Did Medieval Europeans Really Bathe Rarely? 0 10

The "unclean" Europe of the Middle Ages is a topic that evokes laughter and gives rise to legends that have long taken root in people's minds. But how justified are these claims? Is there even a grain of truth in them?

There are many materials online about how hygiene was managed in medieval Europe. Often, reference is made to the words of Isabella I — the Queen of Castile and León, who ruled from 1474 to 1504, who allegedly claimed that she bathed only twice in her life: at birth and on her wedding day. However, there is no actual evidence to support this claim. Thus, the image of the unclean woman who united Spain is more of a myth.

Nevertheless, there were indeed difficulties with hygiene in Europe during the Middle Ages. The ability to take baths was primarily available to wealthy individuals. To enjoy a hot or even warm bath, a significant amount of water had to be gathered and heated by burning wood. And a considerable amount of wood was needed, as the heating systems of that time were extremely inefficient, and most of the heat was lost to the surrounding air rather than transferred to the water.

Moreover, heating large containers of water took a long time, as the material from which they were made did not heat up instantly, and the volume of water in the bath was quite substantial. Often, people washed with cold water, as hot water was unavailable. Even members of the lower classes regularly washed their hands and faces. Since the poor did not have utensils, they ate with their hands and had to wash their hands before each meal, as they became dirty after working, for example, in the fields.

In Europe at that time, there were public baths that residents could visit, if not every day, then at least once a month or week. Of course, there were cases of neglecting hygiene, but this was more of an exception than a rule. Some refused to bathe for religious reasons, believing that they washed away the holy water received at baptism, while others simply did not consider it necessary. It is worth noting that such exceptions can still be found today.

The lack of wood and clean water in some regions of Europe limited the frequency of bathing and visiting baths; however, there are reasons to believe that sensible residents of medieval Europe bathed more than twice in their lives. During the Middle Ages, crusaders brought soap from the Far East to Europe, which allowed people to wash away unpleasant odors that, contrary to myths, were not liked by Europeans of that time at all.