(a blend of essential oils of; clove bud,cinnamon,eucalyptus,lemmon and rosemary)-History says that while the bubonic plauge was decimating much of europe in the late 1400's,there was a band of four thieves who were captured and charged with robbing the dead and dying victims whom no one else whould go near because of their infectiouness. At their trial, the magistrate offered them leniency if they would reveal how they resisted contracting the infection as they performed their gruesom acts. Being perfumers and spice traders by trade, they explained their concoction of herbs and spices which they had rubbed on their hands,ears and temples to ward off germs.
Interesting story, although I doubt that the herbs and spices they rubbed on themselves had anything to do with them not contracting the plague. There were plenty of other people who didn't rub herbs and spices on themselves that were in close contact with plague victims on a regular basis, and they didn't contract the plague. I know herbs and spices have some medical uses, but I think the thieves were just naturally immune or lucky.
kinda like typhoide mary ...I alway appreciate feeback from kool people easy... all four of them though?
nice story and they are very potent essential oils there... wouldn't surprise me at all if that is exactly what kept them safe from infection! i've got all those oils, so i'll make a mix and see what it smells like... cheers
There are lots of different versions of this story. BTW the germ theory of infection wasn't proposed until the 1900s. In the late 1400s people killed Jews to stop the plague - among other things equally superstitious - though there were some physicians at the time who thought it was "bad air" that caused the plague. Also btw it's highly unlikely that eucalyptus trees were known to Europeans at the time. It's possible however that by that time a few East Indies explorers had found eucalyptus trees in the course of their travels, so there may have been a few rare samples of it in Europe. Anyway it's true that this particular concoction would have a disinfectant effect, and possibly even more important, would tend to ward off fleas. What the true origin of the story is, we'll probably never know, but it's fun to conjecture.
i'd just like to point out that essential oils are way stronger than the herb/bark/flower, whatever, in it's natural state...
Good point, lils. As far as that goes, apparently eucalyptus oil wasn't known in Europe until around 1700. Handy stuff to have around in the event of plague, I suppose - might want to keep it in mind in case civilization collapses...which seems more and more like a real possibility...
marco polo discovered the spice rout, the plauge happened for hundreds of year as did the inquisition. Gypsies and all other non-christians were killed.naturel oils if I may remind you are natural anti-bacterial,fungal & microbial agents used since the dawn of time. are you familiar with tea tree, eucalyptus,&neem oil used even today in industry.
It's an interesting story and fun to think about, and I do realize the medicinal value of hers and spices, but people did exist who were immune/resistant to the Plague due to a theorized genetic mutation. The four of them probably realized it pretty quickly about themselves and got together. Imagine trying to explain that to a judge back then to save their freedom/lives when they almost certainly didn't fully understand it themselves. It's easy to see why they came up with the spice and herb theory. Actually, research suggests that the descendents of those immune people are resistant to HIV in present day, since the viruses attack the body through similar mechanisms. http://zeitlerweb.com/about-2/immunity-to-bubonic-plague-and-hiv/
some people do have a symbiotic relationship with germs/virus milkmaids were known to be immune to small pox because they had some how gained antibodies from milking cows everyday. Maybe the spice & perfume traders got antibodies from the people they dealt with (kind of like getting innoculated). although poeple from asia and india ,people who ate a diet much richer in spices, the plaugue could have sweep through asia/india thuosands of years prior to the european epidemic;the bubonic plauge was in fact carried by the asian flea.
