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During the great plague in Toulouse between 1628-1631 (claiming 500,000 victims), four thieves were looting the houses of the dead, completely unharmed by the pestilence. When found out, they were arrested and incarcerated. About to be burned at the stake, the thieves inadvertently intrigued the judges thanks to their resilience to the Bubonic plague.
In an effort to find out how that was possible, they offered the more lenient death by hanging, in exchange for their secret: the scented recipe of the elixir which they rubbed their entire body for protection before entering the houses. From this story, the name Le Vinaigre des 4 Voleurs ("'Four Thieves Vinegar" and also Acetum Quator Furum) was coined.
The same incident also happened in Marseilles in 1720, whereupon the thieves voluntarily shared the recipe with the afflicted city people, thus saving their own lives as well. From that incident Le Vinaigre des 4 Voleurs also gained the names of Marseilles Vinegar or Marseilles Remedy.
In fact, before the sanitation of European cities in the 18th century, delineated in great detail and analytical depth in Alain Corbain's seminal work Le miasme et la Jonquille, the use of aromatics and fragrances was based predominantly on their prophylactic role; hence the name Prophylactic Water.
During plagues perfumer-doctors visited houses with aromatics molded into a gigantic bird’s beak to protect themselves. As those “witch doctors,” with their duck-like noses, were often no more efficient for the pestilence than the placebo effect, the term “quack” became a synonym for charlatan!
Nevertheless the inclusion of camphor, spice and garlic in those elusive protective elixirs does have a footing in science. Put a clove of garlic or a clove (clou de girofle) on a petri dish and watch it under the microscope to see how bacteria and microbes cannot enter its inner sanctum, keeping their distance. The reasoning probably has to do as much with their flea repellent action as with the direct influence on the microorganisms. Fleas and the mice they infected, as well as dogs, had been a supreme carrier of the grave disease that spread through Europe like wild fire.
French aromatherapy doctor Jean Valnet (1920-1995) gave the story credence. In his book, The Practice of Aromatherapy, he quotes the archives of the Parliament of Toulouse, going on to claim the original recipe was revealed by the four corpse robbers who were caught red-handed in the area around Toulouse in 1628-1631.
The rise of the apothecary as the purveyor of scented products only made access more widely available and falls in step with the advent of sanitation and greater attention to hygiene which was the development of the 18th century.
The recipe for the milder skin elixir comprised apple cider vinegar, thanks to its closeness to the natural Ph of the skin contrary to the more acidic wine vinegar. The acid would have cosmetic uses, since the harsh alkali-rich soaps would disrobe the natural acidic mantle of the skin, whereas the finishing with vinegar (alcoholic or not, as the formula stipulated) would help rebalance the skin.
Rosemary in particular seems to have been a particularly beloved ingredient in the preparation of scented products at the time, not least forgetting the mention in Shakespeare's Hamlet "There's Rosemary, that's for Remembraunce [sic]." After all, the great playwright was not unfamiliar with the great plague, having siblings lost to the disease and his theater shut down due to the London outbreaks between 1593 and 1608. Rosemary was after all the "magic" ingredient in another miraculous fragrant preparation: the Eau de Reine d'Hongrie!
Nowadays the scented "vinegar" is still sold in traditional apothecaries and notably by Diptyque as Vinaigre de Toilette as well a by Oriza Legrand (tagged underneath Oriza Aciduline). Its benefits start from the removal of lice and nits, extend to hair and mucous membranes sanitation, headaches (applied on the temples), and even for respiratory problems.
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