prevention

• Supernatural means


  • Pray to God and fast
  • Go on a pilgrimage and make offerings to God
  • Show God how sorry you are by self-flagellation (whipping yourself)
• Large groups of flagellants wandered the streets of London, chanting and whipping themselves
• Natural means


  • Escaping the plague was the best advice for prevention
  • Carry a posy of flowers or fragrant herbs and hold it to your nose
  • Avoid bathing as it was believed water would open the skin's pores to the corrupted air
• Guy de Chauliac, who was the physician to the Pope, advised people to: 'Go quickly, go far, and return slowly'
• One physician in Italy recommended doing joyful things, listening to cheerful music and avoiding anything sad as a protection against the disease
• People did not know how to prevent the disease, but they did stop visiting family members who had caught the plague
• Government action


  • New quarantine laws were put in place to try to stop people from moving around too much
  • People new to an area had to stay away from everybody else for 40 days, to ensure they were not carrying the disease
  • Authorities also started to quarantine houses where the plague had broken out
  • They considered banning preaching and religious processions, to stop large crowds of people gathering