"Follower XI"

Street performers were almost never seen in St. Mark's Square, which set it apart from other squares in Europe.

Some of these performers were beggars with genuinely no source of income, while others simply liked attracting attention. They raised donations through performances.

Those who watched them were entertained. Going to the theater required buying a ticket, after all. During a fundraiser, kind-hearted people did not receive nothing in return, while those who liked attention gained the joy of being noticed.

Beggars only knew how to hold out their hands, yet it was precisely those who could do nothing else who needed help the most.

During the witch hunts, many beggars became targets. They were both perpetrators who informed on others and victims themselves. When everything was going well, people let down their guard, but when times turned bad, human hearts developed in terrible directions.

When the Black Death broke out in 1630, strange drawings or blotches resembling pus and blood appeared on the lintels of every house in Milan. The entire city panicked. Church bells rang loudly, fear spread through the crowds, and people grew distrustful of one another. They worried that someone had poisoned the well water and found door handles, walls, and carriages suspicious.

There was an old man over eighty who often went to the Basilica of Saint Anthony to pray. Out of habit, he wiped a bench with the corner of his clothes, causing panic. Someone immediately claimed he was spreading poison. A group of women in the church seized him and dragged him toward City Hall. Had he not died on the way, he likely would have been tortured to death during interrogation.

People had already taken to dyeing their hair and wearing wigs at the time. One apothecary was accused of colluding with the