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The celebrity physician and the plague

The 17th-century court doctor Charles de Lorme rose to fame by inventing the all-enveloping “plague prevention costume” to protect doctors from infectious patients. But his career was dogged by criticism and a controversial treatment that became his speciality.

Words by Estelle Paranque

  • In pictures

About the author

Black and white head and shoulders photograph of Estelle Paranque.

Estelle Paranque

Dr Estelle Paranque is lecturer in Early Modern History at the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern and an honorary research fellow at the University of Warwick. She is the author of ‘Elizabeth I of England Through Valois Eyes’ and has published several essays and journal articles.