Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Promotions/Press
*Kickstarter* Orbis Mundi 2 fully funded in less than 12 hours!
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="aspqrz" data-source="post: 7244910" data-attributes="member: 19485"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>How smelly <em>were </em>the Medievals?</strong></span></p><p></p><p>This issue is often raised in books - and the information they present is often misleading for this simple reason that it is based on practises and technology that postdate the medieval period covered by this book ... </p><p></p><p>Up until 1400, the end date for OM2's coverage, medieval people of all classes overwhelmingly wore clothing of linen or wool ... or as a mix (fustian, for example, which, at this stage, was a linen warp and wool weft, not the post 1400 cotton/linen mix referred to in Shakespeare) ... both of which, even with the technology of the time, could be relatively easily laundered. As far as the limited evidence goes, it seems very likely that all except the very poorest beggars had at least a change of underwear, usually several, if not a complete change of clothes.</p><p></p><p>It is only later (post 1400, usually well post ... more 1500's) cloths, richer and more complex, more richly dyed with mordants (fixatives) that didn't work well when washed that it became difficult to impossible to wash many fabrics. The best that could be done in those later periods was to change one's underclothes regularly and brush dirt off the clothes and wear them until they were too stinky ... then sell them off (or give them) to someone else, someone poorer.</p><p></p><p>So the clothes they wore were generally clean, depending on what they were used for and the day of the week ... washing was sufficiently complex back then that it was usually done no more than once a week ... and wouldn't have been noticeably stinky.</p><p></p><p>As for personal hygiene, again, those sources that claim people didn't bathe and were generally stinky are great for the shock value, but don't actually stand close examination.</p><p></p><p>The most common claim is that the medievals didn't take baths ... which is mostly true. Outside of Towns, where there was mostly a public Bath-house or Bath-houses, only the wealthy could afford the fuel and labour needed to fill a cut down wine cask full of hot water, jug by jug, and take what we would call a bath.</p><p></p><p>However, even in the countryside, people washed their hands, feet and faces regularly - it was regarded as good manners, if nothing else. They also washed the bits that rubbed together (armpits and other areas) as well ... they just did it with a wash cloth. In fact, if you look at the surviving wills from the period you will routinely see 'cloths' (no, not cloth or bolts of cloth) mentioned in inventories in even the poorer households and this is now being interpreted as meaning what we would call towels and washcloths (as I've hinted elsewhere, the language has changed ... often markedly ... between then and now) and the surviving medical writings and 'good manners' manuals make it plain that basic cleanliness was expected even amongst the poorer classes.</p><p></p><p>So, while the Villages and Towns smelled like a barnyard due to all the animals doing their business all over the place (more on that in a later post), the locals ... except for the poorest beggars and itinerants, were very likely not as smelly as many sources would have us believe.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="aspqrz, post: 7244910, member: 19485"] [SIZE=3][B]How smelly [I]were [/I]the Medievals?[/B][/SIZE] This issue is often raised in books - and the information they present is often misleading for this simple reason that it is based on practises and technology that postdate the medieval period covered by this book ... Up until 1400, the end date for OM2's coverage, medieval people of all classes overwhelmingly wore clothing of linen or wool ... or as a mix (fustian, for example, which, at this stage, was a linen warp and wool weft, not the post 1400 cotton/linen mix referred to in Shakespeare) ... both of which, even with the technology of the time, could be relatively easily laundered. As far as the limited evidence goes, it seems very likely that all except the very poorest beggars had at least a change of underwear, usually several, if not a complete change of clothes. It is only later (post 1400, usually well post ... more 1500's) cloths, richer and more complex, more richly dyed with mordants (fixatives) that didn't work well when washed that it became difficult to impossible to wash many fabrics. The best that could be done in those later periods was to change one's underclothes regularly and brush dirt off the clothes and wear them until they were too stinky ... then sell them off (or give them) to someone else, someone poorer. So the clothes they wore were generally clean, depending on what they were used for and the day of the week ... washing was sufficiently complex back then that it was usually done no more than once a week ... and wouldn't have been noticeably stinky. As for personal hygiene, again, those sources that claim people didn't bathe and were generally stinky are great for the shock value, but don't actually stand close examination. The most common claim is that the medievals didn't take baths ... which is mostly true. Outside of Towns, where there was mostly a public Bath-house or Bath-houses, only the wealthy could afford the fuel and labour needed to fill a cut down wine cask full of hot water, jug by jug, and take what we would call a bath. However, even in the countryside, people washed their hands, feet and faces regularly - it was regarded as good manners, if nothing else. They also washed the bits that rubbed together (armpits and other areas) as well ... they just did it with a wash cloth. In fact, if you look at the surviving wills from the period you will routinely see 'cloths' (no, not cloth or bolts of cloth) mentioned in inventories in even the poorer households and this is now being interpreted as meaning what we would call towels and washcloths (as I've hinted elsewhere, the language has changed ... often markedly ... between then and now) and the surviving medical writings and 'good manners' manuals make it plain that basic cleanliness was expected even amongst the poorer classes. So, while the Villages and Towns smelled like a barnyard due to all the animals doing their business all over the place (more on that in a later post), the locals ... except for the poorest beggars and itinerants, were very likely not as smelly as many sources would have us believe. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Promotions/Press
*Kickstarter* Orbis Mundi 2 fully funded in less than 12 hours!
Top