Plague Perfumes Fought Imagined Miasma

During the 14th-century Black Death, Europeans believed the disease spread through foul-smelling, contaminated air. The miasma theory made the stench of disease seem dangerous, so officials lit sweet-smelling wood in public bonfires. People burned incense or sniffed rose and musk perfumes to purify the air and keep infection away in their homes. Plague doctors would stuff their beaked masks with sweet-smelling substances, or carry small bouquets, to mask the stench of death.

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