7. Body Collectors Were Widely Hated
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the men responsible for hauling loved ones away (at a high cost) after tragic deaths at the hands of the plague were not terribly popular. In Florence, body collectors were called becchini which literally translates to gravediggers and were widely reviled. One chronicler wrote, “gangs of shovel-wielding grave diggers known as the becchini stalked the streets.” […] stinking with the effluvia of death, . . . [and] earning more than they had ever done before.”
As happens with any necessary service, some body collectors abused their positions and demanded extortionate prices or even bribes to remove bodies from homes. There are reports that some also threatened the living with the promise of murdering them and passing them off as plague victims if they didn’t pay the high prices they were demanding.
A few body collectors were also accused of poor public behavior, with a chronicle stating some “showed off by laughing, drinking, and assaulting innocent people.” One can empathize with the frustrations of townspeople if they saw someone drinking and celebrating with the money he or she just paid to have a dear deceased love one carted away. However, one does wonder how many of the negative reports were driven by the prejudices towards the idea of the lower class earning money above their station.