Keeping it Clean in the Middle Ages

Back in the days before I was published and I was trying to peddle my own brand of medieval mysteries to agents, I came upon an astonishing bias. One agent rejected my manuscript because she couldn’t get past the notion that my protagonist would be intimate with someone with all that “lack of hygiene.” She said it made her skin crawl.

Wha?

But she wasn’t the only one. Seems that if you aren’t a regular reader of things medieval, you are stuck in the rut of thinking that medievals never bathed or brushed their teeth. In which case, I might agree with that agent that rejected it. In a word, “Eww.”

So what about it? Without indoor plumbing were medieval people stinkier? Were they, in fact, the Great Unwashed?

Well, no. They rather enjoyed bathing. While it’s true that the average person did not have the servants to provide for heated water to be hauled into a tub for a full immersion bath (and these were great occasions for noshing. Think of sipping wine with nibblies as you sit in your Jacuzzi),

there were certainly bath houses for this purpose, which also served as a social meeting place. Both men and women. And yes, naked! Because they were religious people, we tend to give them a Victorian sense of their bodies, but this was not true. They had a pragmatic approach. And though no woman would dream of wearing a gown at calf-length, they weren’t afraid to bare a little. Everyone was certainly aware of bodily functions. And anatomy. Although some were just plain old brothels. You get clean while you’re gettin’ dirty!

In England, the City of Bath was built because of the natural hot springs (see the name). Bath was considered a very holy place by the early Celtic people. Think about it. It’s bloody cold in England and here is hot water simply bubbling out of the ground. It’s a miracle! Hallelujah! The Romans added buildings and the innovation of pipes to fill many bath spaces at once.

But even if you didn’t travel to Bath, there were streams and rivers and a good old-fashioned bucket in which to wash yourself. In the winter when fuel was scarce and heating water for the purpose of spit baths would be wasteful, it was done cold. Brr. If you’ve ever gone backpacking, you know this ritual.

And by the way, there still might be folks out there who remember the Saturday Night Bath. Yes, once a week, families would bathe right before church the next morning. The hot water would fill the bathtub and dad was the first to bathe. Then mom, then each successive child…IN THE SAME WATER. Woe to the youngest who had the coldest and dirtiest water left to them. Hence, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, an idiom that comes from a German proverb, das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten. The earliest record of this phrase is in 1512.

Hand washing was an important ritual before meals and teeth were kept clean by this method: swish a little white wine in the mouth, dry your teeth with a white cloth, and then chew on some lovage, fennel or parsley to “sweten the breeth.” Think about it. The alcohol of the wine killed bacteria, wiping the teeth dry got rid of some of the plaque, and herbs do cleanse the breath. Also leaves little pieces on the teeth, so just swish a little more wine, and so on. Helps you get to sleep, that’s for sure.

Deodorants were not invented yet, but for wealthier patrons, there were perfumes and flower water to staunch some of the smellier aspects of life.

Foul odors were associated with evil and evil-doing and preventing them or masking them was important in society, though the lowlier you were the harder this was, foisting an unfair disadvantage on the poorer classes.

In the opposite end of the spectrum is the sweet-smelling, often attributed to the saintly person, their “odor of sanctity.” Indeed, a few saints were said to give off a sweet smell in life and after death to show to the world their holiness. Incense in churches sweetens. Garlic does not.

So the next time you read about medieval protagonists in a clinch, remember that they might be hot and bothered, but they also probably did their best to smell good and stay clean.