The Carnival in Venice of course found its own way to "exorcise" the big fear of the plague which was quite a common situation, in all Europe and Venice as well.
Especially bad was the Black Death plague that hit Venice in 1348, through the flea infested rats which came in a boat arriving from Caffa (Crimea): 60% of the Venetians died in those 18 months.
And then a big outbreak again in March 1630, resulting maybe from relaxed health measures during the carnival season, which went until 1631, and in Venice - on a population of 140,000 - about 46,000 inhabitants (30.4% of total population) succumbed to the plague and died.
“The plague does not send to warn which ship it arrives on,” wrote an 18th-century Venetian health official.
There had been a law in Venice from the "Maggior Consiglio" made on July 16, 1478, stating:
“Medici in tempore pestis
de Venetijs non discedant”.
“Doctors during the plague time
cannot abandon Venice”.
