Cleanliness in the Middle Ages. We debunk the myths. Hygiene in the Middle Ages in Europe. Public baths in European cities

Nowadays, some people have formed a strong belief that people in the Middle Ages almost never washed at all, or washed very rarely. But as the analysis of primary sources shows, this is not entirely true ...

For example, the code of etiquette of the 15th-16th centuries emphasized the need to wash hands before the meal, as well as when waking up and getting out of bed. Plus, good manners ordered the awakened to rinse the mouth.

George Duby, in his History of Private Life, wrote:

“... Among the ruling classes, cleanliness was highly valued. No formal dinner, given in a large hall with a large number of guests, began until the guests were offered jugs for pre-dinner ablutions. And the obligatory prelude to love games among the middle and upper classes was the adoption of a hot bath, and by both parties.
The most ardent medieval moralists and churchmen condemned bathing and body care only because these procedures exposed the bodies. Therefore, for example, bathing was considered a prelude to sin. And public baths were condemned because they were too accessible. But at the same time they advised to bathe in seclusion at home.”

Despite the fact that bathing as such, and even more so mixed bathing, was actively discouraged by the Church, there is historical evidence that dinners and wedding banquets were often held in the baths. And these events were combined with bathing and taking a bath (moreover, the available art documents from such events show that they were based on a sexual overtone rather than a social one.

So, how often did people wash and bathe?

There are many references to the popularity of baths in ancient Germany. People bathed several times every day. And sometimes they spent whole days doing this. In particular, according to the entries found in the diary of a medieval German, it follows that the author from May 20 to June 9, 1511 bathed one hundred twenty seven times.
In one of the Polish cities in the XIII-XV centuries there was a law according to which every citizen was obliged to visit a public bath at least once a week. Those who did not comply with this order were fined, and malicious violators were even taken into custody.

However, of course, given the undeveloped infrastructure and the relative remoteness of the ancient cities from each other, there were settlements in which some people lived for weeks and months without washing. But gradually Europe began to actively develop in terms of personal hygiene. A particularly active jump occurred after outbreaks of plague. This was also facilitated by the development of an artistic culture in which the beauty of the human body was sung - especially during the Renaissance.

Private baths

Medieval residents loved to take baths more than we might expect, however, this process was not always easy.

The bath itself was a wooden tub filled with water heated on the hearth. A washing person was fenced off from an idle gaze with a canopy or a canopy. In warm weather, the tub was taken out to the castle garden, and in cold weather, the bath was placed near the fireplace or hearth. The wealthy often hired servants whose only duty was to prepare the bath for the whole family. This man often traveled with his family.

Medieval bath in a private house
Some medieval castles had specially built-in bathtubs.
So, for example, in Leeds Castle, in 1291, a niche measuring about 7x5 meters was created, lined with stone, into which water was poured from the lake surrounding the castle. There was also a shelf for bathroom supplies, an alcove for the bath, and a dressing room located directly above the bath.
Rarely, but still there are castle baths, where they let through the pipes hot and cold water. And some lords got bath rugs to protect their feet from the cold.

As a rule, the role of an everyday washbasin was played by an ordinary vat, where water was settled, or a stone bowl built into the wall. The washbasin was used for washing hands before and after meals.
Some washstands were decoratively decorated and had outlets in the shape of animal heads.

public baths

Already in the mid-1200s, many large European cities had their own public baths. The water in them was heated over an open fire, which in turn led to certain inconveniences: an open fire in itself was dangerous and was a potential source of a possible fire; at the same time, the number of forests began to decline, which led to an increase in the price of firewood (at the same time, some baths tried to heat coal, but its vapors turned out to be unhealthy).
These reasons forced many public baths to close.

Moreover, by the mid-1300s, only the rich could afford to buy firewood in winter not for heating their homes, but for heating water for a bath. What can we say about the bulk of the poor population - they were forced to literally walk around dirty all winter. Hot water was forced to be saved - often the heated water in a large barrel was not changed until the whole family, and sometimes the neighbors, washed up.

Medieval public bath
However, bathing at home provided only the necessary hygiene. It could not replace a real bath in the sense that already in the Middle Ages they could not imagine without it.
The basic methods of organizing a steam room were the same in most countries of Northern and Eastern Europe: first, stones or stoves were heated in a confined space, then water was poured onto the stones to create steam. The soarers sat naked on the benches near the stones exuding heat. To increase blood circulation during soaring, they used special fans that pumped heat, used bundles of leaves.

“The herald patrolled the streets of 13th century Paris to call the people to the heated steam baths and baths. These institutions already numbered twenty-six in 1292.
(Riolan, Curieuses Recherches, p. 219).

The interior decoration of the baths varied depending on their prestige. Some were quite modest and were intended purely for washing and soaring, and some housed luxurious seating areas with beds and served various dishes on tables with expensive tablecloths.

This is how documentarians describe the Erfurt baths of the 13th century:

“Baths in this city will give you real pleasure. If you need to wash and you like convenience, you can enter there calmly. You will be kindly received. A beautiful young girl will rub you properly with her delicate hands. An experienced barber will shave you without dropping a drop of sweat on your face. When you get tired of the bathroom, you will find a bed to rest in. A pretty woman who won't bother you will skilfully comb your hair with a virginal air. Who wouldn't snatch a kiss from her if he wanted to, since she didn't resist at all? And when they demand payment from you, then one denier will suffice.

As a rule, medieval bathers were naked in the bath, sometimes in loincloths. Women often wore knee-length linen shirts, although the clothes still showed their neck, chest, arms and shoulders quite wide.

The clergy, however, still tried to introduce some restrictions. Thus, the monastic charters indicated the maximum number of permitted baths and toilet procedures, since all this was considered a luxury and a manifestation of effeminacy.
The monastic baths themselves, as a rule, had separate cabins, and the monks bathed in them in cold water and no more than once a week. This was to protect the monks from getting sensual pleasure from bathing.

Based on materials from the site Mag-Az.ru

This is not a detailed study, but just an essay that I wrote last year, when the discussion about the "dirty Middle Ages" had just begun on my diary. Then I was so tired of controversy that I simply did not hang it out. Now the discussion has continued, well, here is my opinion, it is stated in this essay. Therefore, some things that I have already said will be repeated there.
If anyone needs links - write, I will raise my archive and try to find it. However, I warn you - they are mostly in English.

Eight myths about the Middle Ages.

Middle Ages. The most controversial and controversial era in the history of mankind. Some perceive it as the times of beautiful ladies and noble knights, minstrels and buffoons, when spears were broken, feasts were noisy, serenades were sung and sermons sounded. For others, the Middle Ages is a time of fanatics and executioners, the fires of the Inquisition, stinking cities, epidemics, cruel customs, unsanitary conditions, general darkness and savagery.
Moreover, fans of the first option are often embarrassed by their admiration for the Middle Ages, they say that they understand that everything was not like that, but they love the outward side of knightly culture. While the supporters of the second option are sincerely sure that the Middle Ages were not called the Dark Ages for nothing, it was the most terrible time in the history of mankind.
The fashion to scold the Middle Ages appeared back in the Renaissance, when there was a sharp denial of everything that had to do with the recent past (as we know it), and then, with the light hand of historians of the 19th century, this most dirty, cruel and rude Middle Ages began to be considered ... times since the fall of ancient states and until the 19th century, declared the triumph of reason, culture and justice. Then myths developed, which now wander from article to article, frightening fans of chivalry, the sun king, pirate novels, and in general all romantics from history.

Myth 1. All knights were stupid, dirty, uneducated dorks.
This is probably the most fashionable myth. Every second article about the horrors of Medieval customs ends with an unobtrusive morality - look, they say, dear women, how lucky you are, no matter what modern men are, they are definitely better than the knights you dream of.
Let's leave the dirt for later, there will be a separate discussion about this myth. As for ignorance and stupidity ... I thought recently how it would be funny if our time was studied according to the culture of "brothers". One can imagine what a typical representative of modern men would be like then. And you can’t prove that men are all different, there is always a universal answer to this - “this is an exception.”
In the Middle Ages, men, oddly enough, were also all different. Charlemagne collected folk songs, built schools, and knew several languages ​​himself. Richard the Lionheart, considered a typical representative of chivalry, wrote poems in two languages. Karl the Bold, whom literature likes to display as a kind of boor-macho, knew Latin very well and loved to read ancient authors. Francis I patronized Benvenuto Cellini and Leonardo da Vinci. The polygamist Henry VIII knew four languages, played the lute and loved the theatre. And this list can be continued. But the main thing is that they were all sovereigns, models for their subjects, and even for smaller rulers. They were guided by them, they were imitated, and those who could, like his sovereign, could knock down an enemy from a horse and write an ode to the Beautiful Lady enjoyed respect.
Yeah, they will tell me - we know these Beautiful Ladies, they had nothing to do with their wives. So let's move on to the next myth.

Myth 2. The “noble knights” treated their wives like property, beat them and didn’t set a penny
To begin with, I will repeat what I have already said - the men were different. And in order not to be unfounded, I will remember the noble seigneur from the XII century, Etienne II de Blois. This knight was married to a certain Adele of Norman, daughter of William the Conqueror and his beloved wife Matilda. Etienne, as befits a zealous Christian, went on a crusade, and his wife remained to wait for him at home and manage the estate. A seemingly banal story. But its peculiarity is that Etienne's letters to Adele have come down to us. Tender, passionate, yearning. Detailed, smart, analytical. These letters are a valuable source on the Crusades, but they are also evidence of how much a medieval knight could love not some mythical Lady, but his own wife.
We can recall Edward I, whom the death of his adored wife knocked down and brought to the grave. His grandson Edward III lived in love and harmony with his wife for over forty years. Louis XII, having married, turned from the first debauchee of France into a faithful husband. Whatever the skeptics say, love is a phenomenon that does not depend on the era. And always, at all times, they tried to marry their beloved women.
Now let's move on to more practical myths that are actively promoted in the cinema and greatly confuse the romantic mood among fans of the Middle Ages.

Myth 3. Cities were sewage dumps.
Oh, what they just do not write about medieval cities. To the point that I came across the assertion that the walls of Paris had to be completed so that the sewage poured outside the city wall would not pour back. Effective, isn't it? And in the same article it was stated that since in London human waste was poured into the Thames, it was also a continuous stream of sewage. My fertile imagination immediately thrashed in hysterics, because I just couldn’t imagine where so much sewage could come from in a medieval city. This is not a modern multi-million metropolis - 40-50 thousand people lived in medieval London, and not much more in Paris. Let's leave aside the completely fabulous story with the wall and imagine the Thames. This not the smallest river splashes 260 cubic meters of water per second into the sea. If you measure this in baths, you get more than 370 baths. Per second. I think further comments are unnecessary.
However, no one denies that medieval cities were by no means fragrant with roses. And now one has only to turn off the sparkling avenue and look into the dirty streets and dark gateways, as you understand - the washed and lit city is very different from its dirty and smelly inside.

Myth 4. People haven't washed for many years.
Talking about washing is also very fashionable. Moreover, absolutely real examples are given here - monks who did not wash themselves from excess “holiness” for years, a nobleman, who also did not wash himself from religiosity, almost died and was washed by servants. And they also like to remember Princess Isabella of Castile (many saw her in the recently released film The Golden Age), who vowed not to change her linen until victory was won. And poor Isabella kept her word for three years.
But again, strange conclusions are drawn - the lack of hygiene is declared the norm. The fact that all the examples are about people who vowed not to wash, that is, they saw in this some kind of feat, asceticism, is not taken into account. By the way, Isabella's act caused a great resonance throughout Europe, a new color was even invented in her honor, so everyone was shocked by the vow given by the princess.
And if you read the history of baths, and even better - go to the appropriate museum, you can be amazed at the variety of shapes, sizes, materials from which the baths were made, as well as ways to heat water. At the beginning of the 18th century, which they also like to call the age of dirty, one English count even got a marble bath with taps for hot and cold water in his house - the envy of all his friends who went to his house as if on a tour.
Queen Elizabeth I took a bath once a week and demanded that all courtiers also bathe more often. Louis XIII generally soaked in the bath every day. And his son Louis XIV, whom they like to cite as an example of a dirty king, because he just didn’t like baths, wiped himself with alcohol lotions and loved to swim in the river (but there will be a separate story about him).
However, to understand the failure of this myth, it is not necessary to read historical works. It is enough to look at pictures of different eras. Even from the sanctimonious Middle Ages, there are many engravings depicting bathing, washing in baths and baths. And in later times, they especially liked to portray half-dressed beauties in baths.
Well, the most important argument. It is worth looking at the statistics of soap production in the Middle Ages to understand that everything that is said about the general unwillingness to wash is a lie. Otherwise, why would it be necessary to produce such a quantity of soap?

Myth 5. Everyone smelled terrible
This myth follows directly from the previous one. And he also has real proof - the Russian ambassadors at the French court complained in letters that the French "stink terribly." From which it was concluded that the French did not wash, stank and tried to drown out the smell with perfume (about perfume is a well-known fact). This myth flashed even in Tolstoy's novel "Peter I". Explaining to him couldn't be easier. In Russia, it was not customary to wear perfume heavily, while in France they simply poured perfume. And for a Russian person, a Frenchman who smelled abundantly of spirits was "stinking like a wild beast." Those who traveled in public transport next to a heavily perfumed lady will understand them well.
True, there is one more evidence regarding the same long-suffering Louis XIV. His favorite, Madame Montespan, once, in a fit of a quarrel, shouted that the king stinks. The king was offended and soon after that parted with the favorite completely. It seems strange - if the king was offended by the fact that he stinks, then why shouldn't he wash himself? Yes, because the smell was not coming from the body. Ludovic had serious health problems, and with age, he began to smell bad from his mouth. It was impossible to do anything, and naturally the king was very worried about this, so Montespan's words were a blow to a sore spot for him.
By the way, we must not forget that in those days there was no industrial production, the air was clean, and the food may not be very healthy, but at least without chemistry. And therefore, on the one hand, hair and skin did not get greasy for longer (remember our air of megacities, which quickly makes washed hair dirty), so people, in principle, did not need washing for longer. And with human sweat, water, salts were released, but not all those chemicals that are full in the body of a modern person.

Myth 7. No one cared about hygiene
Perhaps this myth can be considered the most offensive for people who lived in the Middle Ages. Not only are they accused of being stupid, dirty and smelly, they also claim that they all liked it.
What was it that had to happen to humanity at the beginning of the 19th century, so that before that it liked everything to be dirty and lousy, and then suddenly it suddenly stopped liking it?
If you look through the instructions on the construction of castle toilets, you can find curious notes that the drain should be built so that everything goes into the river, and does not lie on the shore, spoiling the air. Apparently people didn't really like the smell.
Let's go further. There is a famous story about how a noble English woman was reprimanded about her dirty hands. The lady retorted: “You call this dirt? You should have seen my feet." This is also cited as a lack of hygiene. And did anyone think about strict English etiquette, according to which it is not even possible to tell a person that he spilled wine on his clothes - this is impolite. And suddenly the lady is told that her hands are dirty. This is to what extent other guests should have been outraged in order to violate the rules of good taste and make such a remark.
And the laws that the authorities of different countries issued every now and then - for example, bans on pouring slop into the street, or regulation of the construction of toilets.
The main problem of the Middle Ages was that it was really difficult to wash then. Summer does not last that long, and in winter not everyone can swim in the hole. Firewood for heating water was very expensive, not every nobleman could afford a weekly bath. And besides, not everyone understood that illnesses come from hypothermia or insufficiently clean water, and under the influence of fanatics they attributed them to washing.
And now we are smoothly approaching the next myth.

Myth 8. Medicine was practically non-existent.
What can you not hear enough about medieval medicine. And there were no means other than bloodletting. And they all gave birth on their own, and without doctors it’s even better. And all medicine was controlled by priests alone, who left everything at the mercy of God's will and only prayed.
Indeed, in the first centuries of Christianity, medicine, as well as other sciences, was mainly practiced in monasteries. There were hospitals and scientific literature. The monks contributed little to medicine, but they made good use of the achievements of ancient physicians. But already in 1215, surgery was recognized as a non-ecclesiastical business and passed into the hands of barbers. Of course, the whole history of European medicine simply does not fit into the scope of the article, so I will focus on one person, whose name is known to all readers of Dumas. We are talking about Ambroise Pare, the personal physician of Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. A simple enumeration of what this surgeon contributed to medicine is enough to understand at what level surgery was in the middle of the 16th century.
Ambroise Pare introduced a new method of treating then new gunshot wounds, invented prosthetic limbs, began to perform operations to correct the "cleft lip", improved medical instruments, wrote medical works, which surgeons throughout Europe later studied. And childbirth is still accepted according to his method. But most importantly, Pare invented a way to amputate limbs so that a person would not die from blood loss. And surgeons still use this method.
But he did not even have an academic education, he was simply a student of another doctor. Not bad for "dark" times?

Conclusion
Needless to say, the real Middle Ages is very different from the fairy-tale world of chivalric novels. But it is no closer to the dirty stories that are still in fashion. The truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle. People were different, they lived differently. The concepts of hygiene were indeed quite wild for a modern look, but they were, and medieval people took care of cleanliness and health, as far as their understanding was.
And all these stories ... someone wants to show how modern people are "cooler" than medieval ones, someone simply asserts himself, and someone does not understand the topic at all and repeats other people's words.
And finally - about memoirs. Talking about terrible morals, lovers of the "dirty Middle Ages" especially like to refer to memoirs. Only for some reason not on Commines or La Rochefoucauld, but on memoirists like Brantome, who probably published the largest collection of gossip in history, seasoned with his own rich imagination.
On this occasion, I propose to recall the post-perestroika anecdote about the trip of a Russian farmer (in a jeep in which there was a head unit) to visit the English. He showed the farmer Ivan a bidet and said that his Mary was washing there. Ivan thought - but where is his Masha washing? Came home and asked. She answers:
- Yes, in the river.
- And in winter?
- How long is that winter?
And now let's get an idea of ​​hygiene in Russia according to this anecdote.
I think if we focus on such sources, then our society will turn out to be no cleaner than the medieval one.
Or remember the program about the parties of our bohemia. We supplement this with our impressions, gossip, fantasies and you can write a book about the life of society in modern Russia (we are worse than Brantoma - also contemporaries of events). And the descendants will study the customs in Russia at the beginning of the 21st century, be horrified and say what terrible times were ...

As hard as it is to believe, the smell of an unwashed body was considered a sign of deep respect for one's health. They say that different times have different flavors. Can you imagine how the unwashed and sweaty bodies of powdered beauties who had not washed for years smelled? And it's not a joke. Get ready to learn some embarrassing facts.

Colorful historical films fascinate us with beautiful scenes, chicly dressed heroes. It seems that their velvet and silk outfits radiate a dizzying fragrance. Yes, this is possible, because actors love good perfumes. But in the historical reality, "incense" was different.

For example, the Spanish Queen Isabella of Castile knew water and soap only twice in her entire life: on her birthday and on her happy wedding day. And one of the daughters of the king of France died from ... lice. Can you imagine how big this zoo was, that the poor lady said goodbye to her life for the love of "animals"?

The note, which has been preserved from time immemorial and has become a well-known anecdote, gained great popularity. It was written by the loving Henry of Navarre, one of his beloved. The king asks the lady in it to prepare for his arrival: “Do not wash, dear. I'll be with you in three weeks." Can you imagine how palpable that night of love was in the air?

The Duke of Norfolk categorically refused to bathe. His body was covered with terrible rashes that would have led the "clean" to death ahead of time. Caring servants waited until the master was dead drunk, and dragged him away to wash.

Continuing the theme of medieval cleanliness, one cannot but recall such a fact as teeth. Now you will be in shock! Noble ladies showed bad teeth, proud of their decay. But those whose teeth were naturally good covered their mouths with their palms so as not to frighten the “disgusting” beauty of the interlocutor. Yes, the profession of a dentist could not feed at that time :)

In 1782, the "Guidelines of courtesy" was published, where there was a ban on washing with water, which leads to a high sensitivity of the skin "in winter to cold, and in summer to heat." It is interesting that in Europe we, Russians, were considered perverts, since our love for the bath horrified the Europeans.

Poor, poor medieval women! Even before the middle of the 19th century, frequent washing of the intimate area was prohibited, as it could lead to infertility. What was it like on critical days?

The shocking hygiene of women in the XVIII-XIX centuries. ekah

And these days were critical for them in the full sense of this expression (maybe the name has “clung” since then). What kind of personal hygiene products could we talk about? Women used scraps of fabric, and used it repeatedly. Some used for this purpose the floors of the underskirt or shirt, tucking it between the legs.

Yes, and the menses themselves were considered a “serious illness”. During this period, ladies could only lie and get sick. Reading was also forbidden, as mental activity worsened (as the British believed in the Victorian era).

It is worth noting that women in those days did not menstruate as often as their current girlfriends. The fact is that from adolescence until the onset of menopause, a woman went pregnant. When the child was born, then the lactation period began, which is also accompanied by the absence of critical days. So it turns out that medieval beauties had no more than 10-20 of these “red days” in their entire lives (for example, for a modern lady, this figure appears in the annual calendar). So, the issue of hygiene worried women of the 18th and 19th centuries not particularly.

In the 15th century, the first scented soaps were produced. The cherished bars smelled of rose, lavender, marjoram and cloves. Noble ladies began to wash their faces and wash their hands before eating and going to the toilet. But, alas, this "excessive" cleanliness concerned only open parts of the body.

The first deodorant... But first, some interesting details from the past. Medieval women noticed that men respond well to the specific smell of their secretions. Sexy beauties used this technique, lubricating the skin on the wrists behind the ears, on the chest with the juices of their body. Well, the way modern women do it, using perfume. Can you imagine how intoxicating this scent is? And only in 1888 the first deodorant appeared, which brought a little salvation to a strange way of life.

What kind of toilet paper could we talk about in the Middle Ages? For a long time, the church forbade cleansing yourself after going to the toilet! Leaves, moss - that's what ordinary people used (if they did, then not all). Noble clean people had prepared rags for this purpose. It wasn't until 1880 that the first toilet paper appeared in England.

It is interesting that the disregard for the cleanliness of one's own body did not at all mean the same attitude towards one's appearance. Makeup was popular! A thick layer of zinc or lead white was applied to the face, lips were painted in flashy red, eyebrows were plucked.

There was one smart lady who decided to hide her ugly pimple under a black silk patch: she cut out a round flap and glued it over the ugly pimple. Yes, the Duchess of Newcastle (that was the name of the smart lady) would be shocked to learn that after a couple of centuries her invention would replace a convenient and effective remedy called “concealer” (for those who are “not in the know”, there is an article). And the discovery of a noble lady still received a response! The fashionable "fly" has become an obligatory decoration of the female appearance, allowing to reduce the amount of white on the skin.

Well, a “breakthrough” in the matter of personal hygiene occurred by the middle of the 19th century. This was the time when medical research began to explain the relationship between infectious diseases and bacteria, the number of which is reduced many times over if they are washed off the body.

So do not sigh too much for the romantic medieval period: “Oh, if I lived at that time ...” Use the benefits of civilization, be beautiful and healthy!

Yes, in Russia with hygiene at all times there were no such global problems as in Europe, which for this reason was called unwashed. As you know, medieval Europeans neglected personal hygiene, and some were even proud of the fact that they washed only two, or even once, in their lives. Surely you would like to know a little more about how the Europeans observed hygiene and who they called "God's pearls".

Don't steal, don't kill, don't wash

And it would be okay only firewood. The Catholic Church forbade any ablutions except those that take place during baptism (which was supposed to wash a Christian once and for all) and before the wedding. All this, of course, had nothing to do with hygiene. And it was also believed that when the body is immersed in water, especially in hot water, pores open through which water enters the body, which then will not find an exit. Therefore, supposedly the body becomes vulnerable to infections. This is understandable, because everyone washed in the same water - from the cardinal to the cook. So after water procedures, the Europeans really got sick. And strongly.
Louis XIV bathed only twice in his life. And after each he was so sick that the courtiers were preparing a will. The same "record" belongs to Queen Isabella of Castile, who was terribly proud that the water touched her body for the first time - at baptism, and the second - before the wedding.
The Church ordered to take care not of the body, but of the soul, therefore, for the hermits, dirt was a virtue, and nudity was a shame (seeing a body, not only someone else's, but also one's own, is a sin). Therefore, if they washed, then in shirts (this habit will continue until the end of the 19th century).

Lady with a dog

Lice were called "God's pearls" and considered a sign of holiness. The troubadours in love removed the fleas from themselves and put their hearts on the lady, so that the blood, mixed in the stomach of the insect, would unite the hearts of the sweet couple. Despite all their "holiness", insects still got people. That is why everyone carried a flea-catcher or a small dog (in the case of ladies). So, dear girls, when carrying a pocket dog in a pink blanket, remember where the tradition came from.
Lice were disposed of in a different way. They soaked a piece of fur in blood and honey, and then placed it in the hair. Smelling the smell of blood, the insects were supposed to rush to the bait and get stuck in the honey. They also wore silk underwear, which, by the way, became popular precisely because of its “slipperiness”. "God's pearls" could not cling to such a smooth fabric. This is what else! In the hope of being saved from lice, many practiced a more radical method - mercury. It was rubbed into the scalp and sometimes eaten. True, it was primarily people who died from this, not lice.

National unity

In 1911, archaeologists unearthed ancient buildings made of burnt bricks. These were the walls of the fortress of Mohenjo-Daro, the ancient city of the Indus Valley, which arose around 2600 BC. e. Strange openings along the perimeter of buildings turned out to be toilets. The oldest found.
Then the toilets, or latrines, will be with the Romans. Neither in Mohenjo-Daro, nor in the Queen of Waters (Ancient Rome), by the way, they did not assume solitude. Sitting on their "shocks" located opposite each other around the perimeter of the hall (similar to the way seats are arranged in the subway today), the ancient Romans indulged in conversations about stoicism or epigrams of Seneca.

At the end of the 13th century, a law was issued in Paris that, when pouring a chamber pot out of a window, you need to shout: “Beware of water!”

In Medieval Europe, there were no toilets at all. Only the highest nobility. And that is very rare and the most primitive. They say that the French royal court periodically moved from castle to castle, because there was literally nothing to breathe in the old one. Human waste was everywhere: at the doors, on the balconies, in the yards, under the windows. With the quality of medieval food and unsanitary conditions, diarrhea was common - you simply could not run to the toilet.
At the end of the 13th century, a law was issued in Paris that, when pouring a chamber pot out of a window, you need to shout: “Beware of water!”. Even the fashion for wide-brimmed hats appeared only to protect expensive clothes and wigs from what was flying from above. According to the descriptions of many guests of Paris, such as Leonardo da Vinci, there was a terrible stench on the streets of the city. What is there in the city - in Versailles itself! Once there, the people tried not to leave until they met the king. There were no toilets, so “little Venice” did not smell of roses at all. Louis XIV himself, however, had a water closet. The Sun King could sit on it, even receiving guests. To be present at the toilet of high-ranking persons was generally considered “honoris causa” (especially honorable).

The first public toilet in Paris appeared only in the 19th century. But it was intended exclusively ... for men. In Russia, public latrines appeared under Peter I. But also only for courtiers. True, both sexes.
And 100 years ago, the Spanish campaign to electrify the country began. It was called simply and clearly - "Toilet". It means "unity" in Spanish. Along with insulators, other faience products were also produced. The very ones whose descendants now stand in every house are toilet bowls. The first toilet with a flush tank was invented at the end of the 16th century by the courtier of the English royal court, John Harington. But the water closet was not popular - because of the high cost and lack of sewerage.

And tooth powder and thick comb

If there were no such benefits of civilization as an elementary toilet and a bath, then there is no need to talk about a toothbrush and deodorant. Although sometimes they used brushes made of branches to brush their teeth. In Kievan Rus - oak, in the Middle East and South Asia - from arak wood. In Europe, cloths were used. And they didn't brush their teeth at all. True, the toothbrush was invented in Europe, or rather, in England. It was invented by William Addison in 1770. But mass production became far from immediately - in the 19th century. At the same time, tooth powder was invented.

And what about toilet paper? Nothing, of course. In ancient Rome, it was replaced by sponges soaked in salt water, which were attached to a long handle. In America - corn cobs, and for Muslims - plain water. In medieval Europe and in Rus', ordinary people used leaves, grass and moss. Know used silk rags.
It is believed that the perfume was invented only to drown out the terrible street stench. Whether this is true or not is not known for certain. But the cosmetic product, which would now be called deodorant, appeared in Europe only in the 1880s. True, back in the 9th century, someone Ziryab suggested using a deodorant (apparently of his own production) in Moorish Iberia (parts of modern France, Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar), but no one paid attention to this.
But already in ancient times, people understood: if you remove the hair in the armpit, the smell of sweat will not be so strong. The same goes for washing them. But in Europe, as we have already said, this was not practiced. As for depilation, the hair on the female body did not annoy anyone until the 1920s. Only then did European ladies think for the first time: to shave or not to shave.

Different eras are associated with different scents. the site publishes a story about personal hygiene in medieval Europe.

Medieval Europe, deservedly smells of sewage and the stench of rotting bodies. The cities were by no means like the clean Hollywood pavilions in which costumed productions of Dumas' novels are filmed. The Swiss Patrick Suskind, known for his pedantic reproduction of the details of the life of the era he describes, is horrified by the stench of European cities of the late Middle Ages.

Queen of Spain Isabella of Castile (end of the 15th century) admitted that she washed herself only twice in her life - at birth and on her wedding day.

The daughter of one of the French kings died of lice. Pope Clement V dies of dysentery.

The Duke of Norfolk refused to bathe, allegedly out of religious beliefs. His body was covered with ulcers. Then the servants waited until his lordship got drunk dead drunk, and barely washed it.

Clean healthy teeth were considered a sign of low birth

In medieval Europe, clean healthy teeth were considered a sign of low birth. Noble ladies were proud of bad teeth. Representatives of the nobility, who naturally got healthy white teeth, were usually embarrassed by them and tried to smile less often so as not to show their "shame".

A courtesy manual published at the end of the 18th century (Manuel de civilite, 1782) formally forbids the use of water for washing, "because it makes the face more sensitive to cold in winter and hot in summer."

Louis XIV bathed only twice in his life - and then on the advice of doctors. Washing brought the monarch into such horror that he swore never to take water procedures. Russian ambassadors at his court wrote that their majesty "stinks like a wild beast."

The Russians themselves were considered perverts throughout Europe for going to the bath once a month - ugly often (the widespread theory that the Russian word "stink" comes from the French "merd" - "shit", until, however, recognized as overly speculative).

Russian ambassadors wrote about Louis XIV that he "stinks like a wild beast"

For a long time, the surviving note sent by King Henry of Navarre, who had a reputation as a burnt Don Juan, to his beloved, Gabrielle de Estre, has been walking around anecdotes for a long time: “Do not wash, dear, I will be with you in three weeks.”

The most typical European city street was 7-8 meters wide (this is, for example, the width of an important highway that leads to Notre Dame Cathedral). Small streets and lanes were much narrower - no more than two meters, and in many ancient cities there were streets as wide as a meter. One of the streets of ancient Brussels was called "Street of one person", indicating that two people could not disperse there.

Bathroom of Louis XVI. The lid on the bathroom served both to keep warm, and at the same time a table for studying and eating. France, 1770

Detergents, as well as the very concept of personal hygiene, did not exist in Europe until the middle of the 19th century.

The streets were washed and cleaned by the only janitor that existed at that time - rain, which, despite its sanitary function, was considered a punishment from the Lord. The rains washed away all the dirt from secluded places, and stormy streams of sewage rushed through the streets, which sometimes formed real rivers.

If cesspools were dug in the countryside, then in the cities people defecate in narrow alleys and courtyards.

Detergents did not exist in Europe until the middle of the 19th century.

But the people themselves were not much cleaner than city streets. “Water baths insulate the body, but weaken the body and enlarge the pores. Therefore, they can cause illness and even death, ”said a fifteenth-century medical treatise. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that contaminated air could penetrate the cleansed pores. That is why public baths were abolished by royal decree. And if in the 15th - 16th centuries rich citizens bathed at least once every six months, in the 17th - 18th centuries they stopped taking a bath altogether. True, sometimes it was necessary to use it - but only for medicinal purposes. They carefully prepared for the procedure and put an enema the day before.

All hygienic measures were reduced only to light rinsing of hands and mouth, but not of the entire face. “In no case should you wash your face,” doctors wrote in the 16th century, “because catarrh may occur or vision may deteriorate.” As for the ladies, they bathed 2-3 times a year.

Most of the aristocrats were saved from dirt with the help of a perfumed cloth, with which they wiped the body. Armpits and groin were recommended to moisten with rose water. Men wore bags of aromatic herbs between their shirt and vest. Ladies used only aromatic powder.

Medieval "cleaners" often changed their underwear - it was believed that it absorbs all the dirt and cleanses the body of it. However, the change of linen was treated selectively. A clean starched shirt for every day was the privilege of wealthy people. That is why white ruffled collars and cuffs came into fashion, which testified to the wealth and cleanliness of their owners. The poor not only did not bathe, but they did not wash their clothes either - they did not have a change of linen. The cheapest rough linen shirt cost as much as a cash cow.

Christian preachers urged to walk literally in rags and never wash, since it was in this way that spiritual purification could be achieved. It was also impossible to wash, because in this way it was possible to wash off the holy water that had been touched during baptism. As a result, people did not wash for years or did not know water at all. Dirt and lice were considered special signs of holiness. The monks and nuns gave the rest of the Christians an appropriate example of serving the Lord. Cleanliness was viewed with disgust. Lice were called "God's pearls" and considered a sign of holiness. Saints, both male and female, used to boast that the water never touched their feet, except when they had to ford a river. People relieved themselves where necessary. For example, on the front staircase of a palace or castle. The French royal court periodically moved from castle to castle due to the fact that there was literally nothing to breathe in the old one.

There was not a single toilet in the Louvre, the palace of the French kings. They emptied themselves in the yard, on the stairs, on the balconies. When “needed”, guests, courtiers and kings either squatted on a wide window sill at the open window, or they were brought “night vases”, the contents of which were then poured out at the back doors of the palace. The same thing happened at Versailles, for example, during the time of Louis XIV, whose life is well known thanks to the memoirs of the Duke de Saint Simon. The court ladies of the Palace of Versailles, right in the middle of a conversation (and sometimes even during a mass in a chapel or a cathedral), got up and naturally, in a corner, relieved a small (and not very) need.

There is a well-known story of how one day the ambassador of Spain came to the king and, going into his bedchamber (it was in the morning), he got into an awkward situation - his eyes watered from the royal amber. The ambassador politely asked to move the conversation to the park and jumped out of the royal bedroom as if scalded. But in the park, where he hoped to breathe fresh air, the unlucky ambassador simply fainted from the stench - the bushes in the park served as a permanent latrine for all courtiers, and the servants poured sewage there.

Toilet paper did not appear until the late 1800s, and until then, people used improvised means. The rich could afford the luxury of wiping themselves with strips of cloth. The poor used old rags, moss, leaves.

Toilet paper only appeared in the late 1800s.

The walls of the castles were equipped with heavy curtains, blind niches were made in the corridors. But wouldn't it be easier to equip some toilets in the yard or just run to the park described above? No, it didn’t even cross anyone’s mind, because the tradition was guarded by ... diarrhea. Given the appropriate quality of medieval food, it was permanent. The same reason can be traced in the fashion of those years (XII-XV centuries) for men's pantaloons consisting of one vertical ribbons in several layers.

Flea control methods were passive, such as comb sticks. Nobles fight insects in their own way - during the dinners of Louis XIV in Versailles and the Louvre, there is a special page for catching the king's fleas. Wealthy ladies, in order not to breed a "zoo", wear silk undershirts, believing that a louse will not cling to silk, because it is slippery. This is how silk underwear appeared, fleas and lice really do not stick to silk.

Beds, which are frames on chiseled legs, surrounded by a low lattice and necessarily with a canopy, in the Middle Ages become of great importance. Such widespread canopies served a completely utilitarian purpose - to prevent bedbugs and other cute insects from falling from the ceiling.

It is believed that mahogany furniture became so popular because it did not show bed bugs.

In Russia in the same years

The Russian people were surprisingly clean. Even the poorest family had a bathhouse in their yard. Depending on how it was heated, they steamed in it “in white” or “in black”. If the smoke from the furnace got out through the pipe, then they steamed “in white”. If the smoke went directly into the steam room, then after airing the walls were doused with water, and this was called “black steaming”.

There was another original way to wash -in a Russian oven. After cooking, straw was laid inside, and a person carefully, so as not to get dirty in soot, climbed into the oven. Water or kvass was splashed on the walls.

From time immemorial, the bathhouse was heated on Saturdays and before big holidays. First of all, the men with the guys went to wash and always on an empty stomach.

The head of the family cooked a birch broom, soaking it in hot water, sprinkled kvass on it, twisted it over hot stones until fragrant steam began to come from the broom, and the leaves became soft, but did not stick to the body. And only after that they began to wash and bathe.

One of the ways to wash in Russia is the Russian oven

Public baths were built in cities. The first of them were erected by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. These were ordinary one-story buildings on the banks of the river, consisting of three rooms: a dressing room, a soap room and a steam room.

They bathed in such baths all together: men, women, and children, causing amazement of foreigners who specially came to gawk at a spectacle unseen in Europe. “Not only men, but also girls, women of 30, 50 or more people, run around without any shame and conscience the way God created them, and not only do not hide from strangers walking there, but also make fun of them with their indiscretion ”, wrote one such tourist. Visitors were no less surprised how men and women, utterly steamed, ran naked out of a very hot bathhouse and threw themselves into the cold water of the river.

The authorities turned a blind eye to such a folk custom, albeit with great discontent. It is no coincidence that in 1743 a decree appeared, according to which it was forbidden for male and female sexes to bathe together in trading baths. But, as contemporaries recalled, such a ban remained mostly on paper. The final separation occurred when they began to build baths, which included male and female sections.

Gradually, people with a commercial streak realized that bathhouses could become a source of good income, and began to invest money in this business. Thus, the Sandunovsky baths appeared in Moscow (they were built by the actress Sandunova), the Central baths (belonging to the merchant Khludov) and a number of other, less famous ones. In St. Petersburg, people liked to visit the Bochkovsky baths, Leshtokovy. But the most luxurious baths were in Tsarskoye Selo.

The provinces also tried to keep up with the capitals. Almost each of the more or less large cities had their own "Sanduns".

Yana Koroleva