Surely, each of us has heard stories about people of the Middle Ages who did not care much about their hygiene. They supposedly did not wash at all or did so very rarely, relieved themselves in their chambers, and masked odors with perfumes. It was said that medieval cities were hotbeds of unpleasant stench, and fecal matter was thrown out of windows. Did people of the Middle Ages really not care at all about maintaining personal hygiene? And what influenced such a state of affairs?
The Church’s Influence on Personal Hygiene
In the Middle Ages, the Church exerted considerable influence on people’s lives. It could shape reality, and most inhabitants submitted to this. Saint Jerome himself stated that „he who has been cleansed by baptism need not bathe a second time.”
Moreover, bathing was considered a sin, and dirt was thought to be a protective layer for the soul. Excessive attachment to the body and paying great attention to appearance and… smell were not approved of.
A Christian should be focused on their soul. It was the soul that had to be clean. Bodily matters could only confuse the mind and distance one from divine values. The Early Middle Ages brought the first prohibitions, such as the ban on bathing on holidays and Sundays. A dirty person was an exemplary Christian.
One can only imagine what smell accompanied church masses. In small, enclosed spaces, there were many exemplary (but simultaneously dirty) faithful.
The smell emanated not only from unwashed bodies but also from teeth and clothing. It is quite possible that this is precisely why the tradition of incense arose. Its purpose was to eliminate unpleasant olfactory sensations.
Bathhouses as a Form of Entertainment
Did people of the Middle Ages really avoid bathing and pay no attention to personal hygiene? It turns out that this is not entirely true. Bathtubs became increasingly popular. The wealthy and rulers had an easier task because they could afford private baths. It was unseemly to be dirty at royal courts.
Soap makers profited greatly from this new fashion. More and more people stocked up on this luxury commodity, which was soap.
Poor city dwellers could not count on private bathhouses because this was very expensive entertainment. This is precisely how public bathhouses emerged, which anyone could use, but they were, of course, subject to additional fees. The word „entertainment” fits perfectly here because people treated trips to the bathhouse as an opportunity for social gatherings and pleasant leisure time.
Public bathhouses were quite controversial places in those times. Many naked people found themselves in one place at the same time. It is not difficult to guess that they quickly transformed into places of erotic entertainment. The Church emphasized that using public bathhouses was forbidden and aroused scandal among society.
Bathing as a Cause of Epidemics?
It quickly became apparent that frequent sexual contacts in bathhouses contributed to the spread of syphilis. People were terrified, so they decided to cease these entertainments. People feared another serious epidemic, so they gave up not only bathhouses but also bathing entirely.
In turn, in the mid-fourteenth century, physicians concluded that bathing was dangerous and could lead to an even greater plague epidemic. The situation calmed down and people returned to bathing, but they still feared negative effects.
How were the negative consequences of using bathhouses explained? Of course, this was not connected with frequent and casual sexual contacts. People believed that warm water opened pores, which made it easier for airborne germs to penetrate the body. There were even absurd myths circulated, such as that bathing deprived one of virtue and caused stupidity.
Dirty Bodies and Dirty Cities
In the Middle Ages, not only personal hygiene was a controversial topic. The stench prevailing in cities was not exclusively the result of infrequent bathing. Cities experienced problems with sewage, rivers were clogged with various waste, and garbage had to be stored somewhere. All of this gives us a picture of what life in a medieval city looked like (and smelled like).
It should be emphasized that access to water in the Middle Ages was rather a luxury. For financial reasons, not everyone could afford such comforts. In such situations, a major problem arose – what to do with fecal matter? Well, ancient city dwellers did not ponder this too long and threw the contents of chamber pots out of windows onto the streets. It is therefore hardly surprising that the smell was repulsive.
The only possibility of escaping the stench was to go into nature. In the city, ventilation systems did not exist, so odors also emanated from inside craft buildings. A particularly unpleasant smell accompanied places where tanners worked. The problem was significantly greater on hot summer days.
Bibliography
- https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/medieval-people-were-cleaner-than-we-think/
- https://www.newcastlecastle.co.uk/castle-blog/medieval-hygiene
- https://www.battlemerchant.com/en/blog/hygiene-in-the-medieval-camp
