II.
Examination of the Jews accused of poisoning the Wells[202].
Answer from the Castellan of Chillon to the City of Strasburg, together with a Copy of the Inquisition and Confession of several Jews confined in the Castle of Chillon on suspicion of poisoning. Anno 1348.
To the Honorable the Mayor, Senate and Citizens of the City of Strasburg, the Castellan of Chillon, Deputy of the Bailiff of Chablais, sendeth greeting with all due submission and respect.
Understanding that you desire to be made acquainted with the confession of the Jews, and the proofs brought forward against them, I certify, by these presents, to you, and each of you that desires to be informed, that they of Berne have had a copy of the inquisition and confession of the Jews who lately resided in the places specified, and who were accused of putting poison into the wells and several other places: as also the most conclusive evidence of the truth of the charge preferred against them. Many Jews were put to the question, others being excused from it, because they confessed, and were brought to trial and burnt. Several Christians, also, who had poison given them by the Jews for the purpose of destroying the Christians, were put on the wheel and tortured. This burning of the Jews and torturing of the said Christians took place in many parts of the county of Savoy.
Fare you well.
The Confession made on the 15th day of September, in the year of our Lord 1348, in the Castle of Chillon, by the Jews arrested in Neustadt, on the Charge of Poisoning the Wells, Springs and other places; also Food, &c., with the design of destroying and extirpating all Christians.
I. Balavignus, a Jewish physician, inhabitant of Thonon, was arrested at Chillon in consequence of being found in the neighbourhood.He was put for a short time to the rack, and on being taken down, confessed, after much hesitation, that, about ten weeks before, the Rabbi Jacob of Toledo, who, because of a citation, had resided at Chamberi since Easter, sent him, by a Jewish boy, some poison in the mummy of an egg: it was a powder sewed up in a thin leathern pouch accompanied by a letter, commanding him, on penalty of excommunication, and by his required obedience to the law, to throw this poison into the larger and more frequented wells of the town of Thonon, to poison those who drew water there. He was further enjoined not to communicate the circumstance to any person whatever, under the same penalty. In conformity with this command of the Jewish rabbis and doctors of the law, he, Balavignus, distributed the poison in several places, and acknowledged having one evening placed a certain portion under a stone in a spring on the shore at Thonon. He further confessed that the said boy brought various letters of a similar import, addressed to others of his nation, and particularly specified some directed severally to Mossoiet, Banditon, and Samoleto of Neustadt; to Musseo Abramo and Aquetus of Montreantz, Jews residing at Thurn in Vivey; to Benetonus and his son at St. Moritz; to Vivianus Jacobus, Aquetus and Sonetus, Jews at Aquani. Several letters of a like nature were sent to Abram and Musset, Jews at Moncheoli; and the boy told him that he had taken many others to different and distant places, but he did not recollect to whom they were addressed. Balavignus further confessed that, after having put the poison into the spring at Thonon, he had positively forbidden his wife and children to drink the water, but had not thought fit to assign a reason. He avowed the truth of this statement, and, in the presence of several credible witnesses, swore by his law, and the Five Books of Moses, to every item of his deposition.
On the day following, Balavignus, voluntarily and without torture, ratified the above confession verbatim before many persons of character, and, of his own accord, acknowledged that, on returning one day from Tour near Vivey, he had thrown into a well below Mustruez, namely that of La Conerayde, a quantity of the poison tied up in a rag, given to him for the purpose by Aquetus of Montreantz, an inhabitant of the said Tour: that he had acquainted Manssiono, and his son Delosaz, residents of Neustadt, with the circumstance of his having done so, and advertised them not to drink of the water. He described the colour of the poison as being red and black.
On the nineteenth day of September, the above-named Balavignus confessed, without torture, that about three weeks after Whitsuntide, a Jew named Mussus told him that he had thrown poison into the well, in the custom-house of that place, the property of the Borneller family; and that he no longer drank the water of this well, but that of the lake.He further deposed that Mussus informed him that he had also laid some of the poison under the stones in the custom-house at Chillon. Search was accordingly made in this well, and the poison found: some of it was given to a Jew by way of trial, and he died in consequence. He also stated that the rabbis had ordered him and other Jews to refrain from drinking of the water for nine days after the poison was infused into it; and immediately on having poisoned the waters, he communicated the circumstance to the other Jews. He, Balavignus, confessed that about two months previously, being at Evian, he had some conversation on the subject with a Jew called Jacob, and, among other things, asked him whether he also had received writings and poison, and was answered in the affirmative; he then questioned him whether he had obeyed the command, and Jacob replied that he had not, but had given the poison to Savetus, a Jew, who had thrown it into the Well de Morer at Evian. Jacob also desired him, Balavignus, to execute the command imposed on him with due caution. He confessed that Aquetus of Montreantz had informed him that he had thrown some of the poison into the well above Tour, the water of which he sometimes drank. He confessed that Samolet had told him that he had laid the poison which he had received, in a well, which, however, he refused to name to him. Balavignus, as a physician, further deposed that a person infected by such poison coming in contact with another while in a state of perspiration, infection would be the almost inevitable result; as might also happen from the breath of an infected person. This fact he believed to be correct, and was confirmed in his opinion by the attestation of many experienced physicians. He also declared that none of his community could exculpate themselves from this accusation, as the plot was communicated to all; and that all were guilty of the above charges. Balavignus was conveyed over the lake from Chillon to Clarens, to point out the well into which he confessed having thrown the powder. On landing, he was conducted to the spot; and, having seen the well, acknowledged that to be the place, saying, “This is the well into which I put the poison.” The well was examined in his presence, and the linen cloth in which the poison had been wrapped was found in the wastepipe by a notary-public named Heinrich Gerhard, in the presence of many persons, and was shewn to the said Jew. He acknowledged this to be the linen which had contained the poison, which he described as being of two colours, red and black, but said that he had thrown it into the open well. The linen cloth was taken away and is preserved.
Balavignus, in conclusion, attests the truth of all and every thing as above related. He believes this poison to contain a portion of the basilisk, because he had heard, and felt assured, that the above poison could not be prepared without it.
II. Banditono, a Jew of Neustadt, was, on the fifteenth day of September, subjected for a short time to the torture. After a long interval, he confessed having cast a quantity of poison, about the size of a large nut, given him by Musseus, a Jew, at Tour, near Vivey, into the well of Carutet, in order to poison those who drank of it.
The following day, Banditono, voluntarily and without torture, attested the truth of the aforesaid deposition; and also confessed that the Rabbi Jacob von Pasche, who came from Toledo and had settled at Chamberi, sent him, at Pilliex, by a Jewish servant, some poison about the size of a large nut, together with a letter directing him to throw the powder into the wells on pain of excommunication. He had therefore thrown the poison, which was sown up in a leathern bag, into the well of Cercliti de Roch; further, also, that he saw many other letters in the hands of the servant addressed to different Jews; that he had also seen the said servant deliver one, on the outside of the upper gate, to Samuletus, the Jew, at Neustadt. He stated, also, that the Jew, Massolet, had informed him that he had put poison into the well near the bridge at Vivey.
III. The said Manssiono, Jew of Neustadt, was put upon the rack on the fifteenth day of the same month, but refused to admit the above charge, protesting his entire ignorance of the whole matter; but the day following, he, voluntarily and without any torture, confessed, in the presence of many persons, that he came from Mancheolo one day in last Whitsun-week, in company with a Jew named Provenzal, and, on reaching the well of Chabloz Crüez between Vyona and Mura, the latter said, “You must put some of the poison which I will give you into that well, or woe betide you!” He therefore took a portion of the powder about the bigness of a nut, and did as he was directed. He believed that the Jews in the neighbourhood of Evian had convened a council among themselves relative to this plot, before Whitsuntide. He further said that Balavignus had informed him of his having poisoned the well de la Conerayde below Mustruez. He also affirmed his conviction of the culpability of the Jews in this affair, stating that they were fully acquainted with all the particulars, and guilty of the alleged crime.
On the third day of the October following, Manssiono was brought before the commissioners, and did not in the least vary from his former deposition, or deny having put the poison into the said wells.
The above-named Jews, prior to their execution, solemnly swore by their Law to the truth of their several depositions, and declared that all Jews whatsoever, from seven years old and upwards, could not be exempted from the charge of guilt, as all of them were acquainted with the plot, and more or less participators in the crime.
[The seven other examinations scarcely differ from the above, except inthe names of the accused, and afford but little variety. We will, therefore, only add a characteristic passage at the conclusion of this document. The whole speaks for itself.]
There still remain numerous proofs and accusations against the above-mentioned Jews: also against Jews and Christians in different parts of the county of Savoy, who have already received the punishment due to their heinous crime; which, however, I have not at hand, and cannot therefore send you. I must add, that all the Jews of Neustadt were burnt according to the just sentence of the law. At Augst, I was present when three Christians were flayed on account of being accessory to the plot of poisoning. Very many Christians were arrested for this crime in various places in this country, especially at Evian, Gebenne, Krusilien and Hochstett, who at last and in their dying moments were brought to confess and acknowledge that they had received the poison from the Jews. Of these Christians some have been quartered; others flayed and afterwards hanged. Certain commissioners have been appointed by the magistrates to enforce judgment against all the Jews; and I believe that none will escape.
FOOTNOTES:[1]I might here enlarge on the general importance of the study of epidemics; but this has been so fully set forth in the author’s Address to the Physicians of Germany, which immediately follows, as well as in the Preface to the Sweating Sickness, at p. 177, that any further observations on this subject would be superfluous on my part.[2]στε καὶ ἐλέχθη ὑπ’ αὐτῶν ὡς οἱ Πελοποννήσιοι φάρμακα ἐσβεβλήκοιεν ἐς τὰ φρέατα.Thucyd. Hist.B. ii. 49. “The disease was attributed by the people to poison, and nothing apparently could be more authentic than the reports that were spread of miscreants taken in the act of putting poisonous drugs into the food and drink of the common people.” Observations on the Cholera in St. Petersburg, p. 9. by G. W. Lefevre, M.D. 8vo. 1831.[3]Only two copies are known to exist, one in the British Museum, and one in the library of the College of Physicians.[4]La Mortalega Grande.Matth. de Griffonibus.Muratori.Script. rer. Italicar. T. XVIII. p. 167. D. They were called by othersAnguinalgia.Andr. Gratiol.Discorso di Peste. Venet. 1576. 4to. Swedish:Diger-döden.LocceniiHistor. Suecan. L. III. p. 104.—Danish:den sorte Dod.Pontan.Rer. Danicar. Histor. L. VIII. p. 476.—Amstelod. 1631, fol. Icelandic:Svatur Daudi.Saabye, Tagebuch in Grönland. Introduction XVIII.Mansa, de Epidemiis maxime memorabilibus, quæ in Dania grassatæ sunt, &c. Part I. p. 12. Havniæ, 1831, 8.—In Westphalia the name ofde groete Doetwas prevalent.Meibom.[5]Joann. Cantacuzen.Historiar. L. IV. c. 8. Ed. Paris. p. 730. 5. The ex-emperor has indeed copied some passages from Thucydides, asSprengeljustly observes, (Appendix to the Geschichte der Medicin. Vol. I. H. I. S. 73,) though this was most probably only for the sake of rounding a period. This is no detriment to his credibility, because his statements accord with the other accounts.[6]Ἀποστάσεις μεγάλαι.[7]Μελαίναι φλυκτίδες.[8]ὥσπερ στίγματα μέλανα.[9]Guidon. de CauliacoChirurgia. Tract 11. c. 5. p. 113. Ed. Lugdun. 1572.[10]Et fuit tantæ contagiositatis specialiter quæ fuit cum sputo sanguinis, quod non solum morando, sed etiam inspiciendo unus recipiebat ab alio: intantum quod gentes moriebantur sine servitoribus, et sepeliebantur sine sacerdotibus, pater non visitabat filium, nec filius patrem: charitas erat mortua, spes prostrata.[11]Deguignes, Histoire générale des Huns, des Turcs, des Mogols, &c. Tom. IV. Paris, 1758. 4to. p. 226.[12]Decameron. Giorn. I. Introd.[13]From this period black petechiæ have always been considered as fatal in the plague.[14]A very usual circumstance in plague epidemics.[15]Auger. de Biterris, Vitæ Romanor. pontificum,MuratoriScriptor. rer. Italic. Vol. III. Pt. II. p. 556.[16]Contin. altera ChroniciGuillelmi de Nangisind’Acher, Spicilegium sive Collectio Veterum Scriptorum, &c. Ed. de laBarre, Tom. III. p. 110.[17]“The people all died of boils and inflamed glands which appeared under the arms and in the groins.”Jac. v. Königshoven, the oldest Chronicle of Alsace and Strasburg, and indeed of all Germany. Strasburg, 1698. 4. cap. 5, § 86. p. 301.[18]Hainr. Rebdorff, Annales,Marq. Freher. Germanicarum rerum Scriptores. Francof. 1624. fol. p. 439.[19]Königshoven, in loc. cit.[20]Anonym. Leobiens. Chron. L. VI. inHier. Pez, Scriptor. rer. Austriac. Lips. 1721. fol. Tom. I. p. 970. The above named appearances are here called,rote sprinkel, swarcze erhubennunddruesz under den üchsen und ze den gemüchten.[21]Ubb. Emmiierer. Frisiacar. histor. L. XIV. p. 203. Lugd. Bat. 1616. fol.[22]Guillelmus de Nangis, loc. cit.[23]Ant. Wood, Historia et Antiquitates Universit. Oxoniens. Oxon. 1764. fol. L. l. p. 172.[24]Mezeray, Histoire de France. Paris, 1685. fol. T. II. p. 418.[25]Barnes, who has given a lively picture of the black plague, in England, taken from the Registers of the 14th century, describes the external symptoms in the following terms: knobs or swellings in the groin or under the armpits, called kernels, biles, blains, blisters, pimples, wheals or plague-sores. The Hist. of Edw. III. Cambridge, 1688, fol. p. 432.[26]Torfæus, Historia rerum Norvegicarum. Hafn. 1711. fol. L. ix. c. 8. p. 478. This author has followedPontanus(Rerum Danicar. Historia. Amstelod. 1631. fol.) who has given only a general account of the plague in Denmark, and nothing respecting its symptoms.[27]Dlugoss, vide Longini Histor. polonic. L. xii. Lips. 1711. fol. T. I. p. 1086.[28]W. M. Richter, Geschichte der Medicin in Russland. Moskwa, 1813, 8. p. 215.Richterhas taken his information on the black plague in Russia, from authentic Russian MSS.[29]Compare on this point,Balling’streatise “Zur Diagnostik der Lungenerweichung.” Vol XVI. ii. 3. p. 257 of litt. Annalen der ges. Heilkunde.[30]It is expressly ascertained with respect to Avignon and Paris, that uncleanliness of the streets increased the plague considerably.Raim. Chalin de Vinario.[31]De PesteLibri tres, operaJacobi Dalechampiiin lucem editi. Lugduni, 1552. 16. p. 35.Dalechamphas only improved the language of this work, adding nothing to it but a preface in the form of two letters.Raymond Chalin de Vinariowas contemporary withGuy de Chauliacat Avignon. He enjoyed a high reputation, and was in very affluent circumstances. He often makes mention of cardinals and high officers of the papal court, whom he had treated; and it is even probable, though not certain, that he was physician to Clement VI. (1342–1352), Innocent VI. (1352–1362), and Urban V. (1362–1370). He andGuy de Chauliacnever mention each other.[32]Dalechamp, p. 205—where, and at pp. 32–36, the plague-eruptions are mentioned in the usual indefinite terms: Exanthemata viridia, cærulea, nigra, rubra, lata, diffusa, velut signata punctis, &c.[33]“Pestilentis morbi gravissimum symptoma est, quod zonam vulgo nuncupant. Ea sic fit: Pustulæ nonnunquam per febres pestilentes fuscæ, nigræ, lividæ existunt, in partibus corporis a glandularum emissariis sejunctis, ut in femore, tibia, capite, brachio, humeris, quarum fervore et caliditate succi corporis attracti, glandulas in trajectione replent, et attollunt, unde bubones fiunt atque carbunculi.Ab iis tanquam solidus quidam nervus in partem vicinam distentam ac veluti convulsione rigentem producitur, puta brachium vel tibiam, nunc rubens, nunc fuscus, nunc obscurior, nunc virens, nunc iridis colore, duos vel quatuor digitos latus.Hujus summo, qua desinit in emissarium, plerumque tuberculum pestilens visitur, altero vero extremo, qua in propinquum membrum porrigitur, carbunculus. Hoc scilicet malum vulgus zonam cinctumve nominat, periculosum minus, cum hic tuberculo, illic carbunculo terminatur, quam si tuberculum in capite solum emineat.” p. 198.[34]V. Hoff.Geschichte der natürlichen Veränderungen der Erdoberfläche, T. II. p. 264. Gotha, 1824. This eruption was not succeeded by any other in the same century, either of Etna or of Vesuvius.[35]Deguignes, loc. cit. p. 226, from Chinese sources.[36]Ibid. p. 225.[37]There were also many locusts which had been blown into the sea by a hurricane, and afterwards cast dead upon the shore, and produced a noxious exhalation; anda dense and awful fog was seen in the heavens, rising in the East, and descending upon Italy. Mansfeld Chronicle, in M.Cyriac Spangenberg, chap. 287, fol. 336. b. Eisleben, 1572. CompareStaind.Chron. (?) inSchnurrer, (“Ingens vapor magnitudine horribili boreali movens, regionem, magno adspicientium terrore dilabitur,”) andAd. von Lebenwaldt, Land-Stadt-und Hausarzney-Buch. fol. p. 15. Nuremberg, 1695, who mentions a dark, thick mist which covered the earth.Chalinexpresses himself on this subject in the following terms:—“Cœlum ingravescit,aër impurus sentitur: nubes crassæ ac multæ luminibus cœli obstruunt, immundus ac ignavus tepor hominum emollit corpora, exoriens sol pallescit.” p. 50.[38]See Caius’ account of the causes of the sweating sickness, in the Appendix.—Transl. note.[39]Mezeray, Histoire de France, Tom. II. 418. Paris, 1685. CompareOudegheerst’sChroniques de Flandres. Antwerp, 1571, 4to. Chap. 175, f. 297.[40]They spread in a direction from East to West, over most of the countries from which we have received intelligence. Anonym. Leobiens, Chron. loc. cit.[41]Giov. VillaniIstorie Fiorentine, L. XII. chap. 121, 122. inMuratori, T. XIII. pp. 1001, 1002. Compare Barnes, loc. cit. p. 430.[42]J. Vitoduran.Chronicon, inFüssli. ThesaurusHistor. Helvet. Tigur. 1735. fol. p. 84.[43]Albert. Argentiniens.Chronic. inUrstis.Scriptor. rer. Germanic. Francof. 1585. fol. P. II. p. 147. CompareChalin, loc. cit.[44]Petrarch.Opera. Basil. 1554. fol. p. 210.Barnes, loc. cit. p. 431.[45]“Un tremblement de terre universel, mesme en France et aux pays septentrionaux, renversoit les villes toutes entières, déracinoit les arbres et les montagnes, et remplissoit les campagnes d’abysmes si profondes, qu’il semblait que l’enfer eût voulu engloutir le genre humain.”Mezeray, loc. cit. p. 418.Barnes, p. 431.[46]Villani, loc. cit. c. 119. p. 1000.[47]Guillelm. de Nangis, Cont. alt. Chron. loc. cit. p. 109.[48]Ibid. p. 110.[49]Villani, loc. cit. c. 72. p. 954.[50]Anonym. Istorie Pistolesi, inMuratori, T. XI. p. 524. “Ne gli anni di Chr. 1346 et 1357, fu grandissima carestia in tutta la Christianità, in tanto, che molta gente moria di fame, e fu grande mortalità in ogni paese del mondo.”[51]According toPapon, its origin is quite lost in the obscurity of remote ages; and even before the Christian Era, we are able to trace many references to former pestilences. De la peste, ou époques mémorables de ce fléau, et les moyens de s’en préserver. T. II. Paris, An VIII. de la rép. 8.[52]1301, in the South of France; 1311, in Italy; 1316, in Italy, Burgundy and Northern Europe; 1335, the locust year, in the middle of Europe; 1340, in Upper Italy; 1342, in France; and 1347, in Marseilles and most of the larger islands of the Mediterranean. Ibid. T. II. p. 273.[53]CompareDeguignes, loc. cit. p. 288.[54]According to the general Byzantine designation, “from the country of the hyperborean Scythians.”Kantakuzen, loc. cit.[55]Guid. Cauliac, loc. cit.[56]Matt. Villani, Istorie, inMuratori, T. XIV. p. 14.[57]Annal. Cæsenat,Ibid.p. 1179.[58]Barnes, loc. cit.[59]Olof Dalin’s, Svea-Rikes Historie, III. vol. Stockholm, 1747–61, 4. Vol. II. C. 12, p. 496.[60]Dlugoss, Histor. Polon. L. IX. p. 1086, T. I. Lips. 1711, fol.[61]Deguignes, loc. cit. p. 223, f.[62]Matt. Villani, Istoria, loc. cit. p. 13.[63]Knighton, inBarnes, loc. cit. p. 434.[64]Jno. TrithemAnnal. Hirsaugiens. (Monast. St. Gall. Hirsaug. 1690. fol.) T. II. p. 296. According toBoccacio, loc. cit. 100,000; according toMatt. Villani, loc. cit. p. 14, three out of five.[65]Odoric. Raynald.Annal. ecclesiastic. Colon. Agripp. 1691. fol. Vol. XVI. p. 280.[66]Vitoduran.Chronic. inFüssli, loc. cit.[67]Tromby, Storia deS. Brunonee dell’ordine Cartusiano. Vol. VI. L. VIII. p. 235. Napol. 1777. fol.[68]Barnes, p. 435.[69]Ibid.[70]Baluz.Vitæ Papar. Avenionens. Paris, 1693–4. Vol. I. p. 316. According toRebdorfinFreher. loc. cit. at the worst period, 500 daily.[71]Königshoven, loc. cit.[72]According toReimar Kork, from Easter to Michaelmas 1350, 80 to 90,000; among whom were eleven members of the senate, and bishop John IV. Vid.John Rud.Becker, Circumstantial History of the Imper. and free city of Lübeck. Lübeck, 1782, 84, 1805. 3 Vols. 4. Vol. I. p. 269. 71. Although Lübeck was then in its most flourishing state, yet this account, which agrees with that ofPaul Lange, is certainly exaggerated. (Chronic. Citizense, inI. Pistorius, Rerum Germanic. Scriptores aliquot insignes, cur.Struve. Ratisb. 1626. fol. p. 1214.) We have, therefore, chosen the lower estimate of an anonym. writer. Chronic. Sclavic. byErpold Lindenbrog. Scriptores rerum Germanic. Septentrional. vicinorumque populor. diversi, Francof. 1630. fol. p. 225, andSpangenberg, loc. cit., with whom again the assurance of the two authors, that on the 10th August, 1350, 15 or 1700 (according toBecker2500) persons had died, does not coincide. Compare Chronik des Franciskaner LesemeistersDetmar, nach der Urschrift und mit Ergänzungen aus anderen Chroniken herausgeg. published by F. H.Grautoff. Hamburg, 1829, 30. 8. P. I. p. 269. App. 471.[73]Förstemann, Versuch einer Geschichte der christlichen Geisslergesellschaften, inStaüdlin’sundTzschirner’s, Archiv für alte und neue Kirchengeschichte, Vol. III. 1817.[74]Limburg Chronicle, pub. byC. D. Vogel. Marburg, 1828. 8vo. p. 14.[75]Barnes, loc. cit.[76]Ibid.[77]Spangenberg. fol. 339. a. Grawsam Sterben vieler faulen Troppfen. Many lazy monks died a cruel death.[78]Vitoduran, loc. cit.[79]Becker, loc. cit.[80]Hainr.Rebdorf.p. 630.[81]Guillelm. de Nang.loc. cit.[82]Johanna, queen of Navarre, daughter ofLouis X., andJohannaof Burgundy, wife of kingPhilipde Valois.[83]Fulco de Chanac.[84]Mich. Felibien, Histoire de la ville de Paris, Liv. XII. Vol. II. p. 601, Paris, 1725. fol. Comp.Guillelm. de Nangis.loc. cit. andDaniel, Histoire de France, Tom. II. p. 484. Amsterd. 1720. 4to.[85]Torfæus, loc. cit.[86]According to another account, 960. Chronic. Salisburg, inPez.loc. cit. T. I. p. 412.[87]According to an anonymous Chronicler, each of these pits is said to have contained 40,000; this, however, we are to understand as only in round numbers. Anonym. Leobiens, inPez.p. 970. According to this writer, above seventy persons died in some houses, and many were entirely deserted, and at St. Stephen’s alone, fifty-four ecclesiastics were cut off.[88]Auger. de BiterrisinMuratori. Vol. III. P. II. p. 556. The same is said of Paderborn, byGobelin Person, inHenr. Meibom.Rer. Germanic. Script. T. I. p. 286. Helmstadt, 1688. fol.[89]Spangenberg.loc. cit. chap. 287. fol. 337. b.[90]Barnes, 435.[91]Trithem.Annal. Hirsaug. loc. cit.[92]Loc. cit. L. XII. c. 99. p. 977.[93]Chronic. Claustro-Neoburg. inPez.Vol. I. p. 490. Comp.Barnes, p. 435.RaynaldHistor. ecclesiastic, loc. cit. According to this account, a runaway Venetian is said to have brought the plague to Padua.[94]Giov. Villani, L. XII. c. 83. p. 964.[95]Barnes, p. 436.[96]Wood, loc. cit.[97]Woodsays, that before the plague, there were 13,000 students at Oxford; a number which may, in some degree, enable us to form an estimate of the state of education in England at that time, if we consider that the universities were, in the middle ages, frequented by younger students, who in modern times do not quit school till their 18th year.[98]BarnesandWood, loc. cit.[99]Gobelin. Person, inMeibom.loc. cit.[100]Juan de Mariana.Historia General de España, illustrated by DonJosé Sabau y Blanco. Tom. IX. Madrid, 1819. 8vo. Libro XVI. p. 225. DonDiego Ortiz de Zúñiga, Annales ecclesiasticos y seculares de Sevilla. Madrid, 1795. 4to. T. II. p. 121. DonJuan de Ferreras, Historia de España. Madrid, 1721. T. VII. p. 353.[101]Gobelin. Person, loc. cit. Comp.Chalin, p. 53.[102]Guillelm. de Nangis, loc. cit.[103]Spangenberg.fol. 337. b. Limburg. Chronic, p. 20. “Und die auch von Rom kamen, wurden eines Theils böser als sie vor gewesen waren.”[104]Guillelm. de Nangis, loc. cit. and many others.[105]Dalin’sSvea Rikes Historie, Vol. II. c. 12. p. 496.[106]Saabye.Tagebuch in Grönland. Einleit. XVIII.—TorfæiHistor. Norveg. Tom. IV. L. IX. c. viii. p. 478–79.F. G. Mansa, De epidemiis maxime memorabilibus quæ in Dania Grassatæ sunt, et de Medicinæ statu. Partic. I. Havn. 1831. 8vo. p. 12.[107]TorfæiGroenlandia antiqua, s. veteris Groenlandiæ; descriptio. Havniæ, 1715. 8vo. p. 23.—Pontan.Rer. danicar. Histor. Amstelod. 1631. fol. L. VII. p. 476.[108]Richter, loc. cit.[109]We shall take this view of the subject fromGuillelm. de NangisandBarnes, if we read themwith attention. CompareOlof Dalin, loc. cit.[110]Practica de ægritudinibus a capite usque ad pedes. Papiæ, 1486. fol. Tract VI. c. vii.[111]“Darnach, da das Sterben, die Geiselfarth, Römerfarth, Judenschlacht, als vorgeschrieben stehet, ein End hatte, da hub die Welt wieder an zu leben und fröhlich zu seyn, und machten die Männer neue Kleidung.” Limburger Chronik. p. 26. After this, when, as was stated before, the Mortality, the Processions of the Flagellants, the Expeditions to Rome, and the Massacre of the Jews, were at an end, the world began to revive and be joyful, and the people put on new clothing.[112]Chalin, loc. cit. p. 92.Detmar’sLübeck Chronicle, V. I. p. 401.[113]Chronic.Ditmari, Episcop. Mersepurg, Francof. 1580, fol. p.358.—“Spagenberg, p. 338. The lamentation was piteous; and the only remaining solace, was the prevalent anxiety, inspired by the danger, to prepare for a glorious departure; no other hope remained—death appeared inevitable. Many were hence induced to search into their own hearts, to turn to God, and to abandon their wicked courses: parents warned their children, and instructed them how to pray, and to submit to the ways of Providence: neighbours mutually admonished each other; none could reckon on a single hour’s respite. Many persons, and even young children, were seen bidding farewell to the world; some with prayer, others with praises on their lips.”[114]TorfæiHist. rer. Norvegic. L. IX. c. viii. p. 478. (Havn. 1711, fol.)Die Cronica van der hilliger Stat van Coellen, off dat tzytboich, Coellen, 1490, fol. p. 263. “In dem vurss jair erhoiff sich eyn alzo wunderlich nuwe Geselschaft in Ungarien,” &c. The Chronicle of the holy city of Cologne, 1499. In this same year, a very remarkable society was formed in Hungary.[115]Albert. Argentinens.Chronic. p. 149, inChr. Urstisius. Germaniæ historicorum illustrium Tomus unus. Francof. 1585, fol.—Guillelm. de Nang.loc. cit.—Comp. also the Saxon Chronicle, byMattheus Dresseren, Physician and Professor at Leipsig, Wittenberg, 1596, fol. p. 340; the above-named Limburg Chronicle, and the Germaniæ Chronicon, on the origin, name, commerce, &c., of all the Teutonic nations of Germany: bySeb. Francken, of Wörd. Tübingen, 1534, fol. p. 201.[116]Ditmar, loc. cit.[117]Königshoven, Elsassische und Strassburgische Chronicke. loc. cit. p. 297. f.[118]Albert. Argentin.loc. cit. They never remained longer than one night at any place.[119]Words ofMonachus Paduanus, quoted inFörstemann’sTreatise, which is the best upon this subject.—See p. 24.[120]Schnurrer, Chronicle of the Plagues, T. I. p. 291.[121]Königshoven, loc. cit.[122]Förstemann, loc. cit. The pilgrimages of the Flagellants of the year 1349, were not the last. Later in the 14th century this fanaticism still manifested itself several times, though never to so great an extent: in the 15th century, it was deemed necessary, in several parts of Germany, to extirpate them by fire and sword; and in the year 1710, processions of the Cross-bearers were still seen in Italy. How deeply this mania had taken root, is proved by the deposition of a citizen of Nordhäusen (1446): that his wife, in the belief of performing a Christian act, wanted to scourge her children, as soon as they were baptized.[123]Königshoven, p. 298:“Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere.”[124]Guill. de Nang.loc. cit.[125]Albert. Argentinens.loc. cit.[126]We meet with fragments of different lengths in the Chronicles of the times, but the only entire MS. which we possess, is in the valuable Library of Presidentvon Meusebach.Massmannhas had this printed, accompanied by a translation, entitledErläuterungen zum Wessobrunner Gebet des8tenJahrhunderts. NebstZweiennoch ungedruckten,Gedichten des Vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, Berlin, 1824. “Elucidations of the Wessobrunn Prayer of the 8th century, together with two unpublished Hymns the 14th century.” We shall subjoin it at the end of this Treatise, as a striking document of the age. The Limburg Chronicle asserts, indeed, that it was not composed till that time, although a part, if not the whole, of it, was sung in the procession of the Flagellants, in 1260.—See Incerti auctoris Chronicon rerum per Austriam Vicinasque regiones gestarum inde ab anno 1025, usque ad annum 1282. Munich, 1827 8, p. 9.[127]Trithem.Annal. Hirsaugiens, T. II. p. 206.[128]He issued a bull against them, Oct. 20, 1349.Raynald. Trithem.loc. cit.[129]But as they at last ceased to excite astonishment, were no longer welcomed by the ringing of bells, and were not received with veneration, as before, they vanished as human imaginations are wont to do. Saxon Chronicle, byMatt. Dresseren. Wittenberg, 1596, fol. p. 340, 341.[130]Albert. Argentinens.loc. cit.[131]Guillelm. de Nangis.[132]Ditmar.loc. cit.[133]Kloseof Breslaw’s Documental History and Description, 8vo. Vol. II. p. 190. Breslaw, 1781.[134]Limburg Chronicle, p. 17.[135]Kehrberg’sDescription of Königsberg,i. e.Neumark, 1724, 4to. p. 240.[136]So says the Polish historianDlugoss, loc. cit., while most of his contemporaries mention only the poisoning of the wells. It is evident, that in the state of their feelings, it mattered little whether they added another still more formidable accusation.[137]In those places where no Jews resided, as in Leipsig, Magdeburg, Brieg, Frankenstein, &c., the grave-diggers were accused of the crime.—V.Möhsen’sHistory of the Sciences in the March of Brandenburg, T. II. p. 265.[138]See the original proceedings, in the Appendix.[139]Hermanni GygantisFlores temporum, sive Chronicon Universale—Ed. Meuschen.Lugdun. Bat. 1743. 4to. p. 139. Hermann, a Franciscan monk of Franconia, who wrote in the year 1349, was an eye-witness of the most revolting scenes of vengeance, throughout all Germany.[140]Guid. Cauliac.loc. cit.[141]Hermann.loc. cit.[142]Albert. Argentin.—Königshoven, loc. cit.[143]Dies was ouch die Vergift, die die Juden döttete.“This was also the poison that killed the Jews,” observesKönigshoven, which he illustrates by saying, that their increase in Germany was very great, and their mode of gaining a livelihood, which, however, was the only resource left them, had engendered ill-will against them in all quarters.[144]Many wealthy Jews, for example, were, on their way to the stake, stripped of their garments, for the sake of the gold coin that was sewed in them.—Albert. Argentinens.[145]Vide preceding note.[146]Spangenberg, loc. cit.[147]Guillelm. de Nangis.—Dlugoss, loc. cit.[148]Albert. Argentinens.[149]Spangenbergdescribes a similar scene which took place at Kostnitz.[150]Guillelm. de Nang.—Raynald.[151]Histor. Landgrav.Thuring.inPistor.loc. cit. Vol. I. p. 948.[152]Anonym.Leobiens, inPez.loc. cit.[153]Spangenberg.In the county of Mark, the Jews were no better off than in the rest of Germany. MargraveLudwig, the Roman, even countenanced their persecutions, of whichKehrberg, loc. cit. 241. gives the following official account: Coram cunctis Christi fidelibus præsentia percepturis, egoJohannesdictusde WedelAdvocatus, inclyti Principis Domini,Ludovici, Marchionis, publice profiteor et recognosco, quod nomine Domini mei civitatem Königsberg visitavi et intravi, et ex parte Domini Marchionis Consulibus ejusdem civitatis in adjutorium mihi assumtis,Judæos inibi morantes igne cremavi, bonaque omnia eorundem Judæorum ex parte Domini mei totaliter usurpavi et assumsi. In cujus testimonium præsentibus meum sigillum appendi. Datum A.D. 1351. in Vigilia S. Matthæi Apostoli.[154]Basnage, Histoire des Juifs. A la Haye, 1716. 8vo. T. IX. Part 2. Liv. IX. Chap. 23. §. 12. 24. pp. 664. 679. This valuable work gives an interesting account of the state of the Jews of the middle ages. CompareJ. M. Jost’sHistory of the Israelites from the time of the Maccabees to the present day. T. VII. Berlin, 1827. 8vo. pp. 8. 262.[155]Albert. Argentinens.[156]Hermann.Gygas.loc. cit.[157]On this subject seeKönigshoven, who has preserved some very valuable original proceedings. The most important are, the criminal examinations of ten Jews, at Chillon, on the Lake of Geneva, held in September and October, 1348.—V. Appendix. They produced the most strange confessions, and sanctioned, by the false name of justice, the blood-thirsty fanaticism which lighted the funeral piles. Copies of these proceedings were sent to Bern and Strasburg, where they gave rise to the first persecutions against the Jews.—V. also the original document of the offensive and defensive Alliance betweenBerthold von Götz, Bishop of Strasburg, and many powerful lords and nobles, in favour of the city of Strasburg, against Charles IV. The latter saw himself compelled, in consequence, to grant to that city an amnesty for the Jewish persecutions, which in our days would be deemed disgraceful to an imperial crown. Not to mention many other documents, which no less clearly shew the spirit of the 14th century, p. 1021. f.[158]Guillelm. de Nangis, p. 110.[159]“Curationem omnem respuit pestis confirmata.”—Chalin, p. 33.[160]Jacob. Francischini de Ambrosiis.In the Appendix to the Istorie Pistolesi, inMuratori, Tom. XI. p. 528.[161]Gentilis de FulgineoConsilia. De Peste Cons. I. II. fol. 76, 77. Venet. 1514. fol.[162]—“venenosa putredo circa partes cordis et pulmonis de quibus exeunte venenoso vapore, periculum est in vicinitatibus.” Cons. I. fol. 76, a.[163]Dr. Maclean’snotion that the doctrine of contagion was first promulgated in the year 1547, by Pope Paul III., &c., thus falls to the ground, together with all the arguments founded on it.—SeeMacleanon Epid. and Pestilent. Diseases, 8vo, 1817, Pt. II. Book II. ch. 3, 4.—Transl. note.[164]Lippitudo contagione spectantium oculos afficit.—Chalin de Vinario, p. 149.[165]See the Author’s Geschichte der Heilkunde, Vol. II. P. III.[166]CompareMarx, Origines contagii. Caroliruh. et Bad. 1824. 8.[167]Cæl. Aurelian.Chron. L. IV. c. 1. p. 497.Ed. Amman.“Sed hi ægrotantem destituendum magis imperant, quam curandum, quod a se alienum humanitas approbat medicinæ.”[168]Geschichte der Heilkunde, Vol. II. p. 248.[169]Chalinassures us expressly, that many nunneries, by closing their gates, remained free from the contagion. It is worthy of note, and quite in conformity with the prevailing notions, that the continuance in a thick, moist atmosphere, was generally esteemed more advantageous and conservative, on account of its being more impenetrable to the astral influence, inasmuch as the inferior cause kept off the superior.—Chalin, p. 48.[170]This was calledAffluxus, orForma specifica, and was compared to the effect of a magnet on iron, and of amber on chaff.—Chalin de Vinario, p. 23.[171]Causa universalis agens—causa particularis patiens. To this correspond, inChalin, the expressions Causa superior et inferior.[172]Purging with alöetic pills; bleeding; purification of the air by means of large fires; the use of treacle; frequent smelling to volatile substances, of which certain “poma,” were prepared; the internal use of Armenian bole,—a plague-remedy derived from the Arabians, and, throughout the middle ages, much in vogue, and very improperly used; and the employment of acescent food, in order to resist putridity.Guy de Chauliacappears to have recommended flight to many. Loc. citat. p. 115. CompareChalin, L. II., who gives most excellent precepts on this subject.[173]Auger. de Biterris, loc. cit.[174]L. I. c. 4. p. 39.[175]Fol. 32. loc. cit.[176]Galeacii de Sancta Sophia, Liber de Febribus. Venet. 1514, fol. (Printed together withGuillelmus Brixiensis, Marsilius de Sancta Sophia, Ricardus Parisiensis.fol. 29. seq.)[177]Warmth, cold, dryness and moisture.[178]The talentedChalinentertains the same conviction, “Obscurum interdum esse vitium aëris, sub pestis initia et menses primos, hoc est argumento:quod cum nec odore tetro gravis, nec turpi colore fœdatus fuerit, sed purus, tenuis, frigidus, qualis in montosis et asperis locis esse solet, et tranquillus, vehementissima sit tamen pestilentia infestaque,” etc. p. 28. The most recent observers of malaria have stated nothing more than this.[179]CompareEnr. di Wolmar, Abhandlung über die Pest. Berlin, 1827. 8vo.[180]Tractatus de Febribus, fol. 48.[181]De Peste Liber, pura latinitate donatus aJacobo Dalechampio. Lugdun. 1552. 16. p. 40. 188. “Longe tamen plurimi congressu eorum qui fuerunt in locis pestilentibus periclitantur et gravissime, quoniam e causa duplici, nempe et aëris vitio, et eorum qui versantur nobiscum, vitio.Hoc itaque modo fit, ut unius accessu in totam modo familiam, modo civitatem, modo villam, pestis invehatur.” Compare p. 20, “Solæ privatorum ædes pestem sentiunt,si adeat qui in pestilenti loco versatus est.”—“Nobis proximi ipsi sumus, nemoque est tanta occœcatus amentia, qui de sua salute potius quam aliorum sollicitus non sit, maxime in contagione tam cita et rapida.” Rather a loose principle, which might greatly encourage low sentiments, and much endanger the honour of the medical profession, but which, inChalin, who was aware of the impossibility of avoiding contagion in uncleanly dwellings, is so far excusable, that he did not apply it to himself.[182]Morbos omnes pestilentes esse contagiosos, audacter ego equidem pronuntio et assevero. p. 149.[183]Vide preceding note, pp. 162, 163.[184]Ibid. p. 97. 166. “Qualis (vita) esse solet eorum, qui sacerdotiorum et cultus divini prætextu, genio plus satis indulgent et obsequuntur, ac Christum speciosis titulis ementientes, Epicurum imitantur.” Certainly a remarkable freedom of sentiment for the 14th century.[185]Ibid. p. 183. 151.[186]Ibid. p. 159. 189.[187]Canonica de Febribus, ad Raynerium Siculum, 1487, s. 1. cap. 10, sine pag. “Febris pestilentialis est febris contagiosa ex ebullitione putrefactiva in altero quatuor humorum cordi propinquorum principaliter.”[188]Valesci de Tharanta, Philonium. Lugduni, 1535. 8. L. VII. c. 18. fol. 401. b. seq.—CompareAstruc.Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire de la Faculté de Médecine de Montpellier. Paris, 1767. 4. p. 208.[189]Chronicon Regiense,Muratori, Tom. XVIII. p. 82.[190]Adr. Chenot, Hinterlassene Abhandlungen über die ärztlichen und politischen Anstalten bei der Pestseuche. Wien, 1798, 8vo. p. 146. From this period it was common in the middle ages to barricade the doors and windows of houses infected with plague, and to suffer the inhabitants to perish without mercy.—S. Möhsen, loc. cit.[191]Chron. Reg. loc. cit.[192]Muratori, Tom. XVI. p. 560.—CompareChenot, loc. cit. p. 146.[193]Papon, loc. cit.[194]Chenot, p. 145.[195]Le Bret, Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig. Riga, 1775. 4, Part II. Div. 2. p. 752.[196]Zagata, Cronica di Verona, 1744. 4, III. p. 93.[197]Le Bret, loc. cit. Compare Hamburger Remarquen of the year 1700, pp. 282 and 305.[198]Göttinger gelehrte Anzeigen, 1772, p. 22.[199]The forty days’ duration of the Flood, the forty days’ sojourn of Moses on Mount Sinai, our Saviour’s fast for the same length of time in the wilderness; lastly, what is called the Saxon term (Sächsische Frist,) which lasts for forty days, &c. CompareG. W. Wedel, Centuria Exercitationum Medico-philologicarum.De Quadragesima Medica.Jenæ, 1701. 4. Dec. IV. p. 16.[200]We hence perceive with what feelings subterraneous thunders were regarded by the people.[201]For the sake of thy Trinity.[202]An appearance of justice having been given to all later persecutions by these proceedings, they deserve to be recorded as important historical documents. The original is in Latin, but we have preferred the German translation in Königshoven’s Chronicle, p. 1029.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]I might here enlarge on the general importance of the study of epidemics; but this has been so fully set forth in the author’s Address to the Physicians of Germany, which immediately follows, as well as in the Preface to the Sweating Sickness, at p. 177, that any further observations on this subject would be superfluous on my part.
[2]στε καὶ ἐλέχθη ὑπ’ αὐτῶν ὡς οἱ Πελοποννήσιοι φάρμακα ἐσβεβλήκοιεν ἐς τὰ φρέατα.Thucyd. Hist.B. ii. 49. “The disease was attributed by the people to poison, and nothing apparently could be more authentic than the reports that were spread of miscreants taken in the act of putting poisonous drugs into the food and drink of the common people.” Observations on the Cholera in St. Petersburg, p. 9. by G. W. Lefevre, M.D. 8vo. 1831.
[3]Only two copies are known to exist, one in the British Museum, and one in the library of the College of Physicians.
[4]La Mortalega Grande.Matth. de Griffonibus.Muratori.Script. rer. Italicar. T. XVIII. p. 167. D. They were called by othersAnguinalgia.Andr. Gratiol.Discorso di Peste. Venet. 1576. 4to. Swedish:Diger-döden.LocceniiHistor. Suecan. L. III. p. 104.—Danish:den sorte Dod.Pontan.Rer. Danicar. Histor. L. VIII. p. 476.—Amstelod. 1631, fol. Icelandic:Svatur Daudi.Saabye, Tagebuch in Grönland. Introduction XVIII.Mansa, de Epidemiis maxime memorabilibus, quæ in Dania grassatæ sunt, &c. Part I. p. 12. Havniæ, 1831, 8.—In Westphalia the name ofde groete Doetwas prevalent.Meibom.
[5]Joann. Cantacuzen.Historiar. L. IV. c. 8. Ed. Paris. p. 730. 5. The ex-emperor has indeed copied some passages from Thucydides, asSprengeljustly observes, (Appendix to the Geschichte der Medicin. Vol. I. H. I. S. 73,) though this was most probably only for the sake of rounding a period. This is no detriment to his credibility, because his statements accord with the other accounts.
[6]Ἀποστάσεις μεγάλαι.
[7]Μελαίναι φλυκτίδες.
[8]ὥσπερ στίγματα μέλανα.
[9]Guidon. de CauliacoChirurgia. Tract 11. c. 5. p. 113. Ed. Lugdun. 1572.
[10]Et fuit tantæ contagiositatis specialiter quæ fuit cum sputo sanguinis, quod non solum morando, sed etiam inspiciendo unus recipiebat ab alio: intantum quod gentes moriebantur sine servitoribus, et sepeliebantur sine sacerdotibus, pater non visitabat filium, nec filius patrem: charitas erat mortua, spes prostrata.
[11]Deguignes, Histoire générale des Huns, des Turcs, des Mogols, &c. Tom. IV. Paris, 1758. 4to. p. 226.
[12]Decameron. Giorn. I. Introd.
[13]From this period black petechiæ have always been considered as fatal in the plague.
[14]A very usual circumstance in plague epidemics.
[15]Auger. de Biterris, Vitæ Romanor. pontificum,MuratoriScriptor. rer. Italic. Vol. III. Pt. II. p. 556.
[16]Contin. altera ChroniciGuillelmi de Nangisind’Acher, Spicilegium sive Collectio Veterum Scriptorum, &c. Ed. de laBarre, Tom. III. p. 110.
[17]“The people all died of boils and inflamed glands which appeared under the arms and in the groins.”Jac. v. Königshoven, the oldest Chronicle of Alsace and Strasburg, and indeed of all Germany. Strasburg, 1698. 4. cap. 5, § 86. p. 301.
[18]Hainr. Rebdorff, Annales,Marq. Freher. Germanicarum rerum Scriptores. Francof. 1624. fol. p. 439.
[19]Königshoven, in loc. cit.
[20]Anonym. Leobiens. Chron. L. VI. inHier. Pez, Scriptor. rer. Austriac. Lips. 1721. fol. Tom. I. p. 970. The above named appearances are here called,rote sprinkel, swarcze erhubennunddruesz under den üchsen und ze den gemüchten.
[21]Ubb. Emmiierer. Frisiacar. histor. L. XIV. p. 203. Lugd. Bat. 1616. fol.
[22]Guillelmus de Nangis, loc. cit.
[23]Ant. Wood, Historia et Antiquitates Universit. Oxoniens. Oxon. 1764. fol. L. l. p. 172.
[24]Mezeray, Histoire de France. Paris, 1685. fol. T. II. p. 418.
[25]Barnes, who has given a lively picture of the black plague, in England, taken from the Registers of the 14th century, describes the external symptoms in the following terms: knobs or swellings in the groin or under the armpits, called kernels, biles, blains, blisters, pimples, wheals or plague-sores. The Hist. of Edw. III. Cambridge, 1688, fol. p. 432.
[26]Torfæus, Historia rerum Norvegicarum. Hafn. 1711. fol. L. ix. c. 8. p. 478. This author has followedPontanus(Rerum Danicar. Historia. Amstelod. 1631. fol.) who has given only a general account of the plague in Denmark, and nothing respecting its symptoms.
[27]Dlugoss, vide Longini Histor. polonic. L. xii. Lips. 1711. fol. T. I. p. 1086.
[28]W. M. Richter, Geschichte der Medicin in Russland. Moskwa, 1813, 8. p. 215.Richterhas taken his information on the black plague in Russia, from authentic Russian MSS.
[29]Compare on this point,Balling’streatise “Zur Diagnostik der Lungenerweichung.” Vol XVI. ii. 3. p. 257 of litt. Annalen der ges. Heilkunde.
[30]It is expressly ascertained with respect to Avignon and Paris, that uncleanliness of the streets increased the plague considerably.Raim. Chalin de Vinario.
[31]De PesteLibri tres, operaJacobi Dalechampiiin lucem editi. Lugduni, 1552. 16. p. 35.Dalechamphas only improved the language of this work, adding nothing to it but a preface in the form of two letters.Raymond Chalin de Vinariowas contemporary withGuy de Chauliacat Avignon. He enjoyed a high reputation, and was in very affluent circumstances. He often makes mention of cardinals and high officers of the papal court, whom he had treated; and it is even probable, though not certain, that he was physician to Clement VI. (1342–1352), Innocent VI. (1352–1362), and Urban V. (1362–1370). He andGuy de Chauliacnever mention each other.
[32]Dalechamp, p. 205—where, and at pp. 32–36, the plague-eruptions are mentioned in the usual indefinite terms: Exanthemata viridia, cærulea, nigra, rubra, lata, diffusa, velut signata punctis, &c.
[33]“Pestilentis morbi gravissimum symptoma est, quod zonam vulgo nuncupant. Ea sic fit: Pustulæ nonnunquam per febres pestilentes fuscæ, nigræ, lividæ existunt, in partibus corporis a glandularum emissariis sejunctis, ut in femore, tibia, capite, brachio, humeris, quarum fervore et caliditate succi corporis attracti, glandulas in trajectione replent, et attollunt, unde bubones fiunt atque carbunculi.Ab iis tanquam solidus quidam nervus in partem vicinam distentam ac veluti convulsione rigentem producitur, puta brachium vel tibiam, nunc rubens, nunc fuscus, nunc obscurior, nunc virens, nunc iridis colore, duos vel quatuor digitos latus.Hujus summo, qua desinit in emissarium, plerumque tuberculum pestilens visitur, altero vero extremo, qua in propinquum membrum porrigitur, carbunculus. Hoc scilicet malum vulgus zonam cinctumve nominat, periculosum minus, cum hic tuberculo, illic carbunculo terminatur, quam si tuberculum in capite solum emineat.” p. 198.
[34]V. Hoff.Geschichte der natürlichen Veränderungen der Erdoberfläche, T. II. p. 264. Gotha, 1824. This eruption was not succeeded by any other in the same century, either of Etna or of Vesuvius.
[35]Deguignes, loc. cit. p. 226, from Chinese sources.
[36]Ibid. p. 225.
[37]There were also many locusts which had been blown into the sea by a hurricane, and afterwards cast dead upon the shore, and produced a noxious exhalation; anda dense and awful fog was seen in the heavens, rising in the East, and descending upon Italy. Mansfeld Chronicle, in M.Cyriac Spangenberg, chap. 287, fol. 336. b. Eisleben, 1572. CompareStaind.Chron. (?) inSchnurrer, (“Ingens vapor magnitudine horribili boreali movens, regionem, magno adspicientium terrore dilabitur,”) andAd. von Lebenwaldt, Land-Stadt-und Hausarzney-Buch. fol. p. 15. Nuremberg, 1695, who mentions a dark, thick mist which covered the earth.Chalinexpresses himself on this subject in the following terms:—“Cœlum ingravescit,aër impurus sentitur: nubes crassæ ac multæ luminibus cœli obstruunt, immundus ac ignavus tepor hominum emollit corpora, exoriens sol pallescit.” p. 50.
[38]See Caius’ account of the causes of the sweating sickness, in the Appendix.—Transl. note.
[39]Mezeray, Histoire de France, Tom. II. 418. Paris, 1685. CompareOudegheerst’sChroniques de Flandres. Antwerp, 1571, 4to. Chap. 175, f. 297.
[40]They spread in a direction from East to West, over most of the countries from which we have received intelligence. Anonym. Leobiens, Chron. loc. cit.
[41]Giov. VillaniIstorie Fiorentine, L. XII. chap. 121, 122. inMuratori, T. XIII. pp. 1001, 1002. Compare Barnes, loc. cit. p. 430.
[42]J. Vitoduran.Chronicon, inFüssli. ThesaurusHistor. Helvet. Tigur. 1735. fol. p. 84.
[43]Albert. Argentiniens.Chronic. inUrstis.Scriptor. rer. Germanic. Francof. 1585. fol. P. II. p. 147. CompareChalin, loc. cit.
[44]Petrarch.Opera. Basil. 1554. fol. p. 210.Barnes, loc. cit. p. 431.
[45]“Un tremblement de terre universel, mesme en France et aux pays septentrionaux, renversoit les villes toutes entières, déracinoit les arbres et les montagnes, et remplissoit les campagnes d’abysmes si profondes, qu’il semblait que l’enfer eût voulu engloutir le genre humain.”Mezeray, loc. cit. p. 418.Barnes, p. 431.
[46]Villani, loc. cit. c. 119. p. 1000.
[47]Guillelm. de Nangis, Cont. alt. Chron. loc. cit. p. 109.
[48]Ibid. p. 110.
[49]Villani, loc. cit. c. 72. p. 954.
[50]Anonym. Istorie Pistolesi, inMuratori, T. XI. p. 524. “Ne gli anni di Chr. 1346 et 1357, fu grandissima carestia in tutta la Christianità, in tanto, che molta gente moria di fame, e fu grande mortalità in ogni paese del mondo.”
[51]According toPapon, its origin is quite lost in the obscurity of remote ages; and even before the Christian Era, we are able to trace many references to former pestilences. De la peste, ou époques mémorables de ce fléau, et les moyens de s’en préserver. T. II. Paris, An VIII. de la rép. 8.
[52]1301, in the South of France; 1311, in Italy; 1316, in Italy, Burgundy and Northern Europe; 1335, the locust year, in the middle of Europe; 1340, in Upper Italy; 1342, in France; and 1347, in Marseilles and most of the larger islands of the Mediterranean. Ibid. T. II. p. 273.
[53]CompareDeguignes, loc. cit. p. 288.
[54]According to the general Byzantine designation, “from the country of the hyperborean Scythians.”Kantakuzen, loc. cit.
[55]Guid. Cauliac, loc. cit.
[56]Matt. Villani, Istorie, inMuratori, T. XIV. p. 14.
[57]Annal. Cæsenat,Ibid.p. 1179.
[58]Barnes, loc. cit.
[59]Olof Dalin’s, Svea-Rikes Historie, III. vol. Stockholm, 1747–61, 4. Vol. II. C. 12, p. 496.
[60]Dlugoss, Histor. Polon. L. IX. p. 1086, T. I. Lips. 1711, fol.
[61]Deguignes, loc. cit. p. 223, f.
[62]Matt. Villani, Istoria, loc. cit. p. 13.
[63]Knighton, inBarnes, loc. cit. p. 434.
[64]Jno. TrithemAnnal. Hirsaugiens. (Monast. St. Gall. Hirsaug. 1690. fol.) T. II. p. 296. According toBoccacio, loc. cit. 100,000; according toMatt. Villani, loc. cit. p. 14, three out of five.
[65]Odoric. Raynald.Annal. ecclesiastic. Colon. Agripp. 1691. fol. Vol. XVI. p. 280.
[66]Vitoduran.Chronic. inFüssli, loc. cit.
[67]Tromby, Storia deS. Brunonee dell’ordine Cartusiano. Vol. VI. L. VIII. p. 235. Napol. 1777. fol.
[68]Barnes, p. 435.
[69]Ibid.
[70]Baluz.Vitæ Papar. Avenionens. Paris, 1693–4. Vol. I. p. 316. According toRebdorfinFreher. loc. cit. at the worst period, 500 daily.
[71]Königshoven, loc. cit.
[72]According toReimar Kork, from Easter to Michaelmas 1350, 80 to 90,000; among whom were eleven members of the senate, and bishop John IV. Vid.John Rud.Becker, Circumstantial History of the Imper. and free city of Lübeck. Lübeck, 1782, 84, 1805. 3 Vols. 4. Vol. I. p. 269. 71. Although Lübeck was then in its most flourishing state, yet this account, which agrees with that ofPaul Lange, is certainly exaggerated. (Chronic. Citizense, inI. Pistorius, Rerum Germanic. Scriptores aliquot insignes, cur.Struve. Ratisb. 1626. fol. p. 1214.) We have, therefore, chosen the lower estimate of an anonym. writer. Chronic. Sclavic. byErpold Lindenbrog. Scriptores rerum Germanic. Septentrional. vicinorumque populor. diversi, Francof. 1630. fol. p. 225, andSpangenberg, loc. cit., with whom again the assurance of the two authors, that on the 10th August, 1350, 15 or 1700 (according toBecker2500) persons had died, does not coincide. Compare Chronik des Franciskaner LesemeistersDetmar, nach der Urschrift und mit Ergänzungen aus anderen Chroniken herausgeg. published by F. H.Grautoff. Hamburg, 1829, 30. 8. P. I. p. 269. App. 471.
[73]Förstemann, Versuch einer Geschichte der christlichen Geisslergesellschaften, inStaüdlin’sundTzschirner’s, Archiv für alte und neue Kirchengeschichte, Vol. III. 1817.
[74]Limburg Chronicle, pub. byC. D. Vogel. Marburg, 1828. 8vo. p. 14.
[75]Barnes, loc. cit.
[76]Ibid.
[77]Spangenberg. fol. 339. a. Grawsam Sterben vieler faulen Troppfen. Many lazy monks died a cruel death.
[78]Vitoduran, loc. cit.
[79]Becker, loc. cit.
[80]Hainr.Rebdorf.p. 630.
[81]Guillelm. de Nang.loc. cit.
[82]Johanna, queen of Navarre, daughter ofLouis X., andJohannaof Burgundy, wife of kingPhilipde Valois.
[83]Fulco de Chanac.
[84]Mich. Felibien, Histoire de la ville de Paris, Liv. XII. Vol. II. p. 601, Paris, 1725. fol. Comp.Guillelm. de Nangis.loc. cit. andDaniel, Histoire de France, Tom. II. p. 484. Amsterd. 1720. 4to.
[85]Torfæus, loc. cit.
[86]According to another account, 960. Chronic. Salisburg, inPez.loc. cit. T. I. p. 412.
[87]According to an anonymous Chronicler, each of these pits is said to have contained 40,000; this, however, we are to understand as only in round numbers. Anonym. Leobiens, inPez.p. 970. According to this writer, above seventy persons died in some houses, and many were entirely deserted, and at St. Stephen’s alone, fifty-four ecclesiastics were cut off.
[88]Auger. de BiterrisinMuratori. Vol. III. P. II. p. 556. The same is said of Paderborn, byGobelin Person, inHenr. Meibom.Rer. Germanic. Script. T. I. p. 286. Helmstadt, 1688. fol.
[89]Spangenberg.loc. cit. chap. 287. fol. 337. b.
[90]Barnes, 435.
[91]Trithem.Annal. Hirsaug. loc. cit.
[92]Loc. cit. L. XII. c. 99. p. 977.
[93]Chronic. Claustro-Neoburg. inPez.Vol. I. p. 490. Comp.Barnes, p. 435.RaynaldHistor. ecclesiastic, loc. cit. According to this account, a runaway Venetian is said to have brought the plague to Padua.
[94]Giov. Villani, L. XII. c. 83. p. 964.
[95]Barnes, p. 436.
[96]Wood, loc. cit.
[97]Woodsays, that before the plague, there were 13,000 students at Oxford; a number which may, in some degree, enable us to form an estimate of the state of education in England at that time, if we consider that the universities were, in the middle ages, frequented by younger students, who in modern times do not quit school till their 18th year.
[98]BarnesandWood, loc. cit.
[99]Gobelin. Person, inMeibom.loc. cit.
[100]Juan de Mariana.Historia General de España, illustrated by DonJosé Sabau y Blanco. Tom. IX. Madrid, 1819. 8vo. Libro XVI. p. 225. DonDiego Ortiz de Zúñiga, Annales ecclesiasticos y seculares de Sevilla. Madrid, 1795. 4to. T. II. p. 121. DonJuan de Ferreras, Historia de España. Madrid, 1721. T. VII. p. 353.
[101]Gobelin. Person, loc. cit. Comp.Chalin, p. 53.
[102]Guillelm. de Nangis, loc. cit.
[103]Spangenberg.fol. 337. b. Limburg. Chronic, p. 20. “Und die auch von Rom kamen, wurden eines Theils böser als sie vor gewesen waren.”
[104]Guillelm. de Nangis, loc. cit. and many others.
[105]Dalin’sSvea Rikes Historie, Vol. II. c. 12. p. 496.
[106]Saabye.Tagebuch in Grönland. Einleit. XVIII.—TorfæiHistor. Norveg. Tom. IV. L. IX. c. viii. p. 478–79.F. G. Mansa, De epidemiis maxime memorabilibus quæ in Dania Grassatæ sunt, et de Medicinæ statu. Partic. I. Havn. 1831. 8vo. p. 12.
[107]TorfæiGroenlandia antiqua, s. veteris Groenlandiæ; descriptio. Havniæ, 1715. 8vo. p. 23.—Pontan.Rer. danicar. Histor. Amstelod. 1631. fol. L. VII. p. 476.
[108]Richter, loc. cit.
[109]We shall take this view of the subject fromGuillelm. de NangisandBarnes, if we read themwith attention. CompareOlof Dalin, loc. cit.
[110]Practica de ægritudinibus a capite usque ad pedes. Papiæ, 1486. fol. Tract VI. c. vii.
[111]“Darnach, da das Sterben, die Geiselfarth, Römerfarth, Judenschlacht, als vorgeschrieben stehet, ein End hatte, da hub die Welt wieder an zu leben und fröhlich zu seyn, und machten die Männer neue Kleidung.” Limburger Chronik. p. 26. After this, when, as was stated before, the Mortality, the Processions of the Flagellants, the Expeditions to Rome, and the Massacre of the Jews, were at an end, the world began to revive and be joyful, and the people put on new clothing.
[112]Chalin, loc. cit. p. 92.Detmar’sLübeck Chronicle, V. I. p. 401.
[113]Chronic.Ditmari, Episcop. Mersepurg, Francof. 1580, fol. p.358.—“Spagenberg, p. 338. The lamentation was piteous; and the only remaining solace, was the prevalent anxiety, inspired by the danger, to prepare for a glorious departure; no other hope remained—death appeared inevitable. Many were hence induced to search into their own hearts, to turn to God, and to abandon their wicked courses: parents warned their children, and instructed them how to pray, and to submit to the ways of Providence: neighbours mutually admonished each other; none could reckon on a single hour’s respite. Many persons, and even young children, were seen bidding farewell to the world; some with prayer, others with praises on their lips.”
[114]TorfæiHist. rer. Norvegic. L. IX. c. viii. p. 478. (Havn. 1711, fol.)Die Cronica van der hilliger Stat van Coellen, off dat tzytboich, Coellen, 1490, fol. p. 263. “In dem vurss jair erhoiff sich eyn alzo wunderlich nuwe Geselschaft in Ungarien,” &c. The Chronicle of the holy city of Cologne, 1499. In this same year, a very remarkable society was formed in Hungary.
[115]Albert. Argentinens.Chronic. p. 149, inChr. Urstisius. Germaniæ historicorum illustrium Tomus unus. Francof. 1585, fol.—Guillelm. de Nang.loc. cit.—Comp. also the Saxon Chronicle, byMattheus Dresseren, Physician and Professor at Leipsig, Wittenberg, 1596, fol. p. 340; the above-named Limburg Chronicle, and the Germaniæ Chronicon, on the origin, name, commerce, &c., of all the Teutonic nations of Germany: bySeb. Francken, of Wörd. Tübingen, 1534, fol. p. 201.
[116]Ditmar, loc. cit.
[117]Königshoven, Elsassische und Strassburgische Chronicke. loc. cit. p. 297. f.
[118]Albert. Argentin.loc. cit. They never remained longer than one night at any place.
[119]Words ofMonachus Paduanus, quoted inFörstemann’sTreatise, which is the best upon this subject.—See p. 24.
[120]Schnurrer, Chronicle of the Plagues, T. I. p. 291.
[121]Königshoven, loc. cit.
[122]Förstemann, loc. cit. The pilgrimages of the Flagellants of the year 1349, were not the last. Later in the 14th century this fanaticism still manifested itself several times, though never to so great an extent: in the 15th century, it was deemed necessary, in several parts of Germany, to extirpate them by fire and sword; and in the year 1710, processions of the Cross-bearers were still seen in Italy. How deeply this mania had taken root, is proved by the deposition of a citizen of Nordhäusen (1446): that his wife, in the belief of performing a Christian act, wanted to scourge her children, as soon as they were baptized.
[123]Königshoven, p. 298:“Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere.”
“Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere.”
“Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere.”
“Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere.”
“Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;
Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere.”
[124]Guill. de Nang.loc. cit.
[125]Albert. Argentinens.loc. cit.
[126]We meet with fragments of different lengths in the Chronicles of the times, but the only entire MS. which we possess, is in the valuable Library of Presidentvon Meusebach.Massmannhas had this printed, accompanied by a translation, entitledErläuterungen zum Wessobrunner Gebet des8tenJahrhunderts. NebstZweiennoch ungedruckten,Gedichten des Vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, Berlin, 1824. “Elucidations of the Wessobrunn Prayer of the 8th century, together with two unpublished Hymns the 14th century.” We shall subjoin it at the end of this Treatise, as a striking document of the age. The Limburg Chronicle asserts, indeed, that it was not composed till that time, although a part, if not the whole, of it, was sung in the procession of the Flagellants, in 1260.—See Incerti auctoris Chronicon rerum per Austriam Vicinasque regiones gestarum inde ab anno 1025, usque ad annum 1282. Munich, 1827 8, p. 9.
[127]Trithem.Annal. Hirsaugiens, T. II. p. 206.
[128]He issued a bull against them, Oct. 20, 1349.Raynald. Trithem.loc. cit.
[129]But as they at last ceased to excite astonishment, were no longer welcomed by the ringing of bells, and were not received with veneration, as before, they vanished as human imaginations are wont to do. Saxon Chronicle, byMatt. Dresseren. Wittenberg, 1596, fol. p. 340, 341.
[130]Albert. Argentinens.loc. cit.
[131]Guillelm. de Nangis.
[132]Ditmar.loc. cit.
[133]Kloseof Breslaw’s Documental History and Description, 8vo. Vol. II. p. 190. Breslaw, 1781.
[134]Limburg Chronicle, p. 17.
[135]Kehrberg’sDescription of Königsberg,i. e.Neumark, 1724, 4to. p. 240.
[136]So says the Polish historianDlugoss, loc. cit., while most of his contemporaries mention only the poisoning of the wells. It is evident, that in the state of their feelings, it mattered little whether they added another still more formidable accusation.
[137]In those places where no Jews resided, as in Leipsig, Magdeburg, Brieg, Frankenstein, &c., the grave-diggers were accused of the crime.—V.Möhsen’sHistory of the Sciences in the March of Brandenburg, T. II. p. 265.
[138]See the original proceedings, in the Appendix.
[139]Hermanni GygantisFlores temporum, sive Chronicon Universale—Ed. Meuschen.Lugdun. Bat. 1743. 4to. p. 139. Hermann, a Franciscan monk of Franconia, who wrote in the year 1349, was an eye-witness of the most revolting scenes of vengeance, throughout all Germany.
[140]Guid. Cauliac.loc. cit.
[141]Hermann.loc. cit.
[142]Albert. Argentin.—Königshoven, loc. cit.
[143]Dies was ouch die Vergift, die die Juden döttete.“This was also the poison that killed the Jews,” observesKönigshoven, which he illustrates by saying, that their increase in Germany was very great, and their mode of gaining a livelihood, which, however, was the only resource left them, had engendered ill-will against them in all quarters.
[144]Many wealthy Jews, for example, were, on their way to the stake, stripped of their garments, for the sake of the gold coin that was sewed in them.—Albert. Argentinens.
[145]Vide preceding note.
[146]Spangenberg, loc. cit.
[147]Guillelm. de Nangis.—Dlugoss, loc. cit.
[148]Albert. Argentinens.
[149]Spangenbergdescribes a similar scene which took place at Kostnitz.
[150]Guillelm. de Nang.—Raynald.
[151]Histor. Landgrav.Thuring.inPistor.loc. cit. Vol. I. p. 948.
[152]Anonym.Leobiens, inPez.loc. cit.
[153]Spangenberg.In the county of Mark, the Jews were no better off than in the rest of Germany. MargraveLudwig, the Roman, even countenanced their persecutions, of whichKehrberg, loc. cit. 241. gives the following official account: Coram cunctis Christi fidelibus præsentia percepturis, egoJohannesdictusde WedelAdvocatus, inclyti Principis Domini,Ludovici, Marchionis, publice profiteor et recognosco, quod nomine Domini mei civitatem Königsberg visitavi et intravi, et ex parte Domini Marchionis Consulibus ejusdem civitatis in adjutorium mihi assumtis,Judæos inibi morantes igne cremavi, bonaque omnia eorundem Judæorum ex parte Domini mei totaliter usurpavi et assumsi. In cujus testimonium præsentibus meum sigillum appendi. Datum A.D. 1351. in Vigilia S. Matthæi Apostoli.
[154]Basnage, Histoire des Juifs. A la Haye, 1716. 8vo. T. IX. Part 2. Liv. IX. Chap. 23. §. 12. 24. pp. 664. 679. This valuable work gives an interesting account of the state of the Jews of the middle ages. CompareJ. M. Jost’sHistory of the Israelites from the time of the Maccabees to the present day. T. VII. Berlin, 1827. 8vo. pp. 8. 262.
[155]Albert. Argentinens.
[156]Hermann.Gygas.loc. cit.
[157]On this subject seeKönigshoven, who has preserved some very valuable original proceedings. The most important are, the criminal examinations of ten Jews, at Chillon, on the Lake of Geneva, held in September and October, 1348.—V. Appendix. They produced the most strange confessions, and sanctioned, by the false name of justice, the blood-thirsty fanaticism which lighted the funeral piles. Copies of these proceedings were sent to Bern and Strasburg, where they gave rise to the first persecutions against the Jews.—V. also the original document of the offensive and defensive Alliance betweenBerthold von Götz, Bishop of Strasburg, and many powerful lords and nobles, in favour of the city of Strasburg, against Charles IV. The latter saw himself compelled, in consequence, to grant to that city an amnesty for the Jewish persecutions, which in our days would be deemed disgraceful to an imperial crown. Not to mention many other documents, which no less clearly shew the spirit of the 14th century, p. 1021. f.
[158]Guillelm. de Nangis, p. 110.
[159]“Curationem omnem respuit pestis confirmata.”—Chalin, p. 33.
[160]Jacob. Francischini de Ambrosiis.In the Appendix to the Istorie Pistolesi, inMuratori, Tom. XI. p. 528.
[161]Gentilis de FulgineoConsilia. De Peste Cons. I. II. fol. 76, 77. Venet. 1514. fol.
[162]—“venenosa putredo circa partes cordis et pulmonis de quibus exeunte venenoso vapore, periculum est in vicinitatibus.” Cons. I. fol. 76, a.
[163]Dr. Maclean’snotion that the doctrine of contagion was first promulgated in the year 1547, by Pope Paul III., &c., thus falls to the ground, together with all the arguments founded on it.—SeeMacleanon Epid. and Pestilent. Diseases, 8vo, 1817, Pt. II. Book II. ch. 3, 4.—Transl. note.
[164]Lippitudo contagione spectantium oculos afficit.—Chalin de Vinario, p. 149.
[165]See the Author’s Geschichte der Heilkunde, Vol. II. P. III.
[166]CompareMarx, Origines contagii. Caroliruh. et Bad. 1824. 8.
[167]Cæl. Aurelian.Chron. L. IV. c. 1. p. 497.Ed. Amman.“Sed hi ægrotantem destituendum magis imperant, quam curandum, quod a se alienum humanitas approbat medicinæ.”
[168]Geschichte der Heilkunde, Vol. II. p. 248.
[169]Chalinassures us expressly, that many nunneries, by closing their gates, remained free from the contagion. It is worthy of note, and quite in conformity with the prevailing notions, that the continuance in a thick, moist atmosphere, was generally esteemed more advantageous and conservative, on account of its being more impenetrable to the astral influence, inasmuch as the inferior cause kept off the superior.—Chalin, p. 48.
[170]This was calledAffluxus, orForma specifica, and was compared to the effect of a magnet on iron, and of amber on chaff.—Chalin de Vinario, p. 23.
[171]Causa universalis agens—causa particularis patiens. To this correspond, inChalin, the expressions Causa superior et inferior.
[172]Purging with alöetic pills; bleeding; purification of the air by means of large fires; the use of treacle; frequent smelling to volatile substances, of which certain “poma,” were prepared; the internal use of Armenian bole,—a plague-remedy derived from the Arabians, and, throughout the middle ages, much in vogue, and very improperly used; and the employment of acescent food, in order to resist putridity.Guy de Chauliacappears to have recommended flight to many. Loc. citat. p. 115. CompareChalin, L. II., who gives most excellent precepts on this subject.
[173]Auger. de Biterris, loc. cit.
[174]L. I. c. 4. p. 39.
[175]Fol. 32. loc. cit.
[176]Galeacii de Sancta Sophia, Liber de Febribus. Venet. 1514, fol. (Printed together withGuillelmus Brixiensis, Marsilius de Sancta Sophia, Ricardus Parisiensis.fol. 29. seq.)
[177]Warmth, cold, dryness and moisture.
[178]The talentedChalinentertains the same conviction, “Obscurum interdum esse vitium aëris, sub pestis initia et menses primos, hoc est argumento:quod cum nec odore tetro gravis, nec turpi colore fœdatus fuerit, sed purus, tenuis, frigidus, qualis in montosis et asperis locis esse solet, et tranquillus, vehementissima sit tamen pestilentia infestaque,” etc. p. 28. The most recent observers of malaria have stated nothing more than this.
[179]CompareEnr. di Wolmar, Abhandlung über die Pest. Berlin, 1827. 8vo.
[180]Tractatus de Febribus, fol. 48.
[181]De Peste Liber, pura latinitate donatus aJacobo Dalechampio. Lugdun. 1552. 16. p. 40. 188. “Longe tamen plurimi congressu eorum qui fuerunt in locis pestilentibus periclitantur et gravissime, quoniam e causa duplici, nempe et aëris vitio, et eorum qui versantur nobiscum, vitio.Hoc itaque modo fit, ut unius accessu in totam modo familiam, modo civitatem, modo villam, pestis invehatur.” Compare p. 20, “Solæ privatorum ædes pestem sentiunt,si adeat qui in pestilenti loco versatus est.”—“Nobis proximi ipsi sumus, nemoque est tanta occœcatus amentia, qui de sua salute potius quam aliorum sollicitus non sit, maxime in contagione tam cita et rapida.” Rather a loose principle, which might greatly encourage low sentiments, and much endanger the honour of the medical profession, but which, inChalin, who was aware of the impossibility of avoiding contagion in uncleanly dwellings, is so far excusable, that he did not apply it to himself.
[182]Morbos omnes pestilentes esse contagiosos, audacter ego equidem pronuntio et assevero. p. 149.
[183]Vide preceding note, pp. 162, 163.
[184]Ibid. p. 97. 166. “Qualis (vita) esse solet eorum, qui sacerdotiorum et cultus divini prætextu, genio plus satis indulgent et obsequuntur, ac Christum speciosis titulis ementientes, Epicurum imitantur.” Certainly a remarkable freedom of sentiment for the 14th century.
[185]Ibid. p. 183. 151.
[186]Ibid. p. 159. 189.
[187]Canonica de Febribus, ad Raynerium Siculum, 1487, s. 1. cap. 10, sine pag. “Febris pestilentialis est febris contagiosa ex ebullitione putrefactiva in altero quatuor humorum cordi propinquorum principaliter.”
[188]Valesci de Tharanta, Philonium. Lugduni, 1535. 8. L. VII. c. 18. fol. 401. b. seq.—CompareAstruc.Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire de la Faculté de Médecine de Montpellier. Paris, 1767. 4. p. 208.
[189]Chronicon Regiense,Muratori, Tom. XVIII. p. 82.
[190]Adr. Chenot, Hinterlassene Abhandlungen über die ärztlichen und politischen Anstalten bei der Pestseuche. Wien, 1798, 8vo. p. 146. From this period it was common in the middle ages to barricade the doors and windows of houses infected with plague, and to suffer the inhabitants to perish without mercy.—S. Möhsen, loc. cit.
[191]Chron. Reg. loc. cit.
[192]Muratori, Tom. XVI. p. 560.—CompareChenot, loc. cit. p. 146.
[193]Papon, loc. cit.
[194]Chenot, p. 145.
[195]Le Bret, Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig. Riga, 1775. 4, Part II. Div. 2. p. 752.
[196]Zagata, Cronica di Verona, 1744. 4, III. p. 93.
[197]Le Bret, loc. cit. Compare Hamburger Remarquen of the year 1700, pp. 282 and 305.
[198]Göttinger gelehrte Anzeigen, 1772, p. 22.
[199]The forty days’ duration of the Flood, the forty days’ sojourn of Moses on Mount Sinai, our Saviour’s fast for the same length of time in the wilderness; lastly, what is called the Saxon term (Sächsische Frist,) which lasts for forty days, &c. CompareG. W. Wedel, Centuria Exercitationum Medico-philologicarum.De Quadragesima Medica.Jenæ, 1701. 4. Dec. IV. p. 16.
[200]We hence perceive with what feelings subterraneous thunders were regarded by the people.
[201]For the sake of thy Trinity.
[202]An appearance of justice having been given to all later persecutions by these proceedings, they deserve to be recorded as important historical documents. The original is in Latin, but we have preferred the German translation in Königshoven’s Chronicle, p. 1029.