This authentic 16th-century doctor's mask has been preserved over the years and is currently on display at the German Museum for the History of Medicine in Ingolstadt.
In medieval Europe, it was believed that people get sick from "bad air" (miasms), therefore, pleasantly smelling herbs were placed in the long nose of this mask, then they were set on fire, purifying the air to prevent inhalation of miasms.
The mask had glass eye holes and a curved beak shaped like a bird's beak with straps that held the beak in front of the doctor's nose. The mask had two small openings in the nose and was a respirator that contained aromatic items. The beak could contain dried flowers (including roses and carnations), herbs (including mint), spices, camphor, or a vinegar sponge. The purpose of the mask was to prevent the inhalation of unpleasant odors, which were considered the main cause of the disease. Doctors believed that herbs would resist the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from getting infected.
The beak doctor costume worn by the plague doctors had a wide-brimmed leather hat to indicate their profession. They used wooden walking sticks to point out areas requiring attention and examine patients without touching them. Walking sticks were also used to keep people away, to remove clothing from plague victims without touching them, and to measure the patient's pulse.
Medical historians attribute the invention of the "doctor-beak" costume to Charles de Lorme, who in 1619 created protective clothing from head to toe, modeled on knightly armor. It consisted of a bird-shaped mask with goggles and a long leather (Moroccan or Levantine) or waxed linen. Outerwear, as well as leggings, gloves, boots, and a hat, were made of waxed leather. The garments were impregnated with the same aromatic substances as the mask.
Lorme wrote that the mask had a “nose half a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils, but that might be enough to breathe and carry with it the air that breathes.
The Geneva physician Jean-Jacques Manguet, in his 1721 Treatise on the Plague, written immediately after the Great Plague of Marseille, describes the costume worn by the plague doctors at Nijmegen in 1636-1637. Nijmegen's plague doctors also wore beaked masks. Their clothes, leggings, hats, and gloves were all made from Moroccan leather.
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This costume was also worn by doctors during the Plague of 1656, which killed 145,000 people in Rome and 300,000 in Naples. The costume frightened people, because if someone saw it, it was a sign of imminent death.
The Plague Doctor is arguably one of the most mysterious figures to emerge in the Middle Ages. These were European doctors who specialized in treating plague victims, the most famous example being the Black Death. Plague doctors were government employees hired by villages and towns to fight the plague.
In theory, the main duties of a plague doctor were to treat plague victims as well as to bury the dead. Plague doctors were also in charge of counting casualties in public registers and documenting their patients' last wishes. In addition, plague doctors were often called in to testify and testify to the will of the dead and dying. It seems that most plague doctors have been preoccupied with this aspect of their work. From time to time, doctors were asked to perform autopsies to better understand how the plague could be treated.