Throughout history, diseases and disasters have shaped people’s beliefs and concerns. During the 13th century, the Bubonic Plague was no exception to this theory. Authors, physicians, and European travelers expressed their beliefs regarding the plague, how their lifestyles had changed because of it and how they believed it spread throughout the great continent of Europe. These groups of authors, physicians and travelers all formed their own beliefs and concerns about the plague such as Erasmus of Rotterdam who believed that “the plague and sickness in England is due to the filth on the streets…” (Doc 2) At the time, physicians were believed to have more informed beliefs and concerns than other members of society due to their advanced educations. In fact, Johann Weyer, a German physician, claimed that townspeople smeared the bolts of the town with an ointment directly intended to spread the plague to anyone who touched it. In turn, many people died, including members of the royal family. Weyer even believed that heirs of the dead paid people to spread the cream so that they could inherit their fortunes more quickly. (Doc 4). On the other hand, Giovan Fillipo pronounced in 1576 his motto of, “Gold, fire, the gallows: gold for the expense of the pest houses to quarantine the diseased, the gallows to punish those who violate the heath regulations and to frighten the others, and bonfires to eliminate infected things.” (Doc 6) The motto of Fillipo was well respected by his fellow French citizens because he was an educated physician who, like all the other medical personal was desperate to try anything that could cure this deadly disease. Similarly, H. de Rochas, a French physician who wrote The Reform of Medicine, described the toads that were hanging around the necks of people infected with the plague with hope that the venom of the toad would suck the poison from the