Myth or truth?

With the advent of Christianity, future generations of Europeans forgot about flush toilets for one and a half thousand years, turning their faces to night vases. The role of the forgotten sewage was performed by grooves in the streets, where fetid streams of slops flowed. Forgetting about the ancient benefits of civilization, people now relieved themselves wherever they could. 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.

In most castles of the Middle Ages, there was no water supply, no sewerage, no toilets. Only wealthy owners of castles allowed themselves to have special premises for natural needs. Similar rooms in England were called wardrobes. They represented an inclined chute for ejection of feces or protruded noticeably from the walls, due to which the excretions were thrown out beyond the walls of the castle into the moat without touching the masonry. You can see such “toilets” on old engravings: on the outer walls there are small extensions representing latrines with holes, and not watchtowers, as it might seem.

After the French king Louis IX (XIII century) was doused with slops from the window, the inhabitants of Paris were allowed to remove household waste through the window, only shouting three times: “Beware!”. Around the 17th century, wide-brimmed hats were invented to protect heads from feces. Initially, the curtsy was intended only to remove the crap smelly hat away from the sensitive nose of the lady.

Toilets were

Another thing is that they were hidden from prying eyes. Under the toilets, for example, cabinets (chest of drawers) were equipped - you go into the cabinet, and there is a chair with a hole, and under it there is a pot.

AT medieval Europe there were other problems:

• There was no sewerage system. Until it was created organized system collection and disposal of excrement, human waste quickly overflowed cesspools and, as a result, ended up on the streets of cities, in rivers and canals. The overflowing cesspools stank. Many used buckets and pots to meet their natural needs.
• There were no public toilets. There were other customs. It was the norm to rectify the need right on the street. Thousands of courtiers hanging out in Versailles did not bother looking for toilets, but did their business behind curtains or in the garden.
• When the flush toilet was invented, Europe faced another problem - the great stench. The fact is that sewer pipes led directly into the rivers. There was no question of any cleanup then. As a result, the rivers were overflowing with feces and sewage.

Remember the toilet

Actually the toilets were arranged according to the principle of a village toilet. Cesspools were cleared with sewers. Occupation, of course, not entirely honorable, but necessary, and in medieval cities, representatives of this profession united in guilds, according to the same principle as representatives of other professions. In some regions, sewers were called quite poetically "night master".

Chamber pots poured directly from the window on the heads of passers-by, as a rule, only when these passers-by got the inhabitants of the house with noise under the windows. In other cases, for such things you could get trouble from the city authorities and a fine. In general, in many cities the homeowner was responsible for the cleanliness of the street in front of his house.

As for the cited descriptions of utter filth and stench, they refer mainly to Paris in the 15th and 16th centuries. Then it really was a huge (by the standards of that time) overpopulated metropolis, and the usual measures to restore order and cleanliness there, apparently, were insufficient. But the mere fact that in the descriptions of the then Paris by contemporaries this detail occurs so often allows us to conclude that Paris was an exception, and in other cities it was much cleaner - otherwise this detail would not deserve special mention.

Toilets in castles

How the European medieval toilet was arranged and how the disposal of household waste was organized in medieval cities.

Medieval toilets were of several types.

For example, outdoor Wardrobe, over a cesspool, moat, canal or where no road passes.

Model of the internal toilet of the defensive castle

closer

Here they are, wardrobes

Here the faeces are dumped into the water, of course it must be flowing

Please do not confuse the Wardrobe with Ein Dansker - a toilet in the form of a defensive structure in the conventhouses of the Teutonic Order in the form of a bay window or the protection of the tower and the gallery-way to it strongly extended beyond the perimeter. There were two in one, sit, poop on the heads of the enemies and shoot back.

The outhouse is marked in red, at the bottom there is a cesspool

Feces or flowed down the wall from the side where it is still not a pity. Here are examples of such toilets. It should also be borne in mind that castles are ancient structures. Much water has flown under the bridge since they were built. And it is likely that the contents of these "cabins" did not flow down onto the heads of those passing by, but into the forest that surrounded the castle. Years passed, the terrain changed, where there was an impenetrable forest, a tourist trail became.

So it seems that everything fell right on their heads.

Let's pay attention to how they approached the matter responsibly. Apparently, this castle wall faced the road and therefore the feces descended through the pipe.

At the bottom, this matter was removed.

Schematic representation of the "Needroom in the section" at the bottom we see the sewer

A few more sketches

Previously, there was a barrel below, where the waste flowed

Locks in the cut, you can play the game "Find the closet"

Find?

Here, you can see the cleaning process, if you look closely of course

Since such a conversation has come up, I want to mention the often encountered image of a medieval outhouse, which is cited as an example of the fact that everything fell right on passers-by.
Here is the snippet.

And here is the painting itself.

It is called "The World Upside Down" on it, Peter Bregeil the Elder depicted Flemish folk proverbs and sayings. This scene with priests from the closet means the proverb “They go together to the same closet” and means they are in agreement with each other.

The double toilet itself looked like this. There was no need to stick fifth points out the window.

Notice the bunch of dried herbs, medieval flavoring

Here's another, sit comfortably, chat with a friend.

Single.

I noticed that in almost all cases the toilet was made in such a way that it was possible to sit down comfortably. Of course, not on bare stones, there were special seats protecting the tender place from rough bricks. Therefore, it was unnecessary to stand in the “eagle pose”.

Sometimes, when I go into a modern toilet stall and see traces of the fact that an “eagle” has been in it, I involuntarily wonder why they risk being injured so much? Well, wipe this headband, and sit comfortably. Maybe their genitals are arranged in a special way, that they come into contact with the rim? At ordinary person there is no such problem, his mucous membranes do not touch the rim. What is the difference between touching the skin of the fifth point on the toilet seat from touching the subway rail with the palm of your hand? And here and there skin. There are microbes here and there. With hands there is even more risk, you can forget, not wash and put something in your mouth. And that's it, it's ready to bring the infection. With the fifth point, there is no such risk.

Okay, let's write off the mysterious female soul.

Mother dear, are they doing this in skates?

Yes, I feel that future historians will have something to tell about our time.

We return to the Middle Ages.

There were also plugs so that the smell did not spread.

In order not to wander in the dark along the cold corridors, there were internal toilets. There already the servant had to take out the pot.

By the way, if you are Game of Thrones fans, then remember the scene of the murder of Papa Lannister - he was just shot with a crossbow in the castle latrine.

Toilets in city houses were located either with an outlet to a canal or a cesspool.

European houses are usually clung to each other closely, but nevertheless, each house has a backyard with outbuildings and a latrine.

Some city streets had two gutters on either side, those narrower than one in the middle. The water drained there, and during the rains, the ditches served as a storm sewer, diverting water from the streets. The city laws of medieval cities regulated the disposal of waste. Lawsuits were brought against negligent violators.

First city law of Strasbourg

(last decades of the 12th century)

82. Let no one dump manure or garbage in front of his

home if he does not wish to take them out immediately, except

places intended for this, namely: near the meat chests,

also near St. Stephen, and also near the well in the horse market, and

near a place called Gevirke.

Gutter coming from patio

See how the street narrows towards the middle so that everything flows down, including during rain

Gutter as unnecessary sealed up with stone

There were city scavengers called in English Night soil

Here you go, a pot for the musicians. Well, the aunt did not like the melody in the night and she doused the stray beggars.

On the one hand, I understand her, when you go to Brussels in the evening from work, tired, you want to go home as soon as possible, and then “Crocodile Gena”, a beggar, like a musician, enters the car. And he starts playing falsely on the accordion or guitar. You sit and endure, since he doesn’t travel more than one station in the car, he needs to mow down the euro. And then comes the second competitor.

But a special tin on holidays. When you listen to “Jingel Bel, Jingel Bel Lala Lala” for the fifth time, you really want to push them off the train. And if there was a pot at hand, I can’t say for sure whether my hand trembled.

Be that as it may, I certainly do not justify such behavior, which of course took place, but was condemned by society and was not considered the norm.

And since we are talking about night vases, here are some medieval chamber pot

Goshok under the bed meticulously displayed by a medieval draftsman

Potty trained since childhood

Even the poor had night vases under their beds

Another baby potty

There were also road urinals to relieve themselves while riding in a carriage.

In later years, they became elegant and richly painted, as indeed all household items of the gallant age.

In the Middle Ages, beauty was not so pursued. Convenient and okay.

In the medieval Swiss city of Schaffhausen, there were about 130 private toilets located in the backyards. Initially, they were wooden, but since the 15th century. they were built of stone. Under such toilets there was a cistern up to 7 m deep, which was emptied by assinizers as it was filled. To all this, it remains to add that in 1739 Vienna became the first city in Europe with modern system sewerage.

Peizans had simpler toilets

Historical reconstruction

Left closet under a canopy

In the monasteries, moreover, they did not disdain conveniences.

A natural question may arise - what did you wipe yourself with? Yes, mostly dry moss, leaves and straw. There was a bucket in the toilet, he took out the reaper, wiped it off and threw it away. Or there was a jug with water and a sponge, as in the picture from the monastery toilet.

Dry moss was also used as pads during the "red days of the calendar" for women. It was wrapped in cloth and made life easier. Then washed, dried and again. Moss perfectly absorbs, and therefore came to the rescue both on ordinary days and on critical ones.

It is impossible to ignore the fact about the attempts to invent a toilet with a flush.

The Ajax toilet was introduced by John Harrington to Elizabeth I in 1596.

The ingenuity worked in the right direction.

On this progressive note, let me bow and thank progress for the central sewer and flush toilet. (Just like a toast said)

Sources

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 turned legs, surrounded by a low lattice and always with a canopy in the Middle Ages, acquire 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 in each of the more or less major cities had their own Sanduns.

Yana Koroleva

The Middle Ages is a period in the history of Europe, in which, as is usually imagined in our time, most of the continent was in decline. In many respects the quality of life of medieval society was inferior compared to the period of the Roman Empire that preceded it, or the Renaissance that followed the Middle Ages. One of these aspects is the observance of hygiene rules.

medieval toilet

The concept of hygiene in the Middle Ages can be said to be completely different from the modern one. This, of course, was reflected in the hygiene of the people of those times in their Everyday life. Firstly, there was no water supply as such, and when “nature called”, people went, one might say, “to nature”, that is, they used the toilet on the street. Most often it was just a flimsy roofed structure above a hole in the ground. In castles, monasteries and abbeys, these were narrow, cramped rooms for meeting needs. To be fair, these indoor latrines were placed as far away from the rest of the rooms as possible and usually had double doors to keep bad odors out.

Plus, in every room under the bed, just in case, there were chamber pots. One of the most "weird" jobs that came from this lifestyle was the janitor of the royal toilet. Such an honor, as a rule, was awarded to the sons of noble persons. Their duties included assisting the king when he was about to do his thing, as well as removing the results of this "deed".

It goes without saying that the results had to go somewhere. In the absence of a centralized sewage system, people simply made cesspools, which were, in fact, huge, deep pits dug in the ground, into which waste products were dumped. Ironically, this hygienic practice was not entirely hygienic, as the waste, when exposed to air, created favorable conditions for the spread of bacteria, which, in turn, caused dangerous diseases. As for the latrines in the castles, the excrement either fell into the moat or under the walls of the castle. There is a rather interesting and equally controversial version of the capture of the castle of Château Gaillard in Normandy, France after the siege of 1203-1204. Allegedly, the French troops managed to capture the second circle of defensive fortifications, penetrating through the toilet chute that led to the chapel.

The Other Side of the Medal

But let's move from one part of the body to another. How were things in terms of oral hygiene, for example. In the Middle Ages, people's diets included much less sugar, if at all, which was a key factor in their having remarkably healthy teeth than in later centuries, when sugar addiction spread throughout Europe. Before that, people simply rinsed their mouths with water. As for the teeth, they were cleaned by wiping with a piece of cloth. Later, mixtures of herbs and abrasives began to be used for this. A mixture of vinegar and wine was also used to rinse the mouth. In order to freshen their breath, people at that time chewed strong-smelling herbs such as mint, cinnamon, and sage.

If such oral care was still insufficient and the teeth began to hurt, the person was forced to visit the dentist, who believed that the pain was caused by worms that settled in the tooth. By the way, in the Middle Ages, the dentist and the hairdresser were one and the same person, and the treatment of toothache basically came down to removal without anesthesia.

Medieval dentist removes a tooth. (Public domain, 1616 - 1617)

Purity of the body

What was the attitude of medieval people to the general hygiene of the body, in other words, to bathing. Some researchers believe that it was normal not to bathe very often, such as St. Fintan of Clonenach, who was said to have taken a bath only once a year, before Easter, for twenty-four years. However, similar examples may stem from ordinary church asceticism, where churchmen simply avoided excessive bathing in the same way that they avoided other excesses. Although people of that time took a bath, it seems that they did it less often than we do today.

In fact, only the rich could afford their own bath. The rest of the population had to be content with public baths, which were supposed to accommodate hundreds of people. Bathing in such public baths could not significantly improve the state of cleanliness, since the water was rarely changed, and a huge number of people used it. As a result, the person smelled, to put it mildly. The smell had to be filled with something, for example, bouquets of flowers or herbs, which were tied around the wrist, pinned to clothing and which were supposed to resist unpleasant odors.

Be that as it may, there is another story of medieval bathing. Soap was first used in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the presence of soap makers' guilds in major cities. Besides, of course, medieval hygiene today would be seen as inadequate. But what's interesting is how we modern people, the people of the future will consider whether we will seem to them as dirty as the inhabitants of the Middle Ages to us.

Information about the wholesale unwashed Europe in the Middle Ages, stinking streets, dirty bodies, fleas and other "charms" of this kind came mostly from the 19th century. And many scientists of that era agreed and paid tribute to her, although the material itself was hardly studied. As a rule, all conclusions were based on the period of the New Age, when the cleanliness of the body was really not held in high esteem. Speculative constructions without a documentary base and archaeological data led many people astray about life and hygiene in the Middle Ages. But in spite of everything thousand years of history Europe, with its ups and downs, was able to preserve for posterity a huge aesthetic and cultural heritage.

Myths and reality

Hygiene in the Middle Ages, like everyday life, was unfairly criticized, but the collected material of this period is quite enough to refute all accusations and separate truth from fiction.

The myths about the cultural degradation of medieval Europe, invented by the humanists of the Renaissance, further supplemented and disseminated by the masters of the pen of the New Age (XVII-XIX centuries), were intended to form a certain favorable background for future achievements. To a greater extent, these myths were based on inventions and distortions, as well as on the conclusions of the devastating crisis of the 14th century. Famine and crop failure, social tensions, disease outbreaks, aggressive and decadent moods in society...

Epidemics that decimated the population of the regions by half or more finally destabilized hygiene in medieval Europe and turned it into a flowering of religious fanaticism, unsanitary conditions and closed city baths. The assessment of an entire era by the worst period quickly spread and became the most obvious historical injustice.

Washed or not washed?

Each era in the history of mankind, to one degree or another, differed in its concepts and criteria of purity. physical body. Hygiene in Europe in the Middle Ages, contrary to the prevailing stereotype, was not as terrifying as they like to present it. Of course, there could be no question of modern standards, but people regularly (once a week), one way or another, washed themselves. And the daily shower was replaced by a wiping procedure with a damp cloth.

If you pay attention to works of art, book miniatures and the symbolism of the cities of that time, then the bath-washing traditions ancient rome were successfully inherited by Europeans, which was especially characteristic of the early Middle Ages. During the excavations of estates and monasteries, archaeologists discovered special containers for washing and public baths. For home washing of the body, the role of a bath was played by a huge wooden tub, which, if necessary, was transferred to the right place, usually in the bedroom. The French historian also notes that private and public baths with baths, steam rooms and pools were commonplace for citizens. At the same time, these institutions were designed for all classes.

Soap of Europe

The use of soap became widespread precisely in the Middle Ages, the hygiene of which is so often condemned. In the 9th century, from the hands of Italian alchemists, who practiced the manufacture of cleaning compounds, the first analogue of a detergent came out. Then mass production began.

The development of soap-making in the states of Europe was based on the presence of a natural raw material base. The Marseille soap industry had at its disposal soda and olive oil, which was obtained through a simple pressing of the fruits of the olive trees. The oil obtained after the third pressing was used to make soap. Soap product from Marseille became a significant commodity of trade already by the 10th century, but later it lost the palm to Venetian soap. In addition to France, soap-making in Europe successfully developed in the states of Italy, Spain, in the regions of Greece and Cyprus, where olive trees were cultivated. In Germany, soap factories were founded only by the 14th century.

In the XIII century in France and England, the production of soap began to occupy a very serious niche in the economy. And by the 15th century in Italy, the production of solid bar soap began in an industrial way.

Hygiene of women in the Middle Ages

Often supporters of "dirty Europe" remember Isabella of Castile, the princess who gave her word not to wash or change clothes until victory was won. This is true, she faithfully kept her vow for three years. But it should be noted that this act received a great response in the then society. A lot of noise was raised, and a new color was even introduced in honor of the princess, which already indicates that this phenomenon was not the norm.

Incense oils, body wipes, hair combs, ear spatulas, and small tweezers were daily hygiene aids for women in medieval Europe. The latter attribute is especially vividly mentioned in the books of that period as an indispensable member of the ladies' toilet. In painting, beautiful female bodies were depicted without excess vegetation, which gives an understanding that epilation was also carried out in intimate areas. Also, the treatise of the Italian doctor Trotula of Sarlen, dated to the 11th century, contains a recipe for unwanted hairs on the body using arsenic ore, ant eggs and vinegar.

Mentioning feminine hygiene in Europe, it is impossible not to touch upon such a delicate topic of “special women's days". In fact, little is known about this, but some findings allow us to draw certain conclusions. Trotula mentions a woman's internal cleansing with cotton, usually before sexual intercourse with her husband. But it is doubtful that such material could be used in the form of a tampon. Some researchers suggest that sphagnum moss, which was widely used in medicine as an antiseptic and to stop bleeding from combat wounds, could well have been used for pads.

Life and insects

In medieval Europe, life and hygiene, although not so critical, still largely left much to be desired. Most of the houses had a thick thatched roof, which was the most favorable place for living and breeding of all living creatures, especially mice and insects. During bad weather and cold seasons, they climbed onto the inner surface and, with their presence, rather complicated the life of the residents. Things were no better with the flooring. In wealthy houses, the floor was covered with slate sheets, which became slippery in winter, and to make it easier to move, it was sprinkled with crushed straw. During the winter period, worn and dirty straw was repeatedly covered with fresh, creating ideal conditions for the development of pathogenic bacteria.

Insects have become a real disaster of this era. In carpets, bed canopies, mattresses and blankets, and even on clothes, whole hordes of bedbugs and fleas lived, which, in addition to all the inconveniences, also carried a serious threat to health.

It is worth noting that in the early Middle Ages, most buildings did not have separate rooms. One room could have several functions at once: kitchen, dining room, bedroom and laundry room. At the same time, there was almost no furniture. A little later, wealthy citizens began to separate the bedchamber from the kitchen and dining room.

toilet theme

It is generally accepted that the concept of "latrine" was completely absent in medieval times, and "things" were done where necessary. But that's not the case at all. Toilets were found in almost all stone castles and monasteries and were a small extension on the wall, which hung over the moat, where sewage flowed. This architectural element was called a wardrobe.

City toilets were arranged according to the principle of a village restroom. Cesspools were regularly cleaned by vacuum cleaners, who at night took out the waste products of people from the city. Of course, the craft was not entirely prestigious, but very necessary and in demand in big cities Europe. People of this specific profession had their own guilds and representations, like other artisans. In some areas, the sewers were referred to only as "night masters".

Since the 13th century, changes have come to the toilet room: windows are glazed to prevent drafts, double doors are installed in order to prevent odors from entering the living quarters. Around the same period, the first designs for flushing began to be carried out.

The toilet theme reveals well how far from reality the myths about hygiene in medieval Europe are. And there is not a single source and archaeological evidence proving the absence of latrines.

Plumbing and sewerage systems

It is a mistake to assume that the attitude towards garbage and sewage in the Middle Ages was more loyal than it is now. The very fact of the existence of cesspools in cities and castles suggests otherwise. Another conversation is that city services did not always cope with maintaining order and cleanliness, due to economic and technical reasons of that time.

With the increase in the urban population, approximately from the 11th century, the problem of providing drinking water and removing sewage outside the city walls becomes of paramount importance. Often, human waste products were dumped into the nearest rivers and reservoirs. This led to the fact that the water from them was impossible to drink. Various purification methods were repeatedly practiced, but drinking water continued to be an expensive pleasure. The issue was partly resolved when in Italy, and later in a number of other countries, they began to use pumps operating on wind turbines.

At the end of the 12th century, one of the first gravity water pipelines was built in Paris, and by 1370, underground sewage began to operate in the Montmartre area. Archaeological finds of gravity lead, wooden and ceramic water pipes and sewers have been found in the cities of Germany, England, Italy, Scandinavia and other countries.

Sanitary Services

On guard of health and hygiene in medieval Europe, certain crafts constantly stood, a kind of sanitary services who contributed to the purity of society.

Surviving sources report that in 1291, more than 500 barbers were recorded in Paris alone, not counting street masters practicing in markets and other places. The barber's shop had a characteristic sign: usually a copper or tin basin, scissors and a comb were hung over the entrance. The list of working tools consisted of a razor basin, hair removal tweezers, a comb, scissors, sponges and bandages, as well as bottles of "fragrant water". The master always had to have available hot water, so a small stove was installed inside the room.

Unlike other artisans, laundresses did not have their own shop and mostly remained single. Wealthy townspeople sometimes hired a professional washer, to whom they gave their dirty linen and received clean linen on prearranged days. Hotels and prisons for persons of noble birth acquired their laundresses. Wealthy houses also had a staff of servants on a permanent salary, who were engaged exclusively in washing. The rest of the people, unable to pay for a professional laundress, were forced to wash their own clothes on the nearest river.

Public baths existed in most cities and were so natural that they were built in almost every medieval quarter. In the testimonies of contemporaries, the work of bathhouses and attendants is noted quite often. There are also legal documents that detail their activities and the rules for visiting such establishments. The documents (“Saxon Mirror” and others) separately mention theft and murder in public soapboxes, which only more testifies to their widespread.

Medicine in the Middle Ages

In medieval Europe, a significant role in medicine belonged to the Church. In the 6th century, the first hospitals began to function at the monasteries to help the infirm and crippled, where the monks themselves acted as doctors. But the medical training of God's servants was so small that they lacked the elementary knowledge of human physiology. Therefore, it is quite expected that in their treatment the emphasis was placed, first of all, on food restriction, on medicinal herbs and prayers. They were practically powerless in the field of surgery and infectious diseases.

In the 10th-11th centuries, practical medicine became a fully developed industry in the cities, which was mainly dealt with by bath attendants and barbers. The list of their duties, in addition to the main ones, included: bloodletting, repositioning of bones, amputation of limbs and a number of other procedures. By the end of the 15th century, guilds of practicing surgeons began to be established from barbers.

The "Black Death" of the first half of the 14th century, brought from the East through Italy, according to some sources, claimed about a third of the inhabitants of Europe. And medicine, with its dubious theories and set of religious prejudices, obviously lost in this fight and was absolutely powerless. The doctors could not recognize the disease at an early stage, which led to a significant increase in the number of infected and devastated the city.

Thus, medicine and hygiene in the Middle Ages could not boast of great changes, continuing to be based on the works of Galen and Hippocrates, previously well edited by the church.

Historical facts

• In the early 1300s, the budget of Paris was regularly replenished with a tax from 29 baths, which worked every day except Sunday.
• A great contribution to the development of hygiene in the Middle Ages was made by the outstanding scientist, doctor of the X-XI centuries Abu-Ali Sina, better known as Avicenna. His main works were devoted to the life of people, clothing and nutrition. Avicenna was the first to suggest that the mass spread of ailments occurs through contaminated drinking water and soil.
• possessed a rare luxury item - a silver bath, which accompanied him through the battlefields and travels. After the defeat at Granson (1476), she was discovered in the ducal camp.
• Emptying chamber pots from the window right on the heads of passers-by was nothing more than a kind of reaction of the residents of the house to the incessant noise under the windows, disturbing their peace. In other cases, such actions led to trouble from the city authorities and the imposition of a fine.
• The attitude to hygiene in medieval Europe can also be traced by the number of public city toilets. In the city of rains, London, there were 13 latrines, and a couple of them were placed right on the London Bridge, which connected the two halves of the city.