[MR] medieval bathing (Fwd: Aoife-Links Digest, Vol 8, Issue 3)

Thu May 12 10:04:10 PDT 2005

In a message dated 5/12/2005 1:03:16 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
aoife-links-request at scatoday.net writes:

Today's  Topics:

1. Three Men in a Tub? Medieval Bathing  (Aoife)

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Message:  1
Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 22:08:50 -0400
From: "Aoife"  <aoife at scatoday.net>
Subject: [Aoife-Links] Three Men in a Tub?  Medieval Bathing
To: <Aoife-links at scatoday.net>
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Greetings my Faithful Readers.

Well, I've  done it. I've drilled a hole in the wall of the locker room, and 
now you  all can take a peek at Medieval People in their Baths, in a PG-13 
sort of  way. If you thought your days of community showering were over when 
you  graduated from highschool, be glad you live NOW, instead of then. The  
links in the list below do carry contemporary images of partially naked  
medieval people (waist-up, mostly), and they are a lot cleaner than you'd  
think (in more ways than one). If you don't want to see these images,  please 
don't look. However, if you chose to look, and to read the  articles, you 
might learn a few things. These images are innocent, and  would not have been 
deemed wrong during their time. My 10 year old  daughter suggested this 
topic, and I'd probably show the list to her  (doubtless she'd find it a huge 
bore) since we are marginally progressive  at our house, but please use your 
own best judgment.

It seems  obvious to most of us that most people in the middle ages liked to 
bathe,  though stereo types still abound, even in the scholarly world. 
Apparently  in some cases Bath-taking was a normal social occasion, with food 
and wine  served and the best jewelry and hats  being worn in the community  
tub. While I can't imagine that today, I like the idea of the hot-room,  the 
cold room, and the bathing chamber. And I love the idea of herbs and  flower 
petals in my bath water. Some of those scrub-brushes look  intriguing. And I 
must try to find a half-barrel big enough to soak in (no  jokes about how big 
that barrel would have to be, please :)

For  what it's worth, here's this week's look at medieval baths, bathing and  
attitudes about it. Of all the sites, only two poke fun (and then only a  
little). So I salute The Bohemian Bathhouse Babes for having the guts to  
make an alliterative pun (but just a little, in the title) and Baths in  
Medieval and Renaissance Works of Art (for the "special naked friends"  
comment :) at what is, when you get down to it, a ridiculous, slippery,  and 
glorious past-time. But I'll do my socializing dry and  fully  clothed, 
thanks.

Cheers

Aoife
m/k/a Lisbeth  Herr-Gelatt
Riverouge
Endless Hills
Aethelmearc

About: The bad  Old Days:  Baths
http://historymedren.about.com/od/dailylifesociety/a/bod_baths.htm
(Site  Excerpt) Most peasant folk could not afford a bathtub and used a 
barrel  with the top removed. The time and energy required to draw enough 
water  from the well to fill a barrel was prohibitive enough to make a 
full-body  bath a rare occasion. However, it wasn't necessary to immerse 
oneself  completely to get clean. Think of what you can do with some cloths, 
soap,  and a bucket of water.

Gode Cookery: Tales of the Middle Ages. Daily  Life (Note especially the 
illustrations of medieval folk in the  tub)
http://www.godecookery.com/mtales/mtales08.htm
(Site Excerpt)  Contrary to popular legend, medieval man loved baths. People 
probably  bathed more than they did in the 19th century, says the great 
medievalist  Lynn Thorndike. Some castles had a special room beside the 
kitchen where  the ladies might bathe sociably in parties. Hot water, 
sometimes with  perfume or rose leaves, was brought to the lord in the 
bedchamber and  poured into a tub shaped like a half-barrel and containing a 
stool, so  that the occupant could sit and soak long. In the cities there 
were public  baths, or "stews" for the populace.

The Gibraltar Museum: Moorish  Baths
http://www.gib.gi/museum/baths.htm
(Site Excerpt) The original  city of Gibraltar founded in 1160 by 
Abd-al-Mumin would have included both  private and public baths, but these, 
situated in the Gibraltar Museum,  date from 1333 and are contemporary with 
the Moorish Castle Tower of  Homage.

The Official Roman Baths Website (City of Bath, England. Note  that there is 
an audio tour you can listen to  online)
http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/
(Site Excerpt from the What's  Included page) The Roman Baths is below the 
modern street level and has  four main features, the Sacred Spring, the Roman 
Temple, the Roman bath  house and finds from Roman Bath.

The History of Plumbing - Roman and  English Legacy
http://www.theplumber.com/eng.html
(Site Excerpt)  Testaments to the ancient plumber echo in the ruins of 
rudimentary drains,  grandiose palaces and bath houses, and in vast aqueducts 
and lesser water  systems of empires long buried. Close to 4,000 years ago, 
about 1700 B.C.,  the Minoan Palace of Knossos on the isle of Crete featured 
four separate  drainage systems that emptied into the great sewers 
constructed of  stone.

MedievalLife.net: bathing during the Middle  Ages
http://www.medieval-life.net/bathing.htm
(Site Excerpt) Hot baths  were very popular and most towns, as late as the 
mid-1200s had public  bathhouses. Wood fires heated the water, but this posed 
two problems.  First, out of control fires could consume several blocks of 
buildings. And  as the forests were depleted, firewood became expensive and 
the rising  costs of heating the water forced most of the bathhouses to 
close. Some  tried burning coal to heat water, but the fumes proved to be  
unhealthy.

Baths in Medieval and Renaissance Works of  Art
http://www.geocities.com/karen_larsdatter/baths.htm
(Site Excerpt)  So often, we think of the Middle Ages and Renaissance as a 
period in which  people never bathed -- yet this is not the case. Not only 
did our  ancestors bathe (and probably a bit more often than we give them 
credit  for), but some of them did so with "special naked friends."

Stefan's  Florilegium; Tubbed and Scrubbed by Master Giles de  Laval
http://www.florilegium.org/files/PERSONAL/Tubd-a-Scrubd-art.html
(Site  Excerpt) Most surviving illustrations depict people sharing baths, and 

usually men and women bathing together. Tables with food and drink are  also 
commonly shown either next to the tubs or placed across them, with  the 
bathers enjoying a meal as they soaked. One 15th century woodcut shows  a 
single board laden with food stretching across five baths. It is  interesting 
to note that in these bath scenes, total nudity is rarely  depicted; usually 
men are shown wearing a hat or linen cap, and often a  breechclout (or just a 
strip of cloth tied about the hips). Women are very  often shown wearing 
elaborate headdresses and necklaces; it is hard to be  certain whether this 
detail is fanciful, or depicts prostitutes in a  provocative state of 
semi-undress.
*Note links at the top of the page  for more bathing messages and articles in 
the  Florilegium

Toiletries Through the  Ages
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/2936/toiletries.html
Many  images of medieval folks in the process of bathing.

Islamic  Architecture: Bath Houses - A place to relax and  bathe
http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Architecture/Architecture_Tombs.html
(Site  Excerpt) Bath houses were not merely (only) places where believers 
could  fulfill the Islamic ideal of cleanliness. They were also places in 
which  to socialize and gossip. Some bath houses from the Middle Ages are 
still  in use today. Bath houses (called "hamam" in Turkey) had both cold and 
hot  water baths. Most bath houses were public, but some were private. In 
every  palace there would be a bath house (as shown in the Persian miniature  
below).

Bathing and Personal Hygeine in Ancient  India
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/ancient/bathing/index.htm
A Series  of Links on the subject

The Bohemian Bathhouse Babes
from the  Wenceslaus Bible by Mistress  Jadwiga
http://gallowglass.org/jadwiga/pictures/bohemia/bathkeepers.html
See  also: A Short History of Bathing before  1601
http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/baths.html
(Site Excerpt)  Like the nonsensical idea that spices were used to disguise 
the taste of  rotten meat, the idea that bathing was forbidden and/or wiped 
out between  the fall of Rome and the Enlightenment has been touted by many 
gullible  writers, including Smithsonian magazine. However, even the 
Smithsonian in  the person of Jay Stuller has to admit that "Gregory the 
Great, the first  monk to become pope, allowed Sunday baths and even 
commended them, so long  as they didn't become a 'time-wasting luxury' . . . 
medieval nobility  routinely washed their hands before and after meals. 
Etiquette guides of  the age insisted that teeth, face and hands be cleaned 
each morning.  Shallow basins and water jugs for washing hair were found in 
most manor  houses, as was the occasional communal tub..."

Castles on the Web:  Medieval Bathrooms, baths and Soap.A series of  messages
http://www.castlesontheweb.com/quest/Forum9/HTML/000150.html

Kamat's  Potpourri: Medieval Indian Women engaged in Bathing (reproduced 
images,  not  originals)
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/ancient/bathing/2206.htm

Medieval  bathing
http://www.cityofbath.co.uk/history/body_kingsqueensbath.html
(Site  Excerpt) After the dissolution of the monastery in 1539 the King's 
Bath  eventually came into the hands of the City Corporation. In the 16th  
century  the Queen's Bath was built on the south side. Throughout the  17th 
century Bath became increasingly popular as a spa resort. The brass  rings 
that can be seen visible in the walls record grateful bathers cured  by the 
water.

Medieval  Health
http://www.hyw.com/books/history/Health.htm
(Site Excerpt) They  didn't undestand the science behind it, but they knew 
that cleanliness was  a good thing. Naturally, the nobles had an easier time 
keeping themselves  clean, as well as having well scrubbed servants in 
attendance. Contrary to  the popular myth, bathing was popular in the period. 
The clergy, who wrote  most of the surviving history, railed against the 
popular public baths.  These institutions, a descendant of the enormously 
popular Roman baths,  were often staffed by young women who did more than 
just pass the soap and  towels. The clergy didn't like it, the bathers did. 
However, bathing when  the weather was cooler and without benefit of a 
specially constructed and  heated bathing establishment could easily prove  
fatal.