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!
according to the descriptions of scientists, in Europe until the 19th century, slop was poured out of windows, and washed
2 times a month.
For the Slavs
the word "bath" was sacred. Articles are brought to your attention
educational and entertaining. They do not have an abundance of dates and concepts.
However, fun facts are useful for the development of the worldview from different angles.
So,
let's continue our journey through the history of the ancient Slavs, emphasizing the cool
interesting moments. According to Byzantine historians, the ancient Slavs
believed that great warriors did not need armor, that in battle real skill
does not require armor. In moments of particular danger, the Slavs undressed to the waist and walked
into battle for fear of enemies. They didn't take much care of their appearance. In combat
not many people had clean clothes on campaigns. But at home, in Rus', it is of great importance
had baths. Cleanliness was given top priority. Foreigners were surprised how the Slavs
whipping themselves with brooms, what heat they can endure! Nothing like this in
medieval Europe did not exist. In ancient times, the bath was heated "in a black way". Pipes at
there was no bathhouse. All the smoke from the stove settled on the walls. The soot was thick
in half a hand. It was necessary to sit carefully - such soot was washed off with difficulty.
The Slavs believed that the evil spirit "Bannik" lives here, which can
kill. Perhaps the acrid smoke weakened his evil spell. People are afraid of spirits
stopped, but the "black" bathhouse has been preserved in some regions of Russia and in the XXI
century. It happened that wars were fought between the tribes of the Slavs. The reasons were different:
either young brides will be stolen, or the land will not be divided. It is a known fact that the losers
40 wagons of birch and oak brooms were to be brought to the winners! That is
brooms were an element of state taxation. Bath brooms were
in Ancient Rus' a kind of convertible currency! Here is the place in
the outlook of the Slavs was occupied by purity. In the next article, we'll talk about
features of military training from childhood.
On the
Since ancient times, much attention has been paid to the observance of cleanliness and
neatness. The inhabitants of Ancient Rus' were known for hygienic facial skin care,
hands, body, hair. Russian women knew perfectly well that curdled milk, sour cream,
cream and honey, fats and oils soften and restore the skin of the face, neck, hands,
make it elastic and velvety; wash your hair well with eggs, and infusion
rinse them with herbs. So they found the necessary funds and took them from
surrounding nature: they collected herbs, flowers, fruits, berries, roots, medicinal and
whose cosmetic properties were known to them
Properties
pagans knew herbal remedies perfectly, therefore, in cosmetic
they were mainly used for purposes. There were also well-known medicinal
properties of wild herbs. They collected flowers, grass, berries, fruits, roots
plants and skillfully used them for the preparation of cosmetics.
For example,
for blush and lipstick, they used raspberry juice, cherries, rubbed their cheeks with beets. On the
blackening of the eyes and eyebrows was black soot, sometimes brown was used
dye. To give the skin whiteness, wheat flour or chalk was taken. For coloring
plants also used hair: for example, onion husks dyed hair in
brown color, saffron with chamomile - in light yellow. Scarlet paint was obtained from
barberry, raspberry - from young leaves of an apple tree, green - from onion feathers,
nettle leaves, yellow - from saffron leaves, sorrel and alder bark, etc.
The pagans knew the "character" of each color and its effect on a person, with the help of
who could be made to fall in love with oneself, or vice versa, to drive away, etc.
AT
In ancient Rus', each color, when applying makeup, was given its own, magical
meaning - people believed that with the help of one color you can bewitch, with the help of
the other, on the contrary, to drive away.
Especially
carefully Russian women cared about how the face looks. To give
skin of the face of a healthy, attractive appearance, as well as for smoothing wrinkles,
spared no milk, no sour cream, no egg yolks. Mothers shared with their
daughters beauty secrets, such as parsley tea and cucumber juice
whiten the skin, and cornflower infusion is good for oily, porous skin. nettle and
burdock roots served as a remedy for dandruff and hair loss
hair.
For
refreshment of the body, massages were made with ointments prepared with herbs, applied
the so-called "jelly" - an infusion of mint.
household
cosmetics for Russian women was based on the use of animal products
origin (milk, curdled milk, sour cream, honey, egg yolk, animal
fats) and various plants (cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, beets, etc.), for
hair care used burdock oil.
AT
Ancient Rus' paid great attention to hygiene and skin care. That's why
cosmetic "rituals" were most often carried out in the bath. Particularly common
there were Russian baths with a kind of biting massage with brooms. To heal from
skin and mental illnesses, ancient healers recommended pouring on hot stones
infusions of herbs or beer, giving the smell of freshly baked rye bread. For
softening and nourishing the skin is good to apply honey on it.
AT
baths, skin care was carried out, it was cleaned with special scrapers, massaged
fragrant balms. Among the attendants of the baths there were even hair pluckers, and
did this procedure without pain.
AT
Weekly washing in the bath was widespread in Russia, but if there was no bath,
washed and steamed and Russian ovens. In the arsenal of prevention of hardening reasonable
Hygiene systems The Russian bath from time immemorial has been in the first place.
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 independent of 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 ...
People have been looking for a means for washing and washing since ancient times. For example, in Ancient Rus', soap was replaced by ash and leavened thick. Ash was used in different forms - dissolved in cold water, boiled, steamed in an oven. The resulting substance washed the body, hair and washed clothes and even washed the floor. Clay and sour milk were also used to wash hair.
Oatmeal mixed with decoctions and infusions of herbs - linden, wormwood, rosemary, chamomile and hops - was taken as soap.
Women rinsed their hair in water, in which they steamed birch or nettle brooms. And the face was washed with a decoction of wheat bran.
Used in the home preparation of detergents and soap root, soapwort, bracken, elderberry. These foaming plants perfectly cleansed the skin and washed things. Ancient recipes have not sunk into oblivion and are still used in the production of soaps, shampoos and hair masks from the Grandma Agafya recipes series.
Soap production
Soap makers appeared in Rus' in the 15th century. In the records of that time, it appears that a certain Gavrila Ondreev started in Tver "a soap kitchen with a soap cauldron and with all the order." In Moscow, at the Great Market near the Kremlin, among other shopping arcades, soap is also mentioned.
Gradually, the number of small soap-making workshops increased, and soap-making was established in many houses. Potash (potassium carbonate) was used to make soap. The main source of potash is plant ash. Over time, the production of soap reached an industrial scale, it was even sent for export, which led to massive deforestation. And this led to a rise in the price of firewood and honey.
Peter I, having come to power, thought about finding a cheaper substitute for potash. But this problem was solved only by the end of the 18th century, when the French chemist Nicolas Le Mans obtained soda from table salt. This alkaline material soon completely replaced potash.
Would you install an application for reading epochtimes articles on your phone?
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 disease and even death, ”said a fifteenth-century medical treatise. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that contaminated air could penetrate into the cleaned 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.
