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Middle Ages

15 Weird Ways People Tried to Survive the Black Plague

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13. Burning Clothes and Bedding

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Part of the painting Bring Out Your Dead, featuring a street during the plague in London. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Out of fear that possessions carried the plague, people burned the clothes and bedding of those who were sick or had died. This drastic action sometimes helped eliminate sources of infection, such as fleas. However, it left many survivors destitute and without basic necessities, compounding their suffering. Find out more about plague transmission

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