Warning rattle
The warning rattle , also called Lazarus rattle or leprosy rattle , is a wooden percussion instrument that sick people use to warn healthy people not to approach them.
Such warning rattles were used by lepers , especially in the Middle Ages . Because of their then incurable and mostly fatal illness , lepers were cast out and shunned by society. So that the healthy did not get too close to them and not become infected, they were warned by the rattling.
Warning rattles in the form of counter-strike plates can be seen on many paintings from the Middle Ages.
Later, bells were used instead of the warning clappers .
Depiction of a warning rattle (16th century)
Leper with warning clappers and sick coats (16th century)
Man with warning clapper (representation by Rembrandt , 1631)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heidelberg Geheminisse: A chapel for leprosy sufferers. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung , October 5, 2018
- ^ Rattling in times of leprosy. In: Westfälische Nachrichten , January 25, 2009