5 Thieves Clean Protection Duo

While there are a few versions of the story they all center around one event, the Bubonic Plague. It is said that, during that time, a group of thieves went from house to house to rob those who had succumbed to the illness. After the thieves were captured and tried for their acts of robbery, a judge offered leniency if they would share how they were able to be around those afflicted long and often enough to rob them but not be affected by the illness. The thieves told the judge their secret: they were perfume and spice merchants who were unemployed due to the closure of the sea ports and the devastation of the plague. They had prepared an essential oil recipe that when applied to their hands, ears, temples, feet and a mask over their mouths, kept them safe from infection.