Black Death Inquiry Question #3

How did people try to prevent the Black Death?

One of the well known ideas as to how the Black Death spread was the idea of the disease being transmitted through the air, most likely because of the horrible smell. This caused the living to carry scents with them to ward off the stench of the dead and to make loud noises to drive away the disease.

Many types of incense were burned, including juniper, laurel, pine, beech, lemon leaves, rosemary, amber, musk, camphor, sulfur etc. When outside of the home, many carried packets of herbs with them to keep the smell away, or wore handkerchiefs that had been dipped in aromatic oils to cover their face.
Another remedy was the cure of sound, which were any sounds that caused your ears to ring. Town or church bells were rung, and cannons (relatively new at the time) were fired.

The pope would sit between two large fires; these could also be found burning at many street corners.
People were advised to avoid activities that would open their pores, including any physical activity or bathing, as well as not to eat meat.
Other strange ideas were passed on as well, including supposedly 'plague-proofed' by glazing the southern windows to block the polluted southern wind, not sleeping during the daytime and avoiding negative thoughts.

"If the epidemic occurs during hot weather it becomes necessary to adopt another regimen, and to eat cold things rather than hot and also to eat more sparingly than in cold weather. . . . You should use cucumbers, fennel, borage, bugloss and spinach, and avoid garlic, onions, leeks and everything else which generates excessive heat."
- French physician, John of Burgundy. He also suggested that during the colder months aromatic spices should be inhaled.

https://sites.google.com/site/theblackdeathmary/medical-prevention
http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/black-death2.htm