Shocking facts about the European hygiene in the Middle Ages

[DARPA]

Until the 19th century in Europe reigned appalling savagery. Forget about what you see in the movies and fantasy novels. True - it is much less ... um ... the fragrance. And this applies not only to the Dark Ages. Chanted in the Renaissance and Renaissance fundamentally nothing has changed.

By the way, sadly, but almost all of the negative aspects of life in the Europe of the Christian Church is responsible. Catholic in the first place.

The ancient world has erected hygiene in one of the main pleasures is enough to recall the famous Roman baths. Before the victory of Christianity in Rome alone there were more than a thousand baths. Christians are the first thing coming to power, shut down all baths.

By the washing of the body then people treated with suspicion: nudity - a sin, and cold - you can catch a cold. Hot tub is unreal - much firewood cost is very expensive, the main consumer - of the Holy Inquisition - and then only with difficulty enough, sometimes a favorite burning had replaced quartering, and later - on the wheel.

Spain's Queen Isabella of Castile (the end of the XV century.) Acknowledged that a lifetime washed only twice - at birth and wedding day.

The daughter of one of the kings of France died from lice. Pope Clement V dies of dysentery, and Pope Clement VII painfully dying of mange (as King Philip II). The Duke of Norfolk refused to wash out of religious conviction. His body was covered with ulcers. The servants waited until his lordship drunk dead drunk and barely washed.



Russian ambassadors at the court of French King Louis XIV wrote that Their Majesties' stinks like unto a wild beast. "
Themselves as Russian throughout Europe considered perverts because they went to the bath once a month or more - often ugly ...

If the XV - XVI centuries wealthy citizens were washed at least once every six months, in the seventeenth - eighteenth centuries, they stopped to take a bath. However, sometimes I had to use it - but only for medicinal purposes. By the procedure of carefully prepared and put on the eve of an enema. The French king Louis XIV bathed only twice in my life - and that on the advice of doctors. Wash monarch led to such horror that he had sworn never ever take water treatments.

In those troubled times Christian body care is considered a sin.
Christian preachers called literally walk in rags and never washed, as this way it was possible to achieve spiritual purification.
Wash it was impossible to even, because I could wash off the "holy" water, to which touched at baptism.

As a result, people do not wash for years and did not know the water at all. Mud and lice are considered a special sign of holiness. Monks and nuns served the rest of the Christians an appropriate example of serving the Lord.

On cleanliness watched with disgust. Lice called "pearls of God" and is considered a sign of holiness. Saints, both male and female, generally boasted of the fact that the water never touches their feet, except when they had to ford the river.

People are so unaccustomed to water treatment that Dr. FE Bilz in a popular textbook of medicine late XIX (!) Century, had to persuade people to wash. "There are people who, in truth, did not dare to swim in the river or in the bathtub, because from childhood never went into the water. This unfounded fear - Biltz wrote in the book "New natural treatment" - After the fifth or sixth baths you can get used to this ... ". Doctor few believed ...

Perfume - an important European invention - it came into being as a reaction to the lack of baths. The initial task of the famous French perfume was one - to mask the terrible stench of unwashed bodies for years by sharp and persistent perfume.

French Sun King, waking up one morning in a bad mood (and this was his normal condition in the morning, because, as you know, Louis XIV was suffering from insomnia due to bugs), the court ordered all throttled. It is an edict of Louis XIV, which said that when visiting the court should not feel sorry for strong spirits, and their flavor drowned out the stench from the bodies and clothes.

Initially, these "scented mixture" were quite natural. Ladies European Middle Ages, knowing about the stimulating effect of natural body odor, smeared her juices as perfume, skin behind the ears and on the neck to draw attention to the desired object.
Toilet in the "advanced" European castles - all falls under the window.



With the advent of Christianity the future generations of Europeans have forgotten Flush toilets and a half thousand years, facing the night vases. The role of a forgotten sewer grooves performed in the streets, where the jet streams of fetid garbage.

Forgotten about the ancient civilization benefits people need is now celebrated anywhere. For example, on the front stairs of the palace or castle. French royal court periodically moved from the castle to the castle because of the fact that in the old literally could not breathe. Chamber pots under the beds were days and nights.

After the French King Louis IX (XIII c.) Was poured shit out the window, the people of Paris were allowed to remove waste through the window, only three times previously shouted: "Look out!".

Around the 17th century to protect the head from the feces were invented wide-brimmed hats. Initially nod was intended to remove only a stinking hat away from sensitive nose lady.

In the Louvre, the palace of French kings, there was no toilet. Emptied in the yard, on the stairs, on balconies. At the "need" guests, courtiers and kings, or squatted on a windowsill at the open window, or bring them "night vase" whose contents are then poured from the rear door of the palace.

The same happened in Versailles, for example, during Louis XIV, in which the life of a well-known thanks to the memoirs of the Duke de Saint Simon. The court ladies of the palace of Versailles, in the middle of a conversation (and sometimes even during the Mass in the chapel or the cathedral), and got up at ease because, in the corner, celebrating a small (and not) need.

French Sun King, like all other kings, the court permitted to use as a toilet all corners of Versailles and other castles. The castle walls were equipped with heavy curtains in the corridors were made deaf niches. But not it be easier to equip some toilets in the yard, or simply run around the park? No, even in a head did not occur to anyone, because the charge was ... Tradition diarrhea / diarrhea /.

Ruthless, relentless, able to catch by surprise anyone, anywhere. With proper nutrition as a medieval diarrhea was permanent. The same reason can be seen in the fashion of those years on the men's pants, trousers, consisting of one vertical ribbons in several layers.

Paris fashion long wide skirts, apparently caused by the same reasons. Although the skirt is also used for another purpose - to hide underneath the dog, which was designed to protect against fleas Fair Ladies.

Of course, religious people prefer to defecate only with God's help - Hungarian historian Istvan Rath-Weg in the "Comedy of the book" leads kinds of prayers from the prayer book titled:
"Immodest pious wishes and ready to repent of the soul to every day and on various occasions," which include "Prayer in the administration of natural needs."



Did not have sewage medieval cities in Europe, but had ramparts and defensive ditch filled with water. It is the role of "sewage" and performed. On the walls of the pit were dropped shit.

In France, the pile of crap outside the city walls to grow to such a height that the wall had to build on, as occurred in the same Paris - a bunch of grown so much that shit was back waddle, and dangerous it seemed - suddenly even the enemy penetrated into the city, climbing wall on a pile of excrement.

Streets were buried in mud and shit so that the thaw there was no way for him to pass. It was then, according to the extant chronicles, many German cities were stilts, "Spring Shoes" citizen without which move around it was simply impossible.

Here's how, according to European archaeologists looked real French knight at the turn of XIV-XV centuries: the average growth of the medieval "heartthrob" rarely exceeded one meter sixty (slightly) centimeters (population then was generally undersized).

Unshaven and unwashed face of this "handsome" was disfigured by smallpox (whereas in Europe it hurt almost all). Under the knight's helmet in dirty matted hair aristocrat, and in the folds of his clothes in a multitude swarmed lice and fleas.
Knight's mouth smelled so strongly that for modern ladies would have been a terrible ordeal, not only to kiss him, but even stand next to (alas, then no teeth cleaning). A medieval knights ate everything, drank it all sour beer and eating garlic - for disinfection.

In addition, during the next hike for days was a knight encased in armor, which he, for all his desire could not remove without help. Procedure on and off Latin in time takes about an hour, and sometimes longer.

Of course, all my noble knight celebrated need ... right in the armor.
Some historians have been wondering why the soldiers Salah al-Din's so easy to find the Christian camp. The answer came very soon - the smell ...

If at the beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe, one of the staple foods were acorns, who ate not only the common people, but also to know, then later (in those rare years when there was no hunger) table are more diverse. Trendy and expensive spices were used not only to demonstrate the wealth, they also blocked the scent exuded meat and other products.



In Spain in the middle ages women not to lice, often rubbed with garlic hair.
To look languid, pale lady drank vinegar. Dogs but work bloholovkami living, another way to pander to the ladies' beauty: in the Middle Ages dog urine hair bleaching.

Syphilis -XVIII XVII centuries became a trendsetter. Gezer wrote that because syphilis disappear every kind of vegetation on the head and face.
So gentlemen, ladies, to show that they are very safe and thus does not suffer, they began to grow very long hair and a mustache.
Well, those who do it for some reason did not work, we came up with wigs that a sufficiently large number of syphilitic in the highest strata of society quickly became popular in Europe and North America. Socrates is bald sages are no longer held in high esteem to this day.

Due to the destruction of Christians cats bred rats spread throughout Europe, plague flea, why half of Europe died. Spontaneously, a new and much needed in those circumstances profession Pied Piper.
The power of these people on rats explained only as of the devil, because the Church and the Inquisition at every opportunity, dealt with the rat-catchers, thus contributing to the further extinction of his flock from hunger and plague.

Methods of dealing with fleas were passive, such as sticks, chesalochki. Know insect struggling in their own way - during a lunch of Louis XIV at Versailles and the Louvre, there is a special page for catching fleas king.

Wealthy ladies not to breed "zoo", wearing silk vests, believing that a louse for not clinging silk, for slippery. So there was silk underwear, silk to fleas and lice do not stick.
Lovers troubadours themselves of fleas collected and transplanted to the lady that the blood mixed in fleas.

Beds, which are in the frame of turned legs, surrounded by a low grille and always with a four-poster bed in the middle ages, becomes more important. Such widespread canopies were very utilitarian purpose - to bugs and other insects with a nice ceiling does not rained.

It is believed that the mahogany furniture has become so popular because it had no visible bugs.
To feed a louse like bedbugs, it considered a "Christian feat". The followers of St. Thomas, even the least dedicated, were ready to extol its dirt and lice, which he wore on itself. Search for lice on each other (just like monkeys - etymological roots there) - meant to express their position.

Medieval lice even actively participated in politics - in the city Gurdenburge (Sweden) common louse (Pediculus) has been an active participant in the election of the mayor of the city. Candidates for high office might be at that time only people with beard.

Elections took place as follows. Candidates for mayor sat around the table and laid on him their beards. Then a specially appointed person is thrown into the middle louse. Elected mayor is the one in whose beard crawls insect.

Neglect of hygiene cost Europe dearly: in the XIV century, the plague ("Black Death"), France lost a third of the population, but Britain and Italy - to half.
Medical aid modalities at that time were primitive and cruel. Especially in surgery.



For example, to amputate a limb as the "anesthetic" used heavy wooden mallet, "mallet", who hit on the head led to a loss of consciousness of the patient, with other unpredictable consequences.

The wounds burned with a hot iron, or poured boiling water or boiling tar. Lucky for those who have just hemorrhoids. In the Middle Ages it was treated by cauterization with a hot iron. This means - get a fire pin in the ass - and free. Healthy.

Syphilis is usually treated with mercury, which, by itself, lead to favorable consequences could not.
In addition to enemas and mercury basic universal method, which treated all in a row, it was bleeding.

Diseases considered to cast a devil and subject to expulsion - "evil must come out."
At the root of the bloody beliefs were monks - "otvoriteli blood."
Let all the blood - for treatment as a means of combating sexual desire, and for no reason at all - on the calendar.



Memories after his trips to Persia for the medieval "dedicated to" Europe. I invited once it after a couple of days stay for a while in his palace one of the then monarch of France, of course, that the ambassador could not refuse, and "with pleasure" agreed.

All Persian delegation, citing "urgent state affairs" urgently retreated in the first evening, after a senior ambassador saw his bedchamber with the "wiggling" of living creatures mattress.

As a result, for half a day visit "visiting" the Persians had to burn all the clothes that was on them, with them, and in carts at the inn and were shaved bald on almost everything.