Black Death

I guess it would have been in 1985 or 6 when I read an article in Scientific American about the influence of foreign trade, rats, and fleas in the spread of bubonic plague in medieval times. The front cover of the issue showed Pieter Bruegel's painting:




and the article itself mentioned (in passing) the outfits worn by physicians in medieval times that included protective "beaks" filled with petals to attempt to filter noxious vapours and spirits and attempt to stop the wearer from catching the plague.



The article served as the inspiration for an English assignment I would write a few weeks later (as it happened, I wrote the story first and submitted it opportunistically and far too long in page length for that assignment). The story was about two priests who believed in science and wanted to do what they could for the inhabitants of a plague stricken town (religion and science going hand in hand... the way God intended it to be). In their way was a charlatan witch doctor who believed that wearing that creepy attire would save him from the plague. In the end, a sanctuary house for plague victims burned down "accidentally" but actually thanks to the charlatan, killing everyone in it. One of the priests died tragically of the plague, the charlatan's belief in evil spirits brought an incarnation of the plague into existence. It possessed him. Finally, the last remaining priest and the charlatan have a fight outside a cottage in the snowswept village. The priest vanquishes the charlatan by smashing his head through a window and puching down so as to sever the charlatan's throat on the broken glass. The charlatan died with a scream gurgling through his lips.

Well, this memory of the mid-80s was all brought back by playing Assassin's Creed 2 on the PS3 (I completed the story part of the game a few days ago). It was great to see those renaissance physicians in their birdman regalia, but strange to have them as friends rather than foes in the game. They always did (and continue to) look quite creepy to me.

Still, Assassin's Creed 2 was a great game, great fun to play and so audacious in having you break into the Vatican and assassinate the Pope in the end. One of my favourite quotes from the game is a Venetian city guard telling his colleagues "take this man very seriously..."