We pass to the most interesting - to toilets and garbage.

Toilets have been found in almost all stone castles and monasteries; perhaps they existed even when these buildings were built of wood. In castles, toilets were usually located on each floor, in each tower, in addition, noble people had their own closets. Most often, such a toilet was a small extension on the wall, from which feces fell down. This architectural element was called a wardrobe and looked like this:

If a castle or palace had running water and sewerage, then the toilets were provided with a drain to the extent possible. The oldest such toilet that has come down to us belonged to the Duke of Burgundy John the Fearless and dates back to 1405. The perfection of the forms of this device leaves no doubt that by the time of its creation such a toilet was common for the nobility. It's just that his earlier counterparts have not reached us.

Toilet of John the Fearless

In medieval London, there were at least 13 public toilets, at least 2 of them were located directly on London Bridge, the main transport artery that connected the two halves of the city. As befits a medieval city bridge, it was built up with houses, and on the lower tiers there were water mills that pumped water into the city water supply system. The rest were located above two city streams - Fleet and Warbrook.
As a rule, there were several public toilets on one street, which were used by all residents. So, in 1579, there were 3 public toilets for 57 houses on Tower Street, in which 85 people lived. However, in some houses of the townspeople already in the XV century. there were private toilets. They were brought either into streams or into cesspools and sewers.
The first flush toilet was built by Sir John Harrington for Elizabeth I in 1596. During the 18th century. they became ordinary thing in the homes of wealthy Londoners.

Sir Harrington's toilet

When Paris "left" the island and set foot on the banks of the river, it was necessary to provide a growing population with a sewerage system. For this purpose, in 1350, the first underground cesspool, the Fosse de St., was built near Montmartre. Opportune, which was bred in the Seine near the Louvre. Even at the beginning of the XIII century. the streets of Paris were paved. Through a specially made gutter in the center of the street, sewage flowed into the river.

Parisian storm sewers of the 15th century.

It was the stench from the cloaca that made Francis I move his mother to the Tuileries, since it was simply impossible to be in the Louvre. A few decades later, Catherine de Medici built a new luxurious palace here. In 1539, tired of the stench, Francis ordered the townspeople, under the threat of confiscation of their homes, to build cesspools and sewage wells, which from now on should have been in every house. At the same time, the Parisians had to equip toilets in every residential building, but this requirement was not met. In 1606, the king once again forbade to perform natural needs anywhere, except for the outhouses, but few people were embarrassed by this. Just a few days later, his son was caught urinating at the door of his chambers in the Saint-Germain Palace.
By 1613, 24 sewers had been built in Paris, only some of them were underground. In the XVIII century. there were many public toilets in the capital, but they were so disgusting that the townspeople avoided them, preferring to relieve themselves right on the street. They especially liked the terraces of the Tuileries Palace, which were so polluted that the Prince of Orleans built several dozen new toilets, in which they tried to keep clean.

Yellow crosses on the facades of the houses of medieval cities meant that it was strictly forbidden to urinate here.

Public toilet XV century.

Parisian cesspool. Photo of the 19th century

The oldest covered cesspools were discovered in Cologne and Triet during excavations of the Roman sewer system. The Roman system for separating drinking and Wastewater to the best of its ability, it was implemented in the medieval sewage system not only in France and England, but also in Germany.
In Tartu, 35 public toilets of the 14th-16th centuries were discovered and studied, the oldest of which dates back to 1305. Initially, until the city was walled and the problem of free space did not exist, as one latrine was filled, it was closed and built next to new. However, after the construction of the wall, public toilets began to be cleaned as they filled up. On average, one such toilet was completely filled within 40 years. Archaeologists have found similar, only larger public toilets in Lübeck and other German cities.
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 a modern sewerage system.

Public toilets in Tartu.

Schiffhausen. View from the bottom of the toilet tank to its vault. The number 1 indicates a point.

Garbage removal

As early as the beginning of the 20th century, Western archaeologists wrote about the lack of archaeological evidence of the dangerous sanitary condition of the cities of medieval Europe. Dirt on the streets in a medieval city was just as unacceptable as in a modern metropolis. As soon as the process of medieval urbanization turned a cluster of several hundred wooden shacks into a settlement with mostly stone houses surrounded by a city wall, governments began to solve the problem of garbage that confronted them. As a rule, this was done in the following ways: the streets were paved with stone, dumps were arranged outside the city wall, to which specially created services removed waste. Of course, littering on the streets is strictly prohibited. It has been archaeologically proven that the notorious gutters in the middle of the streets were not filled with sewage, they served as storm drains and led rainwater into the river. All modern storm sewers are arranged according to the same principle.
Another thing is that in the Middle Ages, as today, this prohibition was observed by far from all citizens. It should also be noted that the volume of household waste produced by a medieval city cannot be compared with modern cities even if they have the same population. The Middle Ages did not know the packaging, which makes up the lion's share of modern garbage. The medieval townsman did not throw cigarette butts, plastic bags or candy wrappers on the pavement; his household garbage consisted mainly of biological waste, some of which was already being recycled. Worn out clothes ended up in junk shops, and then collected as raw materials for paper production.
In 1280, the king forbade citizens to litter on the streets of London. In 1347 Londoners were again prohibited by royal edict from throwing waste into the street, into the Thames or the city's streams. However, this did not apply to toilets, which could still be located above these waterways, but now you had to pay for the right to build from here. By the 16th century toilets over streams were finally banned, and soon they were removed underground.
The ban seemed to be both solid and liquid MSW. This means that from the end of the XIII century. in London it was impossible to just pour slop out of the window into the street - this was monitored and fined. Of course they broke the law. In 1414, a special network of informers was created to monitor the observance of these instructions. However, the streets were dirty.
By law, the townspeople had to pour slop and throw garbage into cesspools and sewers. Cesspools were located at each house, and the assistants had to clean them once a week. In 1427 a commission was set up to oversee the work of the assinisers. In 1531 the king Henry VIII issued a law on sewerage, according to which the assinization commission was not only revived, but also received a nationwide status. Under it, city services were created, including in London. And, although cesspools often remained overcrowded and the streets dirty, this issue was dealt with. A Londoner's complaint about his neighbor who does not clean his cesspool has been preserved, dating back to the 20th years of the 15th century. The very existence of such a document indicates that this state of affairs was considered abnormal and condemned by the public.
In January 1421, at the initiative of the newly elected mayor of Coventry, the city council adopted new sanitary regulations. Let's dwell on them in more detail. So: when cooking, it was forbidden to throw waste under the table or throw it out into the street, grazing pigs was allowed only outside the city wall, butchers had to slaughter cattle there. Citizens were forbidden to throw waste in their yard, on the street or in the river, they had to take it out of the city to one of three landfills. In addition, the inhabitants of the city were obliged to keep the street clean in front of their house, shop or workshop and clean it every Saturday. Those who lived on the banks of the river had to clean it periodically so that during floods the water would flow freely into the diversion channels.
The first Parisian landfill appeared at the beginning of the 13th century. It was located in the same place as the famous city gallows of Montfaucon. This landfill existed until the 18th century. In the XV century. several more dumps were created outside the city walls. It was here that garbage collectors brought solid waste. In 1348, Parisians were forbidden, under pain of imprisonment, to throw their rubbish into the street. In 1404, businesses along the banks of the Seine, mainly slaughterhouses and tanneries, were prohibited from throwing waste into the river.
The situation was similar in Germany. Even in the XIII century. Mayor of Munich forbade residents to throw garbage into the street and into city streams.

Physiological needs exist in a person from the very beginning: the need for food, water, air, sleep, and of course solitude in the toilet. The first sitting toilet belonged to a Sumerian queen in 2600 BC. Now this exhibit is exhibited in the British Museum. In the same period, toilets appeared in Crete. Among the ruins of Knossos, stone stools were found, to which water was supplied with the help of pipes. These were the world's first "flushable" toilets. In the Roman era, there were public toilets. In addition, they were used as a place of communication.

Toilet in ancient city Ostia is the same age as the city of Pompeii, and it is more than 2 thousand years old.

On the streets of the city, people did not hesitate to relieve themselves in public. Such niches are built in the ancient city of Perge (Turkey).

Toilet of the castle of forty columns in Cyprus in Paphos (7-12 in)

Roman toilet.

Curiously, the Roman emperor Vespasian introduced a tax on public latrines. Urine was collected in large clay pots and used as a detergent for washing clothes, brushing teeth and tanning leather!

AT medieval Europe there was no sewerage system. There were no public toilets. There were other customs. It was the norm to rectify the need right on the street. Chamber pots poured directly from the window onto the heads of passers-by.

In the castles of England, a medieval toilet is a small niche with a hole down, on which lies a grate.

France toilet

In most castles of the Middle Ages, only wealthy owners could afford to have special premises for natural needs. Similar rooms in England were called wardrobes. They represented an inclined chute for ejection ... 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.

In castles, it is surprising that toilets come in single, double, and even with three open cubicles. People of that time were not embarrassed by the presence of "neighbors".

On the wall of the toilet is a tombstone turned upside down.

Toilet with triple cubicles

Toiletries: stationary toilet

Portable pot.

In the castle "Rose" (Austria), the toilet was called the "roar" room, because everything that flew from the toilet room, freezing on the fly, fell to the ground with a roar. on the right is a portable pot.

Medieval toilet in Loket castle. (Czech)

Toilet in Spitz Castle (Switzerland)

For the aristocracy, porcelain or faience items such as vases and tureens were in fashion. The ladies carried with them a burdala - narrow pots that were convenient to slip under puffy skirts.

The first water closet - a toilet with a tank and a water reservoir similar to the modern one - appeared in England in 1590 for Elizabeth I, however, the water had to be poured into the tank yourself.

But starting from the end of the 1870s, there was a fashion for toilet bowls of all shapes and colors, in the Empire and Renaissance styles, richly decorated with modeling, painting, etc.

The first "modern bath" was built in Versailles. In the bachelor's bedroom of the Earl of Cardiff Castle (Wales) was a marble bathtub brought from Rome by Lord Bute had metal inlays of fish and sea creatureswho, underwater, seemed to be in motion.

Pictured below is a small bathroom in another bedroom built later in the castle, paneled in walnut with inlays of 60 marbles.

The bathtub is enclosed in an array of walnut. Washingthe sink is set in a marble slab. The bowl is especially magnificent, where a mermaid combing her hair is depicted in its lower part.


Pretty modest furnishings in the bathroom of the royal couple of Nicholas II in the Livadia Palace. Bath with stucco, as well as on the walls of the room. Pay attention to the ring above the bath, where the curtain was unusually attached, covering the person around so as not to splash excess water.

Vestibule of Marie Bourbon or Napoleon's bathroom. Pitti Palace and Museum in Italy.

Stone bath in the archaeological museum of Assisi (Italy).

Washbasin, or washstand in the Vorontsov Palace.

Toothy washbasins with sparse teeth look ominous in a medieval cellar, and in the twilight one feels somehow uncomfortable alone with them. Creative art objects in Krumlov Castle. (Czech)

A plague broke out in India at the end of the 19th century. The result of it was the uncleanliness of the population, both poor people and rich people. (photo from internet)

One of the reasons was the terrible "dirt" of the so-called latrines. A commission was set up to investigate these latrines. The commission was under the impression that the latrines in wealthy homes were dirtier. They were dark, fetid, and infested with worms. And among the “untouchables” caste, on the contrary, the shacks are cleanly swept, and the pots shone. People relieved their needs in the open air. In the upper-class quarters, each room had a drain, both for water and "waste". As a result, the whole house was filled with stench. Sometimes drains from the second floor descended to the first floor. How did the residents manage to sleep there? The same things were in the temples, where, on top of everything else, a garbage dump was added, where crows and kites nested. In the houses of the city, according to the Western model, there were no drains for sewage in the rooms, and chamber pots were placed in the rooms. The servant was obliged to clean up after the owners of the house, as well as after the guests. This is what Mahatma Gandhi wrote in his book.

The hygiene of some northern peoples is curious, who washed themselves in a special way - they rubbed themselves with seal fat, and then scraped the fat off themselves along with the dirt. In the summer, they washed by the reservoirs, rubbing the body with sand. A newborn baby was not immediately washed, but wiped with a hare skin and wrapped in a clean hare skin, dust from rotten wood was poured into the legs. Washing began from the third day of life. Instead of diapers, they used dry sphagnum moss, using it as toilet paper, and also put it as diapers under babies. Such hygiene has been preserved to their days.

This is how a witness who visited the Evenks describes: “A young family came to visit a local resident, they went into a warm yaranga, leaving their things in a cold one. When the hostess went out to the cold room for groceries, she heard something moving in the box. She thought that the guests forgot something, and reported it. The guest calmly reported that her children were sleeping in the box. The child moved for two reasons: he wants to eat, or there is a problem with the toilet. Urine in a box with a baby in the dust of a tree rolls into balls, so they are simply shaken out and a new portion is added. If the child is hungry, the woman leans over him, because the baby is lying naked in moss or tree dust, breastfeeding him. Everything is very simple.

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.

There were other problems in medieval Europe:

• 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 buildings. 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 a modern sewerage system.

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

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 late XII century, one of the first gravity water pipes was erected in Paris, and by 1370, the operation of an underground sewage system in the Montmartre region began. archaeological finds gravity lead, wooden and ceramic water pipes and sewers were 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.