Middle Ages

The origin of the “bless you” tradition is not entirely clear. The urban legend experts at Snopes.com list an impressive number of possibilities. One involves the (hopefully) mistaken belief that a human’s soul might escape through a sneeze. Saying “God bless you” wards off Satan while the soul is temporarily vulnerable. I’ve also heard that it was thought, in Biblical times, that a sneeze was an attempt to rid the body of a demon.