When you are DMing your setting

[S'mon]

"One thing I might add, care should be taken not to attribute to the 13th century the revolting uncleanliness of the 16th and subsequent centuries which, in France at least, has continued up to our own time. "

I agree with this statement entirely.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

"One thing I might add, care should be taken not to attribute to the 13th century the revolting uncleanliness of the 16th and subsequent centuries which, in France at least, has continued up to our own time. "

I agree with this statement entirely.

No comment

Cheers,
Gary

 

[S'mon]

In fairness I'll mention that whereas when I visited France I caught athlete's foot, when I went to Amsterdam I caught Salmonella food poisoning & had to be put on a saline drip, so the French don't have a monopoly on filth. Not that the UK is exactly pristine either - if you want cleanliness I recommend Germany, Munster was spotless.

 

[S'mon]

On the other half of that excerpt, it is very notable that hygiene declined massively in the 16th & 17th centuries. One result was massively increased child mortality, you see this in eg the family tree of the kings & queens of England. After 1600 most children seem to die as infants whereas before Elizabeth's reign it seems to have been rare.