Plague Physicians

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Earlier this year Peter Pig released a pack of plague physicians. Here's my take on them, teamed up with a 'dead cart' from PP's Wars of the Roses range.

The contemporary evidence for this plague physician appearance comes from France and Germany; sadly, there is absolutely no evidence that these outfit were worn by doctors during plague outbreaks in the UK. Despite an absence of scientific knowledge about plague transmission, these outfits would have been very good at protecting the wearer.


Were you taught at school that the plague was transmitted by rats, and their fleas? Recent research is strongly suggestive that that was not the case: human fleas and body lice being much more likely culprits.



And here is a real plague mask on display at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin.



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