mars - a malevolent planet, breeding anger and wars - was
in the sign of Leo from 6 October 1347
until the end of May this year, along with
the head of the dragon, and because
all these things are hot they attracted many vapours;
which is why the winter was not as
cold as it should have been.[4]
And Mars was also retrograde and therefore
attracted many vapours from the earth and the sea which, when mixed with the air,
corrupted its substance.[5]
Mars was also looking upon Jupiter with a hostile aspect, that is to say quartile, and that caused an evil disposition or
quality in the air, harmful and
hateful to our nature.[6]
This state of affairs generated strong winds (for according to Albertus in the first book of his Meteora, Jupiter has the property of
raising powerful winds, particularly from the south) which gave rise to excess heat and moisture on the earth;
although in fact it was the dampness which was most marked in our part of the world. And this is enough about the
distant or universal cause for the moment.
CHAPTER 2 OF THE
FIRST PART: CONCERNING THE PARTICULAR AND
NEAR CAUSE
Although
major pestilential illnesses can be caused by the corruption of water or food,
as happens at times of famine and infertility, yet we still regard illnesses proceeding from the corruption of the air as much
more dangerous. This is because bad
air is more noxious than food or drink in that it can penetrate quickly to the
heart and lungs to do its damage. We
believe that the present epidemic or plague has arisen from corrupt air in its
substance, and has not changed in its attributes.[7] By which we wish it be understood that air, being
pure and clear by nature, can only
become putrid or corrupt by being mixed with something else, that is to say, with evil vapours.
What happened was that the many vapours which had been corrupted at the time of the conjunction were drawn up from the earth and
water, and were then mixed with the
air and spread abroad by frequent gusts of wind in the wild southerly, gales, and because of these alien
vapours which they carried the winds corrupted the air in its substance, and are still doing
so. And this corrupted air, when breathed in, necessarily penetrates to the heart and corrupts the substance of the spirit
there and rots the surrounding
moisture, and the heat thus caused destroys the life force, and this is the immediate cause of the present
epidemic.[8]
And moreover these winds, which have
become so common here, have carried among us (and may perhaps continue to do so in future) bad, rotten
and poisonous vapours from elsewhere: from swamps,
lakes and chasms, for instance, and also (which is even more dangerous) from unburied or unburnt
corpses - which might well have been a
cause of the epidemic. Another
possible cause of corruption, which needs to be borne in mind, is the escape of the rottenness trapped in the centre of the earth as a result of earthquakes -
something which has indeed recently occurred.
But the conjunctions could have been the universal and distant cause of
all these harmful things, by which air and water have been corrupted.
CHAPTER 3: CONCERNING PROGNOSTICATION AND SIGNS
Unseasonable
weather is a particular cause of illness. For the ancients, notably Hippocrates, are agreed that if the four
seasons run awry, and do not keep
their proper course, then plagues and mortal passions are engendered that year. Experience tells us that for
some time the seasons have not
succeeded each other in the proper way. Last winter was not as cold as it should have been, with a
great deal of rain; the spring windy and latterly wet. Summer was late,
not as hot as it should have been, and extremely wet - the weather very
changeable from day to day, and hour to hour;
the air often troubled, and then still again, looking as if it was going to
rain but then not doing so. Autumn too was
very rainy and misty. It is because the whole year here - or most of
it - was warm and wet that the air is
pestilential. For it is a sign of pestilence
for the air to be warm and wet at unseasonable times.
Wherefore we may
fear a future pestilence here, which is particularly from the root beneath,[9]
because it is subject to the evil impress of the heavens, especially since that
conjunction was in a western sign. Therefore
if next winter is very rainy and less cold than it ought to be, we should expect an epidemic round about late
winter and spring - and if it occurs it will be long and dangerous, for
usually unseasonable weather is of only brief
duration, but when it lasts over many seasons, as has obviously been the case
here, it stands to reason that its effects will be longer-lasting and more dangerous, unless ensuing seasons change their nature in the opposite way. Thus if
the winter in the north turns out to
be cold and dry, the plagues might be arrested.
We have not said that the future
pestilence will be exceptionally dangerous, for we do not wish to give the
impression that it will be as dangerous here as in southern or eastern regions.
For the conjunctions and the other causes discussed above had a more immediate
impact on those regions than on ours. However, in the judgement
of astrologers (who follow Ptolemy on this) plagues are likely, although not inevitable,
because so many exhalations and inflammations have been observed, such as a comet and shooting
stars.[10]
Also the sky has looked yellow and the air
reddish because of the burnt vapours. There has also been
much lightning and flashes and frequent thunder, and winds of such violence and strength that they have carried
dust storms from the south. These
things, and in particular the powerful earthquakes, have done universal harm and left a trail of
corruption. There have been masses of
dead fish, animals and other things along the sea shore, and in many places trees covered in dust, and some
people claim to have seen a multitude
of frogs and reptiles generated from the corrupt matter; and all these things
seem to have come from the great corruption of the air and earth. All
these things have been noted before as signs of plague by numerous wise men who
are still remembered with respect and who experienced them themselves.
No wonder, therefore, that we fear that we
are in for an epidemic. But it should be noted that in saying this we do not intend
to exclude the possibility of illnesses arising from the character of the
present year - for as the aphorism of Hippocrates has it: a year of
many fogs and damps is a year of many illnesses. On the other hand, the
susceptibility of the body of the patient is
the most immediate cause in the breeding of illnesses, and therefore no cause is likely to have an effect unless
the patient is susceptible to its effects. We must therefore emphasize that although,
because everyone has to breathe, everyone will be at risk from the corrupted air, not everyone will be made
ill by it but only those, who will no
doubt be numerous, who have a susceptibility to it; and very few indeed of those who do succumb will
escape.
The bodies most likely to take the stamp of this pestilence are those which are hot and
moist, for they are the most susceptible to putrefaction. The
following are also more at risk: bodies bunged up with evil humours, because the unconsumed waste
matter is not being expelled as it should; those following a bad life style,
with too much exercise, sex and bathing; the thin and weak, and persistent worriers; babies,
women and young people; and corpulent
people with a ruddy complexion. However those with dry bodies, purged of waste
matter, who adopt a sensible and suitable
regimen, will succumb to the pestilence more slowly.
We must not overlook the fact that any pestilence proceeds from the divine will, and our advice can
therefore only be to return humbly to God.
But this does not mean forsaking doctors. For the Most High created earthly medicine, and although God alone
cures the sick, he does so through the
medicine which in his generosity he provided. Blessed be the glorious and high God, who does not refuse his help, but
has clearly set out a way of being cured for those who fear him. And this is enough of the third chapter, and of the
whole first part.
68. The astrological causes of the plague,
Geoffrey de Meaux
Geoffrey de Meaux
was a astrologer who had been associated with the
Bodleian
Library,
I have been asked by some of my friends to
write something about the cause of this general pestilence, showing its natural
cause, and why it affected
so many countries, and why it affected some countries more than others, and why within those countries it
affected some cities and towns more
than others, and why in one town it affected one street, and even one house, more than another, and why it
affected nobles and gentry less than other people, and how long it will
last. And they asked that after explaining
the cause I should discuss appropriate remedies, drawing on my own opinions and medical advice. In order to demonstrate the cause of all these things I shall
begin with the basics, as set forth by
the wise authors, philosophers and astrologers who have had things to say on
such matters.
Ptolemy in chapter 4 of the third
book of his Quadripartitum cites Plato and Aristotle in support of the contention
that God first created the heavens and the stars, and endowed them with the power to rule all earthly matters, and because of this it can be said
that everything which befalls us
happens at the will of God; for it is God himself who moves the heavens and whatever is within them, and
it is through this motion that there
come all the chances of generation and corruption, and all the other
chances which lie outside our free will. Haly also
cites Ptolemy as saying in the prologue to
the first book of the Quadripartitum that the heavenly bodies confer on the inferior
bodies below them similar powers, if
they are naturally disposed to receive them.[11]
He also says in the Quadripartitum that heavenly bodies can bring about changes and events when they are turned
towards us, and that this is a natural
power, like the power of adamant to attract iron or scammony to purge yellow bile.[12]
Friar Roger Bacon in his treatise on
the significance of places says that every point on the earth is at the apex of
a pyramid formed by the converging lines of various heavenly powers; and
this explains why you get plants of various species within one tiny piece of ground, or find twins who differ
in character and behaviour, and in their
aptitude for scholarship, languages or business.
Ptolemy divided the twelve signs of the Zodiac, through
which all the planets move, into four
groups of three, which he called trigons or triplicities, each of which is
identified with one element. Thus the trigon
of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius is identified with fire, which is hot and dry; the trigon of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn
with earth, which is cold and dry; the trigon of Gemini, Libra and
Aquarius with air, which is hot and wet;
and the trigon of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces with water, which is cold and wet.
Ptolemy also divided the whole inhabited world into four principal parts, each of which he identifies with one of
the trigons. Ptolemy also says that
the conjunctions of the two highest planets,
that is Saturn and Jupiter, are of three types: major, minor and mean. A major conjunction is one in which these
two planets begin their conjunction in
the trigon of fire and remain in conjunction in the other trigons in turn until they return to the
trigon of fire, but another sign from
that in which they started, and this happens every 960 years. A
mean conjunction is when these two highest planets begin their conjunction in one of the four triplicities and it
lasts until they enter another, and
this happens every 240 years. A minor conjunction is when they come
together in any one trigon and this happens about every 20 years.
Now that the basics have been discussed, you can consider the
reasons for such a great mortality in so
many countries, and how the illness came
through the influence of the stars. Ptolemy in chapter 4 of the
second part of the Quadripartitum says: the important things are the strengths and powers of the hour, the conjunctions
and oppositions, eclipses of the sun and moon, and the places the
planets cross at that hour. Wherefore it has
been, and is, known by all astrologers that in the year 1345 (taking the year to begin in January) there was a
total eclipse of the moon, of long
duration, on 18 March. At the
longitude of
The sun is the lord, the director of all events, both general
and specific, and the moon is second to him in dominion and power, and their
effect is to intensify the effects of the
planets acting with them. It is therefore in the natural course of events, and not to be wondered at, that such a great configuration should bring about major
events on the earth, from the nature
of the planets which drew to themselves the natures of the sun and moon. For when the sun is directly
opposite the moon, as occurs in a
total eclipse, then the power of each of them reaches the earth in a straight line, and the mingling of the
influence of sun and moon with that of
the superior planets creates a single celestial force which operates in conformity with the nature of
the superior planets, which have drawn to themselves the powers of the sun and
moon. The same thing happens in compound medicines: turbith
naturally expels phlegm from the
stomach and veins, and if it is mixed with ginger the mixture expels phlegm,
and since ginger is not in itself an expellant it has taken on the nature of turbith.
It is the same with the planets. On their
own they cannot achieve anything great or universal, but when compounded with the sun and moon (at a time when
these are aligned with each other and with the earth) they bend the nature of
the two luminaries to their own nature, and thus with the power of the two luminaries are able to achieve great things which
have a general and universal impact.
These natural
causes affect the whole inhabited world between east and north. According to Ptolemy,
Saturn, which was one of the partners in the
conjunction, governs the whole eastern part of the inhabited world; Mars the whole western part; and
Jupiter, besieged by both of them in
the conjunction, rules the whole northern part. Thus the greater part of the earth was influenced, because of the place of the conjunction and because the planets
involved rule parts of the world, as I
have just described, and also because all the parts of the world where the
eclipse was visible above the horizon shared in the effect of the configuration. Therefore this is why
it affected so many provinces. And
the reason why some were affected more than others is that a planet has no
effect in a place over which it exerts no influence, as Ptolemy testifies in
his Centilogium, and the superior planets in this conjunction had an influence over the places they rule and not elsewhere. And the reason why some towns and cities
were affected more than others in the
same provinces is as follows. Each city, town and home has fixed stars and
planets ruling it, as Ptolemy testifies in the Centilogium. Therefore wherever the rulers of these places agree in power and effect
with the planets and stars bringing the general mortality, those subject to them will have been made ready to receive that celestial influence upon their bodies.
It now remains to assign a reason why in
one town it affected one street more than another, and also one house more than
another. The answer is the same in both cases. Not all streets were
affected in the same way, or both sides of one street, or neighbouring
houses, because they do not have the same influences or rulers, and therefore
the impact of the heavens cannot affect them all equally - for that action of which I speak
is natural and operates according to the rules of nature. It cannot
act in the same way in every case, but only has an effect insofar as
the ground has been prepared for it.
It now remains to say why nobles and
gentry were less affected than the rest of the population. It was and is known to all
astrologers that at the time of this eclipse the three superior planets were in
the sign of Aquarius, where the fixed stars are not of the first magnitude and, save for one
which is in the south, far distant from us, are lesser stars which signify the
common people, and therefore the effect of the illness which they brought
touched those people more....
It now remains to
say how long the effects of that configuration on
You should understand, however, that I do
not wish to imply that the mortality comes only from Saturn and Jupiter but rather
through Mars, which was mixed with them at the time of the eclipse. And the condition which
resulted from all of these will last according to the nature of the
dominant planets in that configuration....
Now it remains to write about the best
remedy to be taken against this celestial influence, and you should know, as
Ptolemy says in the third chapter of the first book of the Quadripartitum, that not all the things which befall men through the
heavenly bodies are inevitable - that is, cannot be avoided. Some of the works of the stars are
inevitable in this sense, and cannot in the nature of things be avoided, but
others are things which it is possible to avoid, so that one part of the events befalling men
arose through the general and universal pestilence, and did not befall them
because of their individual nature. For in that mortality the greater and stronger
force throws down the weaker and lesser. And you ought to know that should
someone's nativity be the opposite of the configuration bringing the mortality,
the mortality would not touch him; but should his nativity be broadly
similar to the configuration, it would be clear that he lacks the contrary
forces by which he could resist it. For as doctors and students of natural science know,
transmutation is easy between bodies which have matching qualities. And
where a person's nativity does not fully correspond to the configuration
and yet is not totally contrary to it either, the body can (given a good
regimen and certain medicines which I will describe later) be preserved from
this pestilence, but if he adopts a bad regimen then he can easily contract it.
Now the nature of the sun and moon is drawn, as I said
earlier, to the nature of the dominant planets in the configuration, and those
were Saturn and Mars; not Jupiter, although at the time of the eclipse he was exalted above
Mars both in the eccentric and epicycle.[13]
For Jupiter is of a temperate power, and the more easily overcome as a result;
just as temperate medicines are easily overwhelmed when mixed with
intemperate medicines, and become intemperate themselves.[14]
Thus at the time of the eclipse, Jupiter was besieged by both the infortunes[15] and, mixed with
them, took the nature of both of them, but rather more of Saturn than of Mars;
because Saturn was stronger than Mars in that place, because he had more dignities in
that place, and because he was exalted above them in both the eccentric
and epicycle.
Saturn thus obtained dominion, and Mars was his second, as Ptolemy testifies.
Because Saturn was dominant, he brings cold (greater than the
sun could
counter) to each country under his rule, and because of the sign in which the
conjunction occurred men will experience the onset of lingering
illnesses such as tuberculosis, catarrh, paralysis and gout; passions of the
heart arising from unhappiness; and the deaths of those who have endured long
weakness. And since the conjunction was in the air sign of Aquarius it
signified great cold, heavy frosts, and thick clouds corrupting the air; and
since this is a sign which represents the pouring out of water, the configuration
signifies that rivers will burst their banks and the sea flood. And because
of the persistently cold atmosphere bitter humours
cannot be expelled from the
sea as usual, and because of the persistent cold there will be few fish in the sea and those that there are will rot
because of the cold, which traps vapours and humours in their
bodies. For his part, Mars in that
sign denotes strife among men, and sudden death which comes among all sorts of men, especially among
children and adolescents, and
illnesses entailing fevers and the spitting of blood, and also violent death and ulcers.
59, The dangers of
corrupted air
This account is taken from the treatise of Bengt
Knutsson, a mid-fifteenth century bishop
of
This extract represents a little over half the treatise; the
last two sections (on the comforts of the heart and blood-letting) have been
omitted. The text is taken from a fifteenth-century English
translation of Knutsson. I have modernised the spelling and made a few grammatical changes for the
sake of clarity, but have not attempted a complete modern
`translation'.
A Little Book for the Pestilence,
English translation of Knutsson in the John Rylands Library,
Here begins a little book which treats
and rehearses many good things necessary for the infirmity and great sickness called the Pestilence, the which often infects us, made by the most expert
doctor in physic the Bishop of Arusiens in the realm
of
At the reverence and worship of the
blessed Trinity and of the glorious Virgin St Mary and for the conservation of
the common weal, as well for them that be whole as for remedy of them that be sick, I the Bishop of Arusiens in the
realm of Denmark, doctor of physic, will write by the most expert and famous doctors, authorities in physic, some things about the infirmity of pestilence which daily
infects us and soon suffers us to depart out of this life.
First I will write
the tokens of this infirmity.
Secondly the
causes whereof it comes.
Thirdly the
remedies for the same.
Fourthly comfort for the heart and the principal members of the body.
Fifthly when it shall be the season to
let blood.
First as I said the tokens of this
infirmity. Seven things ought to be noted here:
The first is when on a summer's day the
weather often changes, so in the morning the weather appears rainy, afterwards it
appears cloudy and
finally windy from the south.
The second token is when in summer the days appear all dark
and look like rain, and yet it does not rain. And if many days continue thus, great pestilence is to be dreaded.
The third token is when there is a great multitude of flies upon the earth, then it is
sign that the air is venomous and infected.
The fourth token is when stars often seem to fall, then it is a token that the air is
infected with much venomous vapour.
The fifth token is when a blazing star is seen in the sky, then it should
fortune that soon after there will be great manslaughter in battle.
The sixth token is when there is great lightning and thunder, namely out of the south.
The seventh token is when great winds blow out of the south for they be foul and
unclean.
Therefore when these tokens appear great pestilence is to be dreaded, unless God of his
mercy will remove it.
The pestilence comes of three things. Sometimes it
comes from the root beneath, at other times
from the root above, so that we may feel
sensibly how the change of air apppears to us, and sometimes it comes of both together: from the root above as well
as from the root beneath - as when we see a siege or privy next to a chamber
or any other particular thing which
corrupts the air in substance and quality,
which is a thing which may happen every day. And thereof comes the ague
of pestilence. And many physicians are deceived about this, not suspecting this ague to be a pestilence. Sometimes it comes of dead carrion or the corruption of standing
waters in ditches or sloughs or other
corrupt places, and these things are sometimes universal and sometimes
particular. By the root above is meant the
heavenly bodies, by whom the spirit of life is corrupted in man or beast. In like wise, as Avicenna says in his
fourth book, by the form of the air
above the bodies beneath may be infected. For the inspissation above corrupts the air and so the spirits of man are corrupted.[16] This infirmity comes also from
the root above or beneath:
when the inspissation above corrupts the air or when the putrefaction or rotten carrion of the vile places
beneath cause an infirmity in man. And such
an infirmity is sometimes an ague, sometimes
an apostume or a swelling and that is in many things. Also the inspissated air is sometimes venomous and
corrupt, hurting the heart so that nature is grieved in many ways, but so
that he does not perceive his harm. For the urine appears fair and shows good digestion,
yet nevertheless the patient is likely to die .[17]
Wherefore many physicians, seeing the urine of their patients, speak
superficially and are deceived. Therefore it is necessary that every patient provide himself with a good and expert
physician.
These things
before written are the causes of pestilence; but about these things two questions are asked.
The first is why, within one town, one man dies and another does not. Where men are
dead in one house, in another house no one dies. The other question is
whether pestilence sores are contagious. To the first question I say that it may happen
for two causes: that is to say because of the thing that does or the thing
that suffers. An example of that thing that does: the influence of the
bodies above affects that place or that place more than this place or this place. And one patient is more disposed to die
than another. Therefore it is to be noted
that bodies inclined to be hot have open pores, whereas infected bodies
have the pores stopped with many humours. Where bodies
have open pores, as in the case of men who abuse themselves with women or often have baths, or men who are hot with
labour or great anger, they are the more disposed to
this great sickness.
To the second question I say that pestilence sores are
contagious because of infectious humours,
and the reek or smoke of such sores is venomous and corrupts the air. And
therefore one should flee such persons as are
infected. In pestilence time nobody should stand in a great press of people because some man among them
may be infected. Therefore wise physicians visiting sick folk stand far from
the patient, holding their face
towards the door or window, and so should the servants of sick folk stand. Also it is good for a patient to change his chamber
every day and often to have the windows open against the north and east and to spar the windows against the
south. For the south wind has two
causes of putrefaction. The first is it that makes a man, whether whole
or sick, feeble in his body. The second cause is as it is written in Aphorisms chapter 3, the south wind grieves the body and hurts
the heart because it opens man's pores and enters into the heart. Wherefore it is good for a whole man in time
of pestilence when the wind is in the
south to stay within the house all day, and if it shall be necessary for a man go out, yet let him abide
in his house until the sun be up in
the east and passing southward.
Here after follow
the remedies for the pestilence.
Now it is to be known by what remedies a
man may preserve himself from the pestilence. First see the writings of Jeremiah
the prophet that a man ought to forsake evil things and do good deeds and
meekly confess his sins, for it is the highest remedy in time of pestilence:
penance and confession to be preferred to all other medicines. Nevertheless I
promise you verily it is a good remedy to void and change the
infected place. But some may not profitably change their places. Therefore
as much as they can they should eschew every cause of putrefaction and
stinking, and namely every fleshly lust with women is to be eschewed. Also the
southern wind, which is naturally infective. Therefore spar the windows
against the south in like wise as it is said before, until the first hour
after the middle of the day then open the windows against the north. Of
the same cause every foul stench is to be eschewed, of stable, stinking fields,
ways or streets, and namely of stinking dead carrion and most of stinking waters
where in many places water is kept two days or two nights. Or else there be gutters of water
cast under the earth which cause great stink and corruption. And of this cause some
die in that house where such things happen, and in another house die none as
is said afore. Likewise in that place where worts
and cabbages putrefy it makes a noisome savour and stinking. For in
likewise as by the sweet odour of balsam the heart
and the
spirits have recreation, so of evil savours they be
made feeble. Wherefore keep your house that an infected air enter not in, for
an infected
air most causes putrefaction in places and houses where folk sleep. Therefore
let your house be clean and make clear fire of wood flaming. Let your
house be made with fumigation of herbs, that is to say with leaves of
bay tree, juniper, uberiorgani [unidentified] it is in the apothecary shops, wormwood,
rue, mugwort and of the wood of aloes which is
best but it is dear. Such a fume taken by the mouth and ears opens the
inward parts of the body. Also all great repletion is to be eschewed
because full bodies be easily infected as Avicenna says in the fourth canon:
they that charge their bodies to repletion shorten their life.
Also common baths are to be eschewed, for
a little crust corrupts all the body.[18] Therefore the people as much as is possible
is to be eschewed, lest of infectious breath some man be infected. But when the multitude of
people may not be eschewed, then use the remedies following. In the
morning when you rise wash a little rue and one or two filbert nuts
clean and eat them, and if that cannot be had then eat bread or toast
sopped in vinegar, namely in troublous and cloudy weather. Also in
the time of pestilence it is better to abide within the house for it is not
wholesome to go into the city or town. Also let your house be
sprinkled especially in summer with vinegar and roses and with the leaves
of the vine. Also it is good to wash your hands oft times in the day with water
and vinegar and wipe your face with your hands and smell to them.
Also it is good always to savour sour things. In Montpellier I
might not eschew the company of people for I went from house to house because
of my poverty to cure sick folks, therefore bread or a sponge sopped in vinegar
I took with me holding it in my mouth and nose because all sour things
stop the way of humours and suffer no
venomous things to enter into a man's body and so I escaped the pestilence,
my fellows supposing that I should not live. These forsaid things I have
proved by my self:
6o. Earthquakes as the cause of plague
This is the final section of a treatise
usually known, from its opening words,
as Is it from divine wrath that the mortality of these
years proceeds. It was probably
produced in
preferred explanation: that the earthquakes of 1347 released
poisonous fumes into the atmosphere.
Karl Sudhof;
Festschriften aus den ersten
150 Jahren nach der
Epidemic des
'schwarzen Todes' 1348: XI', Archiv fur Geschichte der Medizin XI, 1918-19, Pp
47-51.
There is a fourth
opinion, which I consider more likely than the others, which is that
insofar as the mortality arose from natural causes its immediate cause
was a corrupt and poisonous earthy exhalation, which infected the air
in various parts of the world and, when breathed in by people,
suffocated them and suddenly snuffed them out. I can bring two pieces of
evidence in support of my proposition, both securely grounded in
natural science. The first is that when air which is full of vapours and earthy fumes is enclosed and shut
up for a long time in the prison of the
earth it becomes so corrupted that it constitutes a potent poison to men. This is especially marked in
caverns or deep inside the earth,
where there is no fresh air supply, as is often seen in the case of wells which have been unused for a long time and
have remained sealed up for many
years. For when such wells are opened in order to be cleaned out it
often happens that the first man to enter is suffocated, and sometimes in turn those who follow him. And
the common people are so ignorant that
they blame this on a basilisk lurking inside.[19]
It is a matter of scientific fact that
earthquakes are caused by the exhalation of fumes enclosed in the bowels of the earth.
When the fumes batter against the sides of the earth, and cannot get out, the earth
is shaken and moves. I say that it is the vapour and
corrupted air which has been vented - or so to speak purged -
in the earthquake which occurred on St Paul's day, 1347, along
with the corrupted air vented in
other earthquakes and eruptions, which has infected the air above the earth and killed people in various
parts of the world; and I can bring various reasons in support of this
conclusion:
1. In
2. Houses near the sea, as at
3. In
all the places where the mortality has persisted for a long time, and persists, there have been more fogs and stinks
than in other years at times when the sun is low in the sky, that is at
its rising and setting, n it falls below the meridian, or whenever it is
lower than at the summer solstice,
that is in autumn, winter and spring. And this is because air there
is fuller of earthy vapours and fogs than in other
years.
4. It can be deduced from the corruption
of fruit such as pears.
5. It can be
deduced from the flooding of rivers, although this has been brought about by the heavy rain.
6. In every place
where the mortality has persisted, virtually every victim has been
afflicted as follows. For several days they spend most of each day
asleep, weighed down by drowsiness, their heads made thick by a kind of fume, such as they might derive from eating or drinking fumous things.[21]
Most die within three days, although a few last for four. What happens
is that when the poisonous fumes have gathered in the empty parts of the human
body, especially in the chest, they
rise into the head and trouble the animal spirits, which is one way of causing sleep.
7. In every place visited by the mortality the poor and common
people die first, in great numbers, and the better off die later. But it is well known that the
planets look down on rich and poor alike. The explanation would seem to be that the
poor, who do not consume rich food or strong drink, do not generate heat or fumes inside themselves as the rich do, who are full of hot food
and fumous drink. Therefore the rich do
not so easily absorb fumes from outside, for what is inside them leaves no
room for such fumes and blocks their entry. That is also the reason why
men who eat and drink moderately are more likely to be struck down quickly by this mortality than
are the gluttonous, although
they cannot hold it at bay indefinitely.
8. As Avicenna and Albertus Magnus rehearse, any earthquake has the power of turning men to stone, and notably into salt, because of the very powerful mineral virtue which exists in earthy vapours .[22] It therefore seems possible that in other circumstances men might die, infected by the vapours spread across