About the disinfection of public places in the Middle Ages

The Black Death. From google images

¨In the Middle Ages, the strewing of public places with aromatic flowers and leaves to ward off fevers was wide-spread. Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, with its strong camphor-smell, was often used to disinfect public places in the days of the plague, and so was the spicy marjoram, Origanum vulgare. In the nineteenth century church pews were still strewn with lavender, rosemary, woodruf and balm, and a sprig of southernwood was worn on the Sunday smocks of the farm folks. Other worshippers might carry a Sunday posy, with stems decently wrapped in a clean pocket handkerchief, which would usually include a sprig of fennel.¨

Tanacetum vulgare. From mynug.com

Reference:

Green Magic. By Lesley Gordon. p. 115. New York, 1977